Spark vs Below Me
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spark
Engage with daily learning puzzles centered around a single theme. Explore history, science, and pop culture through four unique, human-crafted games designed for discovery and fun.
- Daily themed puzzles
- Four unique game modes
- Human-crafted puzzles
- Explore history, science, and pop culture
- Archive of past puzzles
- No timers or tests
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Replace doomscrolling with learning. Each day, Spark explores a single theme through thoughtful puzzles spanning ancient history, mythology, movies, food, geography, and more. With five unique games and new puzzles every day, Spark makes learning part of your routine. Each game offers a different way to explore the day's theme, and each one teaches you as you play. Spark's games include: This or That: Choose between two options to learn more about the day's theme Links: Find the common thread connecting people, places, and ideas Chrono: Put events in order to see how history really unfolded Knockout: Uncover surprising comparisons in a series of fun head-to-head matchups Hindsight: Pinpoint when and where a photo was taken to uncover the story behind it All of Spark's puzzles are crafted by experts, not AI, and designed to spark those "aha" moments that make ideas stick. Explore hundreds of topics in the Library, from ancient history to the animal kingdom, with past themes to revisit anytime. Along the way, you'll uncover facts that are fun to learn and even better to share. From the creators of Elevate and Balance, Spark is part of a collection of mental fitness apps designed to strengthen your mind. For additional information, please read our Terms of Service (https://themindcompany.com/terms-and-conditions?from=spark) and Privacy Policy (https://themindcompany.com/privacy-policy?from=spark).
Below Me
This app uses your device's camera to show you countries and geographical features on the other side of the Earth. It provides a live augmented reality view of borders, sea names, and distances, allowing you to explore the planet from your current location or simulate others.
- Live AR view of country borders
- Distance and direction readouts
- Offline functionality
- Simulate locations worldwide
- Detailed geographical relief
- Day-night line visualization
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What's on the other side of the horizon? Point your iPhone or iPad at the horizon, tilt it down, and Below Me shows you the countries that lie beyond the curve of the Earth, as if you could look straight through the planet. Below Me isn't a map. It's a window. Every border you see is placed where it really is from where you stand: computed on the WGS84 ellipsoid with great-circle math and projected through the Earth along your line of sight. Tilt further and the countries get farther away. Point straight down and you're looking at your antipode. FEATURES • Live AR view: country borders, sea names, a labelled 10° grid and distance labels floating over your camera image • Crosshair readout: which country or sea you're looking at, how far away it is and in which direction • Info panel you can fold away to a small tag for a clear view • Mini globe showing your position and line of sight, drag it to spin • Outdoor mode that dims the camera for bright daylight • Colour tints for land and seas, thin or bold borders • Choose kilometers or miles • English and German • Works offline. No account, no tracking, no internet needed FREE Explore everything within 5,000 km of where you stand. PRO – ONE-TIME PURCHASE • Whole Earth: range up to 20,000 km, all the way to your antipode • Place search: any country, 34,000 cities offline or any place worldwide via Apple Maps. Up to five red markers, and an arrow guides you there through the Earth • Relief: mountains, shelves and deep-sea trenches as coloured, shaded terrain • Your exact antipode, marked in yellow straight below your feet • Fine borders and coastlines (Natural Earth 1:10M, five times more detail) • Home marker: a red dot shows where home is when you travel • Major cities with distance • Local time at the point you're looking at • Country info card: outline, capital, area, population, currency, calling code, languages • Live day-night line and the sun through the Earth: tilt down at night and see where it's shining right now • Simulate a location: explore the Earth from New York, Tokyo or anywhere else Buy once, keep forever. Family Sharing included. No subscription. For the curious, travellers, teachers, pilots, sailors and anyone who has ever stood on a beach and wondered what lies out there. Requires an iPhone or iPad (iOS 18 or later).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Below Me at none against Spark's shown. Below Me also leads on update cadence (daily vs weekly) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Spark's advantage is ratings volume (2.8K vs 1) and chart position (#125 vs unranked). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Spark sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Below Me sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Below Me holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spark has 2.8K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Spark ships an update weekly, Below Me daily. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Spark | Below Me |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (2.8K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 92.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Daily — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #125 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 151 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Mind Company | Marc Bachmann |
Customer experience
Spark
Below Me
Bugs and requests
Spark
Reported bugs
1 issue- AT&T blocking the website as potentially malicious
Requested features
2 requests- More games and puzzles
- Dark mode option
Below Me
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Spark
- Spark+$2.991 Month
- Spark+$4.991 Month
- Spark+$7.491 Month
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- Spark+$9.991 Month
- Spark+1 Year trial4 variants$39.991 Year
- Spark+7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Spark+3 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Spark Plus1 Year trial$39.991 Year
- Spark+7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Spark+1 Year trial$59.991 Year
- Spark+7 Days trial$79.991 Year
Below Me
- Below Me Pro Version$3.99









