SchoolMessenger vs STEAR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SchoolMessenger
Stay connected with your school or district through this app. It provides a unified inbox for notifications and messages, allowing for two-way communication between teachers, parents, and students. Manage your notification preferences and receive alerts for important updates.
- Unified inbox for notifications and messages
- Two-way teacher-parent-student communication
- Scrollable notification history
- Customizable notification preferences
- Push notifications for alerts
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The new SchoolMessenger app gives busy parents, students, and staff a powerful way to stay engaged with their school or district, and connect to each other. App Features: - Easy-to-read inbox that captures all SchoolMessenger notifications, and now two-way teacher-parent-student messages (if enabled by school or district) - Scrollable notification view to review all phone, email, and text content in a single place - Detailed preference control allows adjusting notification settings - Push notifications are available for alerts when school or district sends a message Requirements: - For notifications, school or district has SchoolMessenger notification service subscription with SchoolMessenger app enabled - For notifications, valid email address on file with your school or district - WiFi or data plan for internet access - iOS 14+ Note: SchoolMessenger app is not for sending broadcast messages. If you are a SchoolMessenger Communicate notification customer looking to send broadcast messages, please download the SchoolMessenger Admin sender app.
STEAR
This app provides information and tools for individuals experiencing economic abuse. It includes a screening questionnaire, safety planning tips, and resources for economic empowerment. A discreet lock feature is included for user safety.
- Economic abuse information
- Screening questionnaire
- Safety planning tips
- Economic empowerment resources
- Discreet lock feature
- No personal data storage
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Screening Tool for Economic Abuse Recovery (otherwise known as STEAR) is a free app designed for people who have experienced a form of domestic violence known as economic abuse. It contains general information on different types of economic abuse, a questionnaire to help identify it in relationships, tips on safety planning and specific resources to support you on your path to economic empowerment and freedom. Gathering resources to escape economic abuse can be tricky when living with the abuser. For your safety, a lock feature has been built into the app for discreet browsing. When you click on the lock icon the app will switch to a mock home organizing page with images of decor and recipes. To get back into the app after the lock screen has been activated, the app requires you to set a 4-digit pin at the beginning, however, no personally identifiable information the user submits to the app will be stored. This means that with each session, the app will open as brand new. Note, if you feel unsafe downloading this app onto your personal device consider using the web version on a private browser where your history will be cleared upon closing the window. You can visit our site at https://stear.app/. The STEAR app guides users through a series of pages that break down aspects of economic abuse including common controlling mechanisms and tactics, employment sabotage and economic control. Along with this information, there is a quiz for users to take to assess their situation to see if they're at risk. It is not a replacement for consultation with professional accounting, tax, legal or other competent advisors. STEAR was developed by the Canadian Center for Womens Empowerment (CCFWE) with funding from the Government of Canada and WAGE
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: STEAR at 100% against SchoolMessenger's 53%. STEAR also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
| Parameter | SchoolMessenger | STEAR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (802 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 53.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 802 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PowerSchool Group LLC | Canadian Center For Women's Empowerment ( Ccfwe) |
Customer experience
SchoolMessenger
STEAR
Bugs and requests
SchoolMessenger
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to report late arrivals or early departures
- Attendance reporting not working for some users
- Syncing issues between app and school records
- Verification emails not being delivered
Requested features
4 requests- Add option to mark all messages as read
- Improve navigation and message management
- Implement dark mode and accessibility features
- Allow parents to initiate messages to teachers
STEAR
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SchoolMessenger
No in-app purchases
STEAR
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SchoolMessenger free?
Is STEAR free?
Do SchoolMessenger or STEAR have ads?
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