Comparison

LightUp Learning vs Sandbox AR

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

Head to head
About

LightUp Learning

Build and learn about electronic circuits using magnetic blocks. Visualize electricity flow and program projects with drag-and-drop coding. Requires a physical LightUp kit.

Highlights
  • Magnetic circuit block assembly
  • Visualize electricity flow
  • Drag-and-drop coding interface
  • Project building guides
  • X-ray vision for circuits
Read full description

This is a companion app for the LightUp Edison and Tesla Kit. Build and learn about electronic circuits with LightUp kits and the LightUp Learning app. Magnetically snap together circuit blocks to build cool projects without needing to use wires, breadboards, or soldering irons. Take a photo and the LightUp Learning app will help out when you need a hand. It even gives you x-ray vision, letting you see the electricity flowing around your circuit! Ready to code? Simply drag and drop code blocks on your iPad to make a Music Box, Alarm and more! Purchase your very own LightUp kit at www.lightup.io.

About

Sandbox AR

Create, build, and explore immersive virtual worlds using augmented reality. This app allows users to scale creations to life-size and share them with others. It's designed to bring interactive technology into educational settings.

Highlights
  • Create, build, and explore in AR
  • Life-size scale exploration
  • Share creations via QR code
  • Capture snapshots and videos
  • Teacher audio descriptions (DE:X subscribers)
  • Link to curated resources (DE:X subscribers)
Read full description

--- Multi award-winning augmented reality maker app --- - BETT Awards 2023 Best AR/VR ! - GESS Awards 2023 Best Digital XR / VR / AI Product - spaces4learning New Product Award 2022 ! -- What is Sandbox? -- Experience, build, and explore in AR with Discovery Education Sandbox. Designed as a companion to the award-winning Discovery Education Experience learning platform, bring immersive technology and content into the classroom. Choose from hundreds of models and create a virtual world to experience and share with fellow students and teachers. Use life size mode to scale up and walk inside your own creation! -- Features -- • Create, build and explore in augmented reality. • Explore creations in life-size scale! • Share your sandboxes with other users with a simple QR code. • Capture snapshots and videos of your sandbox. -- Enhanced features for DE:X subscribers -- As a Discovery Education Experience or Espresso subscriber, access additional features to add teacher audio descriptions to sandboxes and add links to your own curated resources on Experience or Espresso. Integrate with studio boards and access future additional model packs.

Screenshots

LightUp Learning4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sandbox AR at 100% against LightUp Learning's 32%. Sandbox AR also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0). LightUp Learning's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (8.1 vs 14.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sandbox AR holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of LightUp Learning's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sandbox AR's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
LightUp Learning versus Sandbox AR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLightUp LearningSandbox AR
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (10 ratings)4.8 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews31.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1016 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS8.1 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size143 MB1.6 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLightUpDiscovery Education Inc.

Customer experience

LightUp Learning

All ratings10 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive31.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative68.4%

Sandbox AR

All ratings11 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral9.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

LightUp Learning

No in-app purchases

None

Sandbox AR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is LightUp Learning free?
LightUp Learning is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sandbox AR free?
Sandbox AR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, LightUp Learning or Sandbox AR?
Sandbox AR is rated higher. LightUp Learning averages 3.0 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Sandbox AR averages 4.8 from 16 ratings.
Do LightUp Learning or Sandbox AR have ads?
Neither LightUp Learning nor Sandbox AR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LightUp Learning or Sandbox AR?
LightUp Learning ships an update every 2 months, and Sandbox AR every 2 months. Most recently, LightUp Learning was updated on November 6, 2026 and Sandbox AR on November 3, 2026.

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