Comparison

Scout Elf® Ideas vs Dog

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

Head to head
About

Scout Elf® Ideas

This app provides daily photo inspiration and creative ideas for Scout Elves during the Christmas season. Discover crafts, clothes, and instructions to recreate scenes and enhance your holiday traditions. Get alerts from the North Pole to prepare for elf arrivals and departures.

Highlights
  • Daily photo feed with inspiration
  • Idea Spinner for random suggestions
  • Filterable ideas and photos
  • Materials and instructions included
  • North Pole alerts for preparation
  • Elf arrival and departure notifications
  • Kids Mode with North Pole activities
Features
Read full description

AN OFFICIAL, AWARD-WINNING ELF ON THE SHELF® APP Scout Elves always match the unique personalities of their families! Some are playful and creative, while others are sporty and adventurous. This app offers fun daily photos to inspire every Scout Elf during the Christmas season. Discover fun ideas for spending time with your family along with pictures of Scout Elves that come with materials and instructions. From quick and easy ideas to creative and complex ones, this app has them all! You can find links to printable crafts and Scout Elf clothes to enhance certain designs. Filter to find tons of different ideas for your Scout Elf and get special daily reminder alerts from the North Pole. Find fun ideas for the Scout Elves and get into the holiday spirit with The Elf on the Shelf® Ideas! The Elf on the Shelf® Ideas App Features: DAILY PHOTO FEED — During the holidays, receive new daily photos from the North Pole for your family and every Scout Elf to enjoy. — Click on each for more details along with a list of materials and instructions! IDEA SPINNER — Not sure what you are looking for? Check out the new feature: Scout Elf Idea Spinner! — Tap the spin button for a fun random Scout Elf Idea! FILTER PHOTOS AND IDEAS — Santa wants to make sure you can find the right inspiration for your Scout Elf. — Use the filter to narrow down what photos display on the feed. — Feel inspired and help your Scout Elf decorate scenes! MATERIALS, INSTRUCTIONS AND MORE! — Not only were these elves captured in action, they also helped us put together a list of what your Scout Elf might need! — Recreate each photo and the Scout Elf challenges by spending time with your family. — Look at pictures and enjoy making fun arts and crafts with your Scout Elves! NORTH POLE ALERTS — Santa wants to make sure his favorite helpers have everything they need to be creative! — Check the special daily alerts from Santa so your family can remember to prepare your home. ELF ARRIVAL + DEPARTURES — Receive alerts from the North Pole before the Scout Elves depart for their annual visits and when it’s time to return to the North Pole. — Make sure your home is ready for the elves and know when they have to return to the North Pole to help Santa get ready for next year. FAREWELL MESSAGE — Santa likes to teach the Scout Elves to be polite and courteous! — Keep an eye out for a special farewell letter from your Scout Elf, thanking you for all the fun they've shared with your family. Find fun ideas and pictures of the Scout Elves before they visit your home for Christmas. Make sure your home is ready for tons of fun this holiday season with The Elf on the Shelf® Ideas App! KIDS MODE —Toggle over to the Kids experience! Your little one can be directed to Santa's North Pole, our official website with games, activities, videos and more! Download now to find holiday ideas for the scout elves! — Don't forget to RATE THIS APP! Santa wants to make sure families everywhere have access to this great inspiration for Scout Elves.

About

Dog

Interact with a unique robot dog through a dedicated app. Care for, train, and play games with your digital companion. Customize its appearance and teach it tricks using simple programming.

Highlights
  • Care and status tracking
  • Virtual treat feeding
  • Play 6 fun games
  • Train tricks with sequential programming
  • Customize tail messages and drawings
  • Mint unique Dog-E profiles
Features
Read full description

