Thalamus vs Elsevier eBooks+
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Thalamus
This app offers a real-time system for scheduling interviews and coordinating travel for medical residency and fellowship applicants. It streamlines communication and allows applicants to self-schedule, manage confirmations, cancellations, and waitlists, giving them control over their interview dates.
- Real-time interview scheduling
- Travel coordination
- Self-scheduling for applicants
- Automated confirmations and cancellations
- Waitlist management
- Streamlined communication
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Thalamus is developed through a collaboration of trainees, administrators, coordinators, directors and GME leadership to provide comprehensive online interview scheduling and travel coordination via a real-time scheduling system – online and mobile. Thalamus streamlines communication and interview scheduling for medical residency and fellowship applicants by facilitating self-scheduling, thereby eliminating unnecessary phone calls and emails. The software manages all confirmations, cancellations, rescheduling, and wait lists, so that applicants can instantaneously confirm interview dates and take full control of their schedules. Now featured nationally at 125+ institutions and used by >75% of applicants, Thalamus is the most comprehensive and preferred interview management solution in GME.
Elsevier eBooks+
Access your medical textbooks offline and enhance your learning with tools for note-taking, highlighting, and flashcard creation. Sync your progress and annotations across devices for a seamless study experience.
- Offline book access
- Note-taking and highlighting
- Flashcard creation
- Cross-device syncing
- In-book search
- Figure viewing and zooming
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The Elsevier eBooks+ Bookshelf companion app provides on and offline access to the books in your eBooks+ account on the Content Library page. Enhance your reading experience with tools designed to build and improve your medical knowledge; making and sharing notes, highlighting key text, and creating flashcards. Elsevier eBooks Features: • Download books to your iOS device for easy online or offline reading. • Simple, user-friendly navigation and a clean reading experience. • Search inside your current book or across your full library. • Select text to create notes or highlights from your mobile device. • Tap to open figures, view captions, and pinch to zoom. • Sync your bookmarks, last page read, and all of your notes and highlights between your iOS device and our desktop or web-based eBooks+ apps. Requirements: • Elsevier eBooks+ account • One or more books available in your eBooks+ Bookshelf account • iOS 17+
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Elsevier eBooks+ at 4.7 against Thalamus's 3.8. Elsevier eBooks+ also leads on review sentiment (43% vs 6%) and ratings volume (1.9K vs 492). Thalamus's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Elsevier eBooks+ holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 492 and 1.9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 6% of Thalamus's written reviews are positive against 43% of Elsevier eBooks+'s.
Thalamus ships an update every 3 months, Elsevier eBooks+ every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Thalamus | Elsevier eBooks+ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (492 ratings) | 4.7 (1.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 6.0% of reviews | 42.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 492 | 1.9K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 122 MB | 183 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SJ MedConnect, Inc. | Elsevier Inc. |
Customer experience
Thalamus
Elsevier eBooks+
User reviews
Thalamus
From 492 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ⭐ Great app
- 🗓️ Helps organize interviews
- 🔔 Timely notifications
Room to improve
- 🐛 Constant crashes and bugs
- 🔒 Difficulty staying logged in
- 📱 Poor mobile experience
- ⏱️ Slow and unresponsive
- 🤯 Frustrating user interface
Elsevier eBooks+
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Student / Study friendly
- 🚀 Enhances content
- 👍 Ebooks from Elsevier
- 👍 Great app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Unable to view images/tables
- 🐛 Useless for medical textbooks
- 🐛 Positioning issues
- 🐛 Scrolling and zooming problems
- 🐛 Slow loading times
Bugs and requests
Thalamus
Reported bugs
4 issues- App won't load or open
- Frequent logout issues
- Compatibility problems with newer OS versions
- Unreliable notification system
Requested features
4 requests- Allow access via mobile browser
- Improve login persistence
- Add more calendar and scheduling features
- Provide better visibility into interview details
Elsevier eBooks+
Reported bugs
5 issues- Figures placed at the end of chapters
- Search function only works for single words
- Inability to clear search history
- Freezing and crashing issues
- Incompatibility with older devices
Requested features
8 requests- More highlighting and note-taking options
- Ability to write, draw, or paste images on pages
- Separate flashcard option integration with Anki/Quizlet
- More font size options
- Streamlined text selection for voiceover
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- Page turning instead of scrolling
- Ability to write on pages
- Interactive features
In-app purchases
Thalamus
No in-app purchases
Elsevier eBooks+
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Thalamus free?
Is Elsevier eBooks+ free?
Which has better reviews, Thalamus or Elsevier eBooks+?
Do Thalamus or Elsevier eBooks+ have ads?
Which is updated more often, Thalamus or Elsevier eBooks+?
Other comparisons
