Comparison

Physics Playgrounds vs Materials Lab

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

Materials Lab

Features
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ZenSee Materials Lab is an interactive visualization workspace for materials science and engineering. The first release focuses on CrystalLab, a lightweight 3D crystal structure viewer for learning, teaching, and report graphics. Choose common crystal structures, inspect unit cells and atoms, rotate the model smoothly, review key structural parameters, and export clean PNG images for slides or notes. Current features: - Simple cubic, body-centered cubic, face-centered cubic, and hexagonal close-packed structures. - Classic teaching examples including diamond cubic, rock salt, cesium chloride, and perovskite structures. - Point-defect examples for vacancy, substitutional, and interstitial defects. - Interactive 3D viewport with rotation, zoom, pan, and mobile-friendly control locking. - Unit-cell frame, atom spheres, Miller guide lines, and neighbor-bond display options. - XYZ and CIF import for simple structure previews. - PNG export for teaching materials, reports, and classroom notes. - Local-first experience with no account requirement. ZenSee Materials Lab is designed for students, teachers, and engineering learners who need a professional, focused way to understand and communicate crystal structures. It is not a finite-element solver, molecular dynamics engine, molecular dynamics production tool, or certified engineering simulation package. Privacy Policy: http://mindkey.xyz/index.php/zensee-studio/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Physics Playgrounds4 screens
Materials Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Physics Playgrounds at none against Materials Lab's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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. Materials Lab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Physics Playgrounds asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Physics Playgrounds versus Materials Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhysics PlaygroundsMaterials Lab
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac โ€” better
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size37 MB3 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperKheniTech็ขง็ ๅˆ˜

In-app purchases

None

Physics Playgrounds

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Materials Lab

One-time1
  • Materials Lab Pro$9.99

Questions

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

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