Simple Machines by Tinybop vs AstroArray
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Simple Machines by Tinybop
Explore the playful side of physics and learn about simple machines through interactive experiments. Kids can discover how levers, pulleys, and other mechanisms work by building and testing them in a digital sandbox environment. This app is designed to spark curiosity and understanding of scientific principles.
- Explore 6 simple machines
- Experiment with real-world physics
- Investigate physics at work
- Learn about force and motion
- Kid-friendly design
- Interactive labels in 40+ languages
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Explore the playful side of physics! “I just love how apps like these get kids genuinely excited about science." — COOL MOM TECH Experiment with levers, pulleys, inclined planes, inclined planes, wedges, wheel and axles, and screws. Discover how they work and investigate the invisible forces behind them in this sandbox app. Destroy a castle, make music, send satellites into orbit & more! *** App Store Editor's Choice *** *** Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner *** Simple Machines integrates with STEM curriculum: kids can alter and test each machine to learn about force and motion, actions and reactions, inputs and outputs, conservation of energy, mechanical advantages, and tradeoffs. Get free activity sheets at tinybop.com. Simple Machines is No. 4 in Tinybop’s Explorer’s Library series, designed for curious kids ages 4+ to dive deep into big ideas. The apps in this series have won Best of the App Store, App Store Editors’ Choice, Parents’ Choice, and Children's Technology Review Editor’s Choice awards. Features: * Explore 6 simple machines: levers, pulleys, inclined planes, wedges, wheel and axles, and screws. * Experiment with real world physics, actions and reactions, inputs and outputs. Learn about force and motion. * Investigate the physics at work behind each machine. * Sophisticated sound design rewards experimentation. * Original artwork by James Gilleard. * Smart features use your device’s camera to bring your kids’ world into the app. * Learn new vocabulary in 40+ languages with interactive labels. * Intuitive, safe, and kid-friendly design. * Entertaining for kids and adults alike. FREE handbook Our expert-reviewed handbook is full of facts, interaction hints, and discussion questions to support learning in this app, in the classroom or at home. Download in your app or at: http://tinybop.com/handbooks. Privacy Policy We take your and your child’s privacy very seriously. We do not collect or share personal information about your child, nor do we allow any third-party advertising. When the camera, microphone, and other services are used within an app, your information is neither collected nor distributed outside of the app. Read our complete privacy policy at tinybop.com. Tinybop, Inc. is a Brooklyn-based studio of designers, engineers, and artists. We make toys for tomorrow. We’re all over the internet. Visit us: www.tinybop.com Follow us: twitter.com/tinybop Like us: facebook.com/tinybop Peek behind the scenes: instagram.com/tinybop We love hearing your stories! If you have ideas, or something isn’t working as you expect it to, please contact us: hi@tinybop.com. Compatible with iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, 6, 6 Plus, iPod touch (5th generation), iPad 2, 3, mini, and Air. **This app is optimized for iPad 2 and iPhone 5 or higher. Requires iOS 7.0 or later. psst! It's not Tiny Bop, or Tiny Bob, or Tiny Pop. It's Tinybop.
AstroArray
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Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, on Wajarri Yamaji Country, is home to many international telescopes. All these telescopes are comprised of antennas, which can be viewed in this app. See each antenna from the observatory right in front of you! By placing your device horizontal to a flat surface (so your camera can detect the ground to know it is safe to build an antenna) and tapping the screen when prompted, one of the three telescope antennas from the observatory will appear in front of you! Use the scale function to shrink the antenna, or expand it to its full size! The three antennas each come from a different telescope: CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, owns and operates the ASKAP radio telescope. ASKAP is made up of 36 dish-antennas, that work together as one telescope. The antennas stand three storeys tall, each with a 12-metre-wide dish, and they are dotted across the outback over an area of about six square kilometres. Telescopes like ASKAP provide a big picture view of the Universe. Instead of studying a few objects in detail, astronomers can catalogue millions of new galaxies and other astronomical sources. ASKAP is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility, which includes radio telescopes such as the Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang, and the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) project is led by Curtin University on behalf of an international Collaboration. The MWA is composed of 4,096 “spider” antennas arranged into tiles of 16, and is tuned to receive radio signals from the sky at frequencies between 70 and 300MHz. Since its launch in 2013, the MWA has collected tens of petabytes of data and supported astronomers who study everything from our own ionosphere and solar emission, through to far-away pulsars and galaxies, and even further back to the Big Bang. MWA’s unprecedented capabilities and discoveries underpin its critical role as the first fully operational precursor instrument of the SKA project. The SKA-Low telescope is part of the SKA Observatory (SKAO) – a global next-generation radio observatory that will deliver half a century of transformational science. The Observatory will operate two telescopes – SKA-Mid in South Africa and SKA-Low in Australia, with a global headquarters in the UK. SKA-Low is being built in Australia, and will comprise 131,072 two-metre-tall Christmas tree- shaped antennas, laid out in three spiral arms across 74km end-to-end. SKA-Mid will comprise 197 dish antennas in the Karoo region of South Africa. This app will allow you to walk around antennas from each of these internationally renowned telescopes. CSIRO acknowledges the Wajarri Yamaji as the Traditional Owners and native title holders of the Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: AstroArray at Free against Simple Machines by Tinybop's $2.99. AstroArray also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
AstroArray is free to download; Simple Machines by Tinybop costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Simple Machines by Tinybop ships an update every 4 months, AstroArray every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simple Machines by Tinybop | AstroArray |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.7 (62 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 37.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 62 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 112 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tinybop Inc. | 3D Walkabout Pty Ltd |
Bugs and requests
Simple Machines by Tinybop
Reported bugs
8 issues- Crashes immediately on launch
- Cannot install after purchase
- App crashes after loading screen
- No sound
- Does not work
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- Download issues
- Does not open
- Chinese language not displayed
Requested features
8 requests- Add a creative building mode
- More levels and modules
- Sandbox mode
- Ability to build own machines
- More interactive elements
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- Add more complex mechanisms
- Improve wheel and axle interaction
- Allow bringing up planets in pulley game
AstroArray
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Simple Machines by Tinybop
No in-app purchases
AstroArray
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Simple Machines by Tinybop free?
Is AstroArray free?
Do Simple Machines by Tinybop or AstroArray have ads?
Which is updated more often, Simple Machines by Tinybop or AstroArray?
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