# Synapse Social vs Ask Academic

The clearest difference is update cadence: Synapse Social at every 2 days against Ask Academic's every 2 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Synapse Social ships an update every 2 days, Ask Academic every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Synapse Social | Ask Academic |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (15 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/synapse-social/id6747992429/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **15** | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 days** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 75 MB | 14 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **17.5** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Synapse Social LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1769426157) | [Hamdi Usta](https://appshunter.io/developer/1855814793) |

## What reviewers say

### Synapse Social

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/synapse-social/id6747992429)

This app delivers a personalized feed of new research papers, helping scientists stay updated without constant searching. It learns your interests to monitor journals, authors, and institutions, providing relevant discoveries in one organized place.

**Highlights:** Personalized research feeds, Track research questions, not just keywords, Follow alerts for journals, authors, and institutions, View paper summaries and methodologies, Track papers gaining online attention, Save and organize research

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Ask Academic

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ask-academic/id6755716853)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Synapse Social free?

Synapse Social is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Ask Academic free?

Ask Academic is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Synapse Social or Ask Academic have ads?

Neither Synapse Social nor Ask Academic shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Synapse Social or Ask Academic?

Synapse Social ships an update every 2 days, and Ask Academic every 2 months. Most recently, Synapse Social was updated on November 5, 2026 and Ask Academic on October 30, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*