# Playground Physics vs Sandbox AR

Playground Physics and Sandbox AR both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Sandbox AR's written reviews are positive against 40% of Playground Physics's. Sandbox AR also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Playground Physics against 4.7 for Sandbox AR. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 11 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 40% of Playground Physics's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sandbox AR's.

Playground Physics ships an update every 5 months, Sandbox AR every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and July 28, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Playground Physics | Sandbox AR |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/playground-physics/id947124790/reviews) | **[4.7 (11 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sandbox-ar/id1582806816/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 5 | **11** |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 45 MB | 1.6 GB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [New York Hall of Science](https://appshunter.io/developer/947124789) | [Discovery Education Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1557216359) |

## What reviewers say

### Playground Physics

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/playground-physics/id947124790)

Record videos of motion, trace paths, and analyze physics concepts like forces and energy. This tool helps educators bring Newton's Laws to life with interactive graphs and slow-motion playback. Ideal for middle and high school science.

**Highlights:** Record and analyze motion in videos, Trace paths and examine movement, Interactive scrubbable graphs, Slow-motion playback, Calculate forces and energy, Save and share performance videos

**In-app purchases:** none


### Sandbox AR

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sandbox-ar/id1582806816)

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)

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Playground Physics free?

Playground Physics 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, Playground Physics or Sandbox AR?

Sandbox AR is rated higher. Playground Physics averages 4.6 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Sandbox AR averages 4.7 from 11 ratings.

### Do Playground Physics or Sandbox AR have ads?

Neither Playground Physics nor Sandbox AR shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Playground Physics or Sandbox AR?

Playground Physics ships an update every 5 months, and Sandbox AR every 2 months. Most recently, Playground Physics was updated on September 13, 2026 and Sandbox AR on July 28, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*