Care for, train, play games and more with Dog-E, your one in a million robot dog. Connect the app to Dog-E via Bluetooth to unlock more ways to play and see Dog-E come to life. Customize your Dog-E even more to make your robot dog totally unique to you. THE ONE IN A MILLION ROBOT DOG APP Through the minting process, the all-white Dog-E comes to life and reveals a unique combination of colorful lights, sounds and personality traits. Using the app, you can reveal a one in a million Dog-E, take the personality quiz and name your dog. So no two Dog-Es are ever the same. Save multiple profiles, so you can mint Dog-Es again and again. CARE FOR YOUR DOG-E Keep track of Dog-E’s needs in the app, so you can keep your pup happy. Dog-E’s status screen in the app tells you when your Dog-E needs love, food, playtime and more. FEED DOG-E TREATS Feeding your Dog-E is even more fun in the app! Hold the app up, and you can “throw” Dog-E treats, and Dog-E eats them. Dog-E will even tell you when it likes a specific treat or not. You can even earn special treats the more you PLAY GAMES & ACTIVITIES Dog-E includes 6 fun games you can play, including Ultimate Nose Boop, Fortune Teller and Turbo Pet. Use the app to access Dog-E’s games and see your high scores. You can also level up your play in caring for Dog-E by playing the flea flicking game to boost Dog-E’s health meter and taking Dog-E to the Dog Spa to change its colors. TEACH DOG-E TRICKS Train your Dog-E to do tricks using the app. Using simple sequential programming, practice STEM skills by creating your own trick with up to 6 sequences. The Trick Maker includes 44 different sequences that you can use to build custom tricks, including emotes, light shows and motion. You can save up to 4 custom tricks for each Dog-E profile you have. DOG-E TALKS WITH ITS TAIL Using innovative persistence of vision (POV) technology, Dog-E can communicate with you using its tail. Use the Dog-E App to write custom messages that will play in Dog-E’s tail. You can also draw pictures! Save up to 4 custom tail creations in each Dog-E profile you have. CREATE A DOG-E WITHOUT THE TOY No Dog-E toy? No problem! You can Quick Mint one in a million Dog-E profiles in the app even without the toy. Even name your dogs. When you get a Dog-E toy, you can load those profiles onto your toy to bring them to life. ABOUT US At WowWee, we don’t just create, we wow. We astonish imaginations and inspire kids around the world. We believe in the power of innovation, which is why we develop industry-leading apps to pair with our award-winning interactive toys. Learn more about WowWee and our products at www.wowwee.com Privacy is an issue we take very seriously. To learn more about our app and our privacy policy, visit https://dog-e.com/policies/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Scout Elf® Ideas4 screens
Dog4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Scout Elf® Ideas at 4.6 against Dog's 3.9. Scout Elf® Ideas also leads on ratings volume (3.6K vs 173). Dog's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

Scout Elf® Ideas holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Scout Elf® Ideas has 3.6K ratings behind it against 173, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Scout Elf® Ideas's written reviews are positive against 58% of Dog's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scout Elf® Ideas ships an update monthly, Dog every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Scout Elf® Ideas versus Dog: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScout Elf® IdeasDog
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (3.6K ratings) — better3.9 (173 ratings)
Positive reviews65.0% of reviews — better58.1% of reviews
Number of ratings3.6K — better173
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size145 MB158 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Elf on the Shelf CCA & B LLC.WowWee Group Limited

Customer experience

Scout Elf® Ideas

All ratings3,610 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral5.2%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews157 reviews
Positive65.0%
Neutral10.8%
Negative24.2%

Dog

All ratings173 ratings
Positive69.4%
Neutral8.1%
Negative22.5%
Written reviews62 reviews
Positive58.1%
Neutral11.3%
Negative30.6%

User reviews

Scout Elf® Ideas

From 3.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎅 Fun and creative elf ideas
  • 👍 Helpful for keeping Christmas traditions alive
  • 🎨 Inspires family creativity and bonding
  • 🕰️ Useful reminder for elf activities

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Concerns about app access for children
  • 🤔 Some ideas too complex or require extra purchases
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches with app functionality
  • 🔍 Lack of ability to easily switch between kid and adult modes

Dog

From 173 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun to play with
  • 🐶 Cute robot dog
  • 💖 Interactive features
  • 📱 App enhances experience
  • 🤖 Dog-E is awesome

Room to improve

  • ❓ Unclear battery percentage
  • 🤷‍♀️ App stuck on intro
  • ❓ Don't know what to do
  • 🤔 Confusing permissions
  • 🚫 Items are locked

Bugs and requests

Scout Elf® Ideas

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashing or freezing
  • Inability to delete the app
  • Saved favorites/ideas not persisting
  • Videos and images not loading properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • More original and simple elf ideas
  • Ability to save/share custom elf ideas
  • Password protection for adult section
  • Expanded content for international users

Dog

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App stuck on intro screen
  • App won't pair or open
  • App freezes on screen
  • Bluetooth connection issues
  • App crashes
Show 10 more
  • Love icon doesn't work
  • Potty icon doesn't work
  • Turbo pet doesn't work
  • Nose boop delays
  • Items in app locked
  • App won't open past intro
  • App flashes to dog then back to intro
  • Poop feature doesn't work
  • Feeding part doesn't work
  • App doesn't ask for permissions

Requested features

14 requests
  • Update app for new features
  • More interactive features
  • More games
  • More updates
  • Fix tail color to look green
Show 9 more
  • Fix green paws
  • Ability to delete Dog-E profiles
  • Update app for Amazon tablet
  • Fix love icon
  • Fix potty icon
  • Fix turbo pet
  • Fix poop feature
  • Fix feeding feature
  • Add dark mode

In-app purchases

None

Scout Elf® Ideas

No in-app purchases

None

Dog

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scout Elf® Ideas free?
Scout Elf® Ideas is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dog free?
Dog is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Scout Elf® Ideas or Dog?
Scout Elf® Ideas is rated higher. Scout Elf® Ideas averages 4.6 out of 5 from 3.6K ratings, while Dog averages 3.9 from 173 ratings.
Do Scout Elf® Ideas or Dog have ads?
Neither Scout Elf® Ideas nor Dog shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scout Elf® Ideas or Dog?
Scout Elf® Ideas ships an update monthly, and Dog every 5 days. Most recently, Scout Elf® Ideas was updated on September 26, 2026 and Dog on September 25, 2026.

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