Comparison

Physics Playgrounds vs PlayMagnet

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Physics Playgrounds

Features
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Physics Playground is a hands-on science app with 102 interactive labs โ€” from pendulums and black holes to rainbows, magnets and melting ice. Every lab is a live simulation you control with your finger, or with your hand in the air, so you can see how the world works instead of just reading about it. THREE WAYS TO EXPLORE โ€ข Explore โ€” pick any lab and start playing. โ€ข Learning Journey โ€” follow a short story one step at a time: Things that move, Light and sound, Earth and space. โ€ข Curiosity Lab โ€” ask your own science question by typing or speaking and get a short, friendly answer. Tap "Draw it!" for a picture, save pictures to Photos, or have the answer read aloud. 102 LABS How the World Works (44 labs): Colour Mixer, Rainbow Spinner, Heavy or Light?, Drop Zone, Slide Race, Bouncy Balls and many more everyday science experiments Mechanics: Simple Pendulum, Projectile Motion, Elastic Collision, Spring Oscillator, Inclined Plane, Pulley System, Circular Motion and more Waves and Sound: Wave Interference, Doppler Effect, Standing Waves, Resonance Studio Light and Optics: Light Refraction, Light Reflection, Light Polarization, Rainbow Maker Electricity and Magnetism: Electric Field, Capacitor Charging, Circuit City, Magnet Maze, Electromagnetic Induction, Tesla Coil Heat and Matter: Gas Particles, Entropy & Disorder, Tiny Heat Engine, Crystal Builder, Phase Changer Quantum and Nuclear: Double Slit, Photoelectric Effect, Quantum Tunnel, Radioactive Decay, Nuclear Fission, Nuclear Fusion, Half-Life Detective Space and Relativity: Orbital Mechanics, Black Hole, Exoplanet Hunter, Relativity Rocket, Gravity Lens Earth and Energy: Tectonic Plates, Weather Balloon, Solar Grid, Wind Tunnel Fluids: Fluid Flow, Buoyancy, Vortex Lab HOW IT WORKS Touch the canvas to grab and interact with the simulation โ€” there is no right or wrong way to explore. Adjust variables like gravity, mass, length and velocity with the built-in sliders and watch the results change instantly. For a hands-free experience, turn on the camera and control labs with your hand in the air. Hand tracking runs on your device โ€” no images or video are stored or sent anywhere. CHALLENGES Every lab has a challenge that teaches the key idea behind it. Complete it to earn a star and track your progress across all 102 labs on the progress screen. REAL PHYSICS LAWS The simulations are built on real physics equations, and the app shows the governing laws so you can connect what you see to real formulas. ABOUT CURIOSITY LAB Answers and pictures are created by AI (Google's Gemini models) for learning and fun, and can sometimes be wrong. Every answer has a Report button, and questions are limited each day. Curiosity Lab asks for your permission before it shares a question with Google Gemini, and you can turn this off at any time in Privacy choices. WHO IS IT FOR Students, teachers and anyone curious about how the physics world works โ€” from first questions to university physics. It makes an excellent companion to classroom learning, and no prior knowledge is needed. PRIVACY Play as a guest โ€” no name or email needed. A grown-up can choose to sign in with Apple or Google to keep progress across devices, and can delete the account in the app at any time. You decide whether to share usage analytics. Camera processing happens entirely on your device. Privacy policy: https://physics-playground-24c5e.web.app/privacy Terms: https://physics-playground-24c5e.web.app/terms

About

PlayMagnet

Features
Read full description

PlayMagnet allows students of all ages to play with magnets on the screen. The program has six different disc magnets the user can drop anywhere on the screen. The program instantly draws the magnetic around the magnets the user has dropped on the screen with the mouse. It's made for people of all ages. The program is very simple with only eight buttons at the bottom of the screen. There are three buttons that allow you to pick different magnet discs, an undo button to remove the last disc added, a text button to input coordinates instead of clicking on the screen. It also has a save button to save the screen and a clear button to clear the screen. If you pinch the screen, it has a zoom mode. There's an easter egg if you hold down the clear button.

Screenshots

Physics Playgrounds4 screens
PlayMagnet4 screens

Verdict

The call

Physics Playgrounds and PlayMagnet are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Physics Playgrounds versus PlayMagnet: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhysics PlaygroundsPlayMagnet
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better15.4
Further details โ€” not scored
Size37 MB351 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperKheniTechMichael Snyder

In-app purchases

None

Physics Playgrounds

No in-app purchases

None

PlayMagnet

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Physics Playgrounds free?
Physics Playgrounds is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PlayMagnet free?
PlayMagnet is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Physics Playgrounds or PlayMagnet have ads?
Neither Physics Playgrounds nor PlayMagnet shows ads.

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