Comparison

Physics Playgrounds vs Physics Playground App

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

Head to head
About

Physics Playgrounds

Features
Read full description

Physics Playground is a hands-on science app with 102 interactive labs — 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 • Explore — pick any lab and start playing. • Learning Journey — follow a short story one step at a time: Things that move, Light and sound, Earth and space. • Curiosity Lab — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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

Physics Playground App

Explore the universe of physics and math through interactive simulations and real-time equation adjustments. Learn concepts from basic counting to advanced theories with hands-on playgrounds and mini-games that earn you badges. Designed for all levels of understanding, from children to PhDs.

Highlights
  • Interactive physics and math playgrounds
  • Real-time equation adjustments
  • Adjustable difficulty slider (Child to PhD)
  • Mini-games with badge rewards
  • Concept map for interconnected ideas
  • Offline-first functionality
  • No ads or accounts required
Features
Read full description

Physics Playground turns science into games you play with your hands. Fire a cannon, slide pucks across the ice, fold a protein, crack a cipher, bend starlight around a black hole and forge a star. Every game runs on real physics, chemistry, biology, math or computer science, so you learn by doing, not by reading. 63 GAMES, FIVE SUBJECTS From projectiles, orbits and lasers to entanglement and the Big Bang; atoms, reactions and batteries; cells, genes and the immune system; fractions, fractals and calculus; logic gates, sorting, networks and machine learning. Each game has its own controls and its own goal. PLAY AT YOUR LEVEL Pick Curious Kid, Teen, Undergrad or PhD. Games start on Easy, Normal or Hard to match, and PhD turns off the hints for numbers only play. Free Play lets you experiment with no clock. EARN EVERY STAR Clear stages, earn up to three stars, beat your best score and collect badges. Light up your constellation and unlock the Universe Tuner when you master them all. BUILT FOR IPHONE DUO Fold it into a tabletop and the hinge aims the cannon. Open it like a book and the game spreads across both halves, with controls on their own side. Close it and keep playing on the outer screen. NEW GRAPHICS, SMOOTH AT 120 HZ Glowing particles, warped spacetime, lensed starlight and live fractals, with haptics tuned to every bounce and blast. GO DEEPER Every game links trusted sources: textbooks, papers, lectures and courses. Works on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. Ask Siri to open a game. No account, no ads, no tracking.

Screenshots

Physics Playgrounds4 screens
Physics Playground App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Physics Playground App at every 3 weeks against Physics Playgrounds's every 3 months. Physics Playgrounds's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Physics Playgrounds ships an update every 3 months, Physics Playground App every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Physics Playgrounds versus Physics Playground App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhysics PlaygroundsPhysics Playground App
PriceFreeFree
Rating—3.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB24 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperKheniTechAJA Digital LLC

In-app purchases

None

Physics Playgrounds

No in-app purchases

None

Physics Playground App

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Physics Playgrounds free?
Physics Playgrounds is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Physics Playground App free?
Physics Playground App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Physics Playgrounds or Physics Playground App have ads?
Neither Physics Playgrounds nor Physics Playground App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Physics Playgrounds or Physics Playground App?
Physics Playgrounds ships an update every 3 months, and Physics Playground App every 3 weeks. Most recently, Physics Playgrounds was updated on October 31, 2026 and Physics Playground App on October 31, 2026.

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