Review of my Top Free Memory Training Apps
I searched for “Brain Training” in the Apple App Store. I chose the Apps below as they had the term brain training in their description, were free to download, and were the most popular using the search criteria. Below are my reviews pricing was accurate at the time of reviewing.
MindPal
MindPal is Free with in App Purchases. When you first open the app you choose skills you would like to improve -Recall information better, Increase attention and avoid distractions, Calculate Faster, React Quickly. I chose recall information better and calculate faster. You can then choose your training goals. There is a range to choose from; improve vocabulary & writing, switch between tasks efficiently, use logical reasoning to solve problems and process information faster.I chose – use logical reasoning to solve problems and process information faster. You can if you receive choose notifications. You then enter your gender and age (there is only male and female to choose from). You then have a personalised training programme that it advises you to use daily.
The games are fun and quick, some were really challenging and others I found easier. I got lots of positive reinforcement of points and told in % how much better I was than others my age on the same games. The second day that I used the App the adverts started. The adverts were long (over a minute) and there was an advert between each game – before the advert started there was the chance to upgrade to premium. This was really frustrating as a user.
Monthly £9.49, Yearly £28.49 (on offer from £56.99) and Lifetime (£49.99 on offer from £93.99)
Lumosity
Luminosity is free with in App Purchases. You have to create an account – you can use email, Apple, Google etc to do this. You then have to enter a date of birth, gender (offers not to say or male or female), education and how you heard about them. You have to select areas you would like to practice. Memory, Attention, Flexibility, Problem Solving, Speed, Math, Language.I chose Memory, Problem Solving, Math, Language. You are set 3 goals on your first day – take your fit test, Learn about your brain, get your training program.
The games were more challenging than Mind Pal – with a train routing game where you had to plan ahead, whilst also reacting to what was happening in the present. Once you had done the “Fit Test” you have to wait for the next day or upgrade to premium. You can log in everyday and play the limited games. The games are challenging and fun to play so will work out your brain.
Pricing £8.99 per month, yearly plan £44.99.
Elevate
Elevate is Apple’s App of the Year it is free with in App purchaes. You have to create an account – you can use email, Apple, Google etc to do this. You have to enter your age and if you think you have ADHD. You can select different areas to focus on. These include writing, reading, mental arithmetic. You also had to select a primary reason for using this the App. I chose cognitive improvement. It was really difficult to try out Elevate as a free trial without signing up for a subscription. I was able to try out some of their games. The meaning of words game and mental arithmetic games were fun and challenging. The games were some of the best out of all the brain training apps that I have tried for free. You get an EPQ (Elevate Proficiency Quotient) at the end of each skill test. This is a score out of 5000.
I was left at the end of the trial not knowing if I had actually subscribed or not. I checked my Apple ID subscriptions and there was no subscription. I also searched the web to see if there was good information about cancelling the Elevate subscription and there was a supportive FAQs on their website that explained how to cancel the subscription.
Pricing £9.99 per month, Yearly £39.99, Lifetime £399.99
Impulse
Impulse is free with in App purchases. You have to create an account – you can use email, Apple, Google etc to do this. You have to enter your age, gender and if you think you have ADHD. I selected problem solving, memory, attention, mental maths and language to work on. There was a large selection of cognitive / psychology aspects you could choose to select that the app could use your results to profile you including anxiety, fear response, IQ test. This was the largest range of these different aspects available on the apps I have reviewed. I think this would be really useful feature for those who are interested in this part of their cognition. I am sure that with the premium subscription you would have access to a great deal of information that would give the user insights into different parts of their cognitive psychology & an IQ test. The games were really fun to play and challenging. There was a memory game where you had to remember the pattern of the tiles – however they had used pictures of ghosts on the tiles this made the game easier to play and as it was near Halloween a good theme choice. There was also a word game where you had to select if the word was positve or negative. This game was also fun.
Again, I was left at the end of the trial not knowing if I had actually subscribed or not. I checked my Apple ID subscriptions and there was no subscription.
Pricing £6.99 weekly (this changed to £5.99 weekly with a 3 day free trial), Yearly £39.99 and Lifetime £49.99 (this was a 50% off deal).
Peak
Peak is free with in App purchases. Once you have opened the app you have to answer some questions. Do you want to train your memory? Do you want to train your language skills? Do you want to train your problem solving skills? Do you want to train your focus? Do you want to train your mental agility? Do you want to train your emotional skills? I selected yes to all and was then given an assessment. Number sequence lowest to highest game. The game called Perilious Path was a good workout – you had to memorise the location of the perilous tiles and then find a safe path around these tiles. Once I had completed the three game trial the app asked for my age. I skipped the free trial offer and got the limited use so I could test what the app offered for free. It was easy to understand that I had the limited account. I could not continue on the same day but could continue the following day with limited use. You can go back in a do three games a day without signing up to the premium subscription
Pricing £6.90 per month, yearly £25.99, lifetime £76.99
Conclusion
Overall, I really enjoyed all the games on the Apps. I was reviewing purely from what I could gain by having these Apps for free. I would select one of the Apps where you did not have to watch adverts but had a limited range of games Lumosity and Peak were the best for this. Others may not mind watching the adverts but I was too impatient to wait. This would mean that I was training my brain in ways I would not usually do, the App would be part of the variety helps supports the brain function improving.