Comparison

Train Home vs Platform

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Train Home

This app displays National Rail and London Overground train departure information on a single screen. Commuters can favorite common journeys for instant access and receive notifications for upcoming departures. Pinned trains offer real-time location and arrival updates.

Highlights
  • Real-time UK train departure information
  • Favorite journeys for quick access
  • Departure notifications via GPS
  • Pinned train tracking with live updates
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Direct data from National Rail Enquiries
Features
Read full description

This app is for the commuters. Display all the National Rail and London Overground train departure information you need on one simple screen. No more searching, no more taps. Once you've set it up, open the app and the info you need is always right there in front of you. The app allows you to add stations that you commonly travel between to your favourites, then the departure board for those journeys will appear right on the app's home screen as soon as you open the app. The list is ordered by distance from your current location so the trains you're interested in are always right there at the top of your screen. If your device has GPS (iPhones and some iPads), when you walk into one of your favourite stations you can choose to receive a notification with departure times of the next few trains to your chosen destination. You don't even have to open the app to see when your next train will be, it just appears! As easy as that. If you use both an iPhone and an iPad your favourite journeys will automatically sync using iCloud - no need to set everything up twice. If your commute is even more fixed, you can also pin individual trains. Once you’ve decided on a departure, tap on it to pin it. The departure will move to the top of the screen and give you more details about where the train is currently. Once it sets off it’ll stay there, even when the departure has dropped off the station’s departure board, keeping you updated with the last station you passed through, your estimated arrival time, platform and any delays. All the information comes direct from National Rail Enquiries so will be as up to date and real time as the station boards. We're all creatures of habit, if you find yourself often travelling between the same stations (for work or pleasure), this is the app for you! Note: This isn't a journey planner. Only direct train services between stations will show up, the app won't suggest connections. But once you've found out the connection points of your journey, add them into this app to keep up to date with the train times.

About

Platform

Features
Read full description

Platform puts the essential information from a UK railway departure board on your iPhone—clear, immediate and easy to read. Designed for regular commuters, Platform remembers up to four stations and shows the departures relevant to the journeys you make most often, in the app or in your personal departure board home screen widget. • Live departure times and service updates • Expected times, delays and cancellations • Platform information when available • Up to four saved stations • Automatic time-based switching between journeys • Instant manual switching whenever plans change • A quick-glance home-screen widget • Distinctive UK departure-board-inspired design Platform is deliberately lightweight. There are no maps, complicated journey-planning screens or unnecessary distractions—just the information you need to catch your train. Live railway information is supplied using National Rail data. Platform is independently developed and is not an official National Rail app.

Screenshots

Train Home4 screens
Platform3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Train Home at 4 against Platform's 1. Train Home also leads on iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

Scorecard2 real differences · 6 level
Train Home versus Platform: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrain HomePlatform
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews87.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyMonthly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThomas ThorpeChristopher Deutsch

In-app purchases

None

Train Home

No in-app purchases

None

Platform

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Train Home free?
Train Home is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Platform free?
Platform is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Train Home or Platform have ads?
Neither Train Home nor Platform shows ads.

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