Future Major Guide vs Rectoly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Future Major Guide
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Find a next step that fits your stage. On first launch, choose High school student, University student, Graduate applicant or beyond, or Parent for a tailored introduction and home page. Change roles later without losing saved items or notes. TAIWAN: FREE TO EXPLORE β’ 158 current institutions, 1,346 majors, 2,747 institution-specific programs and 1,338 learning maps β’ A 10-question interest quiz, on-device suggestions, favorites, decision notes and comparisons of up to 4 items β’ Taiwan graduate application routes and official admissions links ALL US DATA REQUIRES PRO US school search and directories, fields, courses, historical statistics, admissions, testing guides and costs require valid Pro access. Monthly and annual plans include the same undergraduate and graduate guidance. β’ 4,031 institutions from IPEDS 2025, with state, control and study-level filters β’ Historical degree awards, field classifications and selected course plans, with sources US MASTER'S AND PhD PREPARATION β’ Search 2,081 institutions reported as offering graduate education. This institutional flag does not establish every master's or PhD program or current admission. β’ Separate master's and PhD routes for research interests, transcripts, SOP/CV, references and submission β’ Checklists saved on your device, official admissions links, timeline planning and funding checks TESTS BY STUDY LEVEL Undergraduate SAT/ACT and graduate GRE/GMAT guides are separate, with shared English-test guidance. GMAT preparation concerns graduate business study. Check required tests, accepted alternatives and waivers with each target program; not every test is required. PRO UNDERGRADUATE TOOLS β’ Available 2026β27 Common App first-year requirements for 941 schools β’ First-year, transfer and international checklists; local reminders only for dates you confirm β’ Compare historical undergraduate costs for up to 4 schools in the same year and living situation. Missing values are not zero; these are not graduate costs. LANGUAGES, PRIVACY AND SOURCES 25 interface languages; guides are mainly Traditional Chinese and English, and official sources retain their original language. No login or tracking SDKs. Preferences and preparation stay on your device. Bundled data works offline; external sources and purchases/restores require internet access. Data are dated snapshots, not a guarantee of current or complete program requirements. A directory listing does not confirm current admission, and historical scores are not minimum cutoffs. Not affiliated with schools; admission is never guaranteed. Check current official notices before applying. SUBSCRIPTION US Admissions Pro is offered as monthly and annual auto-renewing subscriptions with the same content. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your App Store account settings. Free features never require a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://firesparkle.com/app/future-major-guide/privacy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Rectoly
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Rectoly: How to Read Papers is an app for students reading research papers for the first time. You've just joined a lab, you're reading the literature for your senior thesis, or you've been asked to present a paper in your seminar. Rectoly stays with you until you can read research papers on your own. Instead of writing the answers for you, it teaches you a way of reading: finding what a paper says, and where. READ IN THREE PASSES First pass: just the title, abstract, figures and conclusion (5β10 minutes). Second pass: the figures and tables, and the text that describes them. Third pass: the details of the methods. Rectoly guides you to the next part to read, in order, and remembers how far you've read in each paper. If you stop partway, you can pick up where you left off. FIVE QUESTIONS: YOU FIND THE ANSWERS Research question, method, data, findings, limitations. The app asks, βWhere does this paper state its purpose?β and you highlight the paragraph you found. The app checks whether your highlight falls where the answer is written. If it's off, Rectoly guides you to the paragraph where the paper says it. It never says βwrong.β Once you've found all five, you've read that paper. SEE HOW A PAPER IS PUT TOGETHER In Reading Mode, the margin shows colors for background, purpose, method, results and limitations. Tap an abbreviation to jump to where the paper defines it. SUM IT UP IN YOUR OWN WORDS For each of the five questions, write a line in your own words β by hand in the margin with Apple Pencil, or typed. Afterward, compare it side by side with the original text. Nothing is graded. ORIGINAL AND TRANSLATION Translate any paragraph into your own language, right where you are. Translation runs on this device; the paper is never sent to a translation service. EASIER READING IN READING MODE Two-column papers become a single column that's easy to read, even on a phone. You can go back to the original PDF anytime. Highlight, underline and write by hand without leaving Reading Mode. WORK BACK FROM YOUR DEADLINE Answer βWhen do you want to have it read by?β and the app spreads the three passes and the five questions over the days, with a reminder only at the time you choose (once a day at most). A widget on your Home Screen shows your next step. After 3 days and again after 1 week, you practice recalling the paper from your own highlights and summary. Your progress is shown as a weekly count, not a daily streak. SAMPLE PAPERS FOR YOUR FIELD For your first four weeks, you can practice with sample papers from your field. Each one comes with an explanation of the reading order and questions written for that paper. Sample papers are free. AI DOESN'T WRITE THE ANSWERS AI is used only to check where your highlights overlap the original text. The AI runs on this device, and the paper never leaves it. If AI can't run on your device, you can also set up your own API key (only then is it sent to the provider you chose). THE PDFS YOU ALREADY HAVE Open them from the Files app (iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox and more), including class handouts and papers you downloaded from your university's website. No sign-in needed. WHEN YOUR RESEARCH BEGINS: Rectoly for Zotero / for Mendeley Once you start managing references, you can move up to Rectoly for Zotero or Rectoly for Mendeley. The papers you've read, your highlights, handwriting and summaries come with you as they are. 14-DAY FREE TRIAL β ONE-TIME PURCHASE The sample papers and the first PDF of your own are free. Try every feature free for 14 days. No subscription: pay once and keep using it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Rectoly at daily against Future Major Guide's weekly. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Future Major Guide sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Rectoly sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Future Major Guide ships an update weekly, Rectoly daily. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Future Major Guide | Rectoly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Daily β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | 17.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yung Wen Cheng | Takaki Takemura |
In-app purchases
Future Major Guide
- US Admissions Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
- US Admissions Pro Annual$29.991 Year
Rectoly
- 14-day TrialFree
- Rectoly Pro (one-time)$9.99
Questions
Is Future Major Guide free?
Is Rectoly free?
Do Future Major Guide or Rectoly have ads?
Which is updated more often, Future Major Guide or Rectoly?
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