Comparison

Salt River Stories vs Screen Smart

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

Head to head
About

Salt River Stories

Explore the rich history of the Phoenix-Scottsdale-Tempe metro area through interactive maps, multimedia content, and curated historical tours. Discover people, places, and moments that shaped the region, with new material added monthly.

Highlights
  • Interactive GPS-enabled map
  • Multimedia presentations (images, audio, video)
  • Curated historical tours
  • Collaborative story creation
  • Monthly content updates
  • Social media sharing
Read full description

Salt River Stories (or PHXstories) is a free mobile app that puts the history of the Phoenix-Scottsdale-Tempe metro area at your fingertips. A collaboration between the Public History program at Arizona State University and the Papago Salado Association, Salt River Stories lets you explore the people, places, and moments that have shaped the region’s history. Learn about the region through layered, map-based, multimedia presentations, use social media to share your stories, and take curated historical tours of the desert metropolis. Each point on the interactive GPS-enabled map tells a story about the site and includes images from the region's archives. Many stories also include audio clips and short documentary videos, sharing oral histories or expert knowledge. Perhaps best of all, Salt River Stories is a collaborative project with stories created collaboratively by teachers, students, professors, and community members. Students and faculty in the School of Historical Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University curate Salt River Stories. 

If you know of a story, a site, theme, or topic that we’ve not explored, check back often because we will be adding new material on a monthly basis. If you would like to suggest a site or become involved in developing digital stories, reviewing content, or collecting regional history please contact us. 

 You can find us on the web at saltriverstories.org; you may email us at publichistory@asu.edu, or you can find us on Facebook at SaltRiverStories and on Twitter @PHXstories. 

 We are sometimes asked why we named the project “Salt River Stories,” and there are many reasons, including that our coverage is not bounded by a single political entity subdivision in the Valley. Also, and critically, the Salt River defines the valley in which Phoenix and the broader metropolis that emerged during the 20th century. The Salt River is both a watershed and valley--in which gravity forces water to flow from the Granite Reef to the East into the Valley nurturing human development in the region. To highlight the breadth of our region and the amazing ways the chose to call this historical project Salt River Stories to highlight the amazing ways that environment and human society have shaped the Valley of the Sun, we have titled our project Salt River Stories.

About

Screen Smart

Features
Read full description

Screen Smart is loved by parents because it: - Breaks the spell of your child’s screen addiction. - Makes children responsible of their screen time. - Builds knowledge in Math, Geography and Language based on parents and child interests. Our promise to Children - Help you take control of your screen time with a healthy balance of fun and meaningful learning. Our promise to parents - No more fighting over screen time. - A predictable and fair mechanism for your child to learn and be awarded with screen time. - You control subjects learned based on your child’s interests and needs. We created Screen Smart because we see screen addiction among children as one of the largest challenges of our time. We are parents ourselves, so we know exactly how difficult it is to avoid that children end up as screen zombies. We have kept the app simple to drive healthy educational breaks because we know that it works. Once you have passed the initial threshold to install Screen Smart on your child’s device, and explained to your child that they are now in control of their screen time, the reward is less arguing and you will notice that your child actually learns with our app. In contrast to many of the educational apps that exists, your child needs to use Screen Smart to gain screen time. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have ideas how we can improve Screen Smart. By downloading and sharing, you're contributing to reducing screen addiction among children around the world.

Screenshots

Salt River Stories4 screens
Screen Smart4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Screen Smart at every 5 weeks against Salt River Stories's every 6 months. 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

Salt River Stories ships an update every 6 months, Screen Smart every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Salt River Stories versus Screen Smart: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSalt River StoriesScreen Smart
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB57 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCleveland State University Research CorporationBeyond Ability AB

In-app purchases

None

Salt River Stories

No in-app purchases

None

Screen Smart

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Salt River Stories free?
Salt River Stories is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Screen Smart free?
Screen Smart is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Salt River Stories or Screen Smart have ads?
Neither Salt River Stories nor Screen Smart shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Salt River Stories or Screen Smart?
Salt River Stories ships an update every 6 months, and Screen Smart every 5 weeks. Most recently, Salt River Stories was updated on October 21, 2026 and Screen Smart on October 24, 2026.

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