Report updated May 20, 2026
Folium
For university students seeking to track their academic progress, GPA, and graduation requirements.
Folium is a struggling entertainment app that is free with in-app purchases. With a 2.4/5 rating from 821 reviews, it struggles with user retention. Users particularly appreciate core emulation functionality provides a nostalgic way to revisit classic handheld gaming experiences, though frequent application crashes during game loading or active gameplay sessions prevent consistent usage remains a common concern.
What is Folium?
Folium is a university transcript and GPA tracking app for iOS and Android that visualizes academic progress as a laurel wreath.
Students hire Folium to gamify the administrative burden of degree tracking, replacing manual spreadsheets with a visual goal-oriented interface to maintain motivation.
Current Momentum
v1.37 · 2mo ago
Steady- Shipped Magic Import tool.
- Last major release Mar 2026.
Active Nemesis
My Study Life - School Planner
By My Study Life
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
EntertainmentRating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User Mood
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
What Are The Key Features?
Parses study plans directly from university websites via copy-paste to populate transcripts
Renders academic progress as a laurel wreath that fills with leaves based on passed exams
How much does it cost?
- Free (Android)
- $2.99 (iOS)
Monetization model splits by platform, utilizing a $2.99 upfront purchase on iOS while maintaining a free, ad-supported model on Android.
Who Built It?
Jarrod Norwell
Providing Australian commuters and power users with privacy-first utilities for navigation, security, and academic tracking.
Portfolio
6
Apps
What other apps does Jarrod Norwell make?
Explore the full Jarrod Norwell report
Portfolio breakdown, audience, momentum, and every app published by Jarrod Norwell.
What do users think recently?
Low confidence · 55 reviews analyzed · Based on 55 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a upset sentiment. Users appreciate core emulation functionality provides a nostalgic way to revisit classic handheld gaming experiences, but report frequent application crashes during game loading or active gameplay sessions prevent consistent usage.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
How have ratings & review volume moved?
Rating, review sentiment, and total reviews over time, with release markers showing the post-launch impact.
Vertical markers = app releases. Hover any release for the post-release impact delta.
View the full user-sentiment analysis
Mood gauge, ratings & review-volume history, every praise / complaint / request, and sentiment over time.
What is the competitive landscape for Folium?
How's The Entertainment Market?
How does it evolve in the Entertainment market?
Folium holds the #3 Paid position in the US Education category, but its #12 rank in SN and #77 in NG indicate volatile international performance. The $2.99 iOS price point creates a conversion ceiling that limits the app's ability to compete with free, institutional-grade alternatives.
Rank progression
155 active rankings tracked — 30-day window
Which niche is Folium in?
to track university grades and academic progress
Explore the full Academic Tracking Trackers niche
Every app in this space — 1 tracked, the niche's live rankings, and Marlvel's editorial take on the job-to-be-done.
The rivals identified
Nemeses(1)
This is the direct market leader in the student-focused academic scheduling niche, serving the exact same user intent as Folium.
Differentiators
- Offers comprehensive cross-platform cloud synchronization that ensures schedule availability across mobile and desktop environments.
- Provides dedicated modules for tracking specific class details, including room numbers and instructor contact information.
- Integrates automated task reminders that trigger notifications based on upcoming assignment deadlines and exam dates.
Head to head
Folium must lean into its gamification niche to differentiate from the utility-heavy, functional dominance of My Study Life.
Contenders(2)
Captures the institutional academic tracking market, forcing students to use the platform mandated by their university.
Differentiators
- Provides deep integration with Learning Management Systems, automating the flow of grades and assignment feedback.
- Focuses on the parent-student-teacher triad, shifting the value proposition from personal motivation to institutional oversight.
A massive institutional player that dominates the student-parent-teacher communication channel, creating a high barrier to entry.
Differentiators
- Directly integrates with school district databases to provide real-time, verified grade and attendance reporting.
- Functions as an official institutional portal rather than a personal student-managed tracking tool.
Same space(4)
A high-performance task manager that competes for the student's attention regarding daily assignment execution.
Differentiators
- Combines a powerful task manager with a built-in Pomodoro timer for structured study session management.
- Supports natural language input for rapid task creation, significantly reducing the friction of daily planning.
Shares the gamification-for-productivity DNA, though focused on time-blocking rather than academic transcript tracking.
Differentiators
- Uses a virtual tree-planting mechanic to discourage phone usage during dedicated study or focus sessions.
- Provides detailed focus statistics that help users visualize their productivity patterns over weeks and months.
Adjacent academic utility that focuses on study content mastery rather than schedule or grade management.
Differentiators
- Utilizes AI-driven study modes to generate practice tests and flashcards from uploaded course materials.
- Leverages a massive community-contributed library of study sets that reduces the time required for exam preparation.
A horizontal productivity tool that students frequently repurpose as a custom-built academic dashboard.
Differentiators
- Offers infinite flexibility for students to build custom databases, wikis, and project trackers from scratch.
- Integrates advanced AI capabilities for summarizing lecture notes and drafting academic content within the app.
Compare Folium against every rival
All rivals in one side-by-side table — identity, store metrics, ratings & sentiment, and strategic intel — plus a head-to-head page for each.
The outtake for Folium
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Laurel wreath gamification loop increases user motivation
- Simplified interface avoids administrative overhead of traditional planners
Critical Frictions
- $2.99 upfront cost on iOS limits top-of-funnel conversion
- Severe stability issues (crashes) erode daily active habit
- Lack of clear setup documentation increases new-user churn
Growth Levers
- Education partnerships as B2B distribution
- Wearable integration for progress tracking
Market Threats
- My Study Life's cross-platform cloud sync dominance
- Institutional portals mandating usage of competing tools
What are the next best moves?
Stabilize the transcript engine because crashes are the #1 complaint → increase retention.
Sentiment analysis identifies frequent crashes as the primary driver of negative reviews.
Trade-off: Push the wearable companion app sprint to Q3.
Pivot iOS pricing to freemium because the $2.99 barrier limits acquisition → increase install velocity.
Android free model shows higher potential for user acquisition than the iOS paid model.
Trade-off: Pause the annual tier price-test.
A counter-intuitive read
The app's #3 chart rank is a liability, as it attracts users expecting a polished utility who churn immediately upon hitting the setup friction.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Cross-platform cloud synchronization (available in My Study Life but absent here)
Key Takeaways
Folium wins on visual motivation but fails on technical reliability, so the PM must prioritize engine stability over new features to prevent total churn.
Where Is It Heading?
Declining
The academic planning market is consolidating around institutional tools, leaving Folium exposed to churn. Unless the latest release stabilizes, the current rating trajectory will force a decline in organic discovery by Q3.
Persistent crashes in the latest release erode the daily active habit, which compounds the rating drag already visible on Android.
Recent updates focused on stability, no feature expansion.