Platforms vs NCP
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Platforms
Get ahead of the crowds by checking your train platform in advance. This app displays departure information and confirmed platform numbers for London stations, helping you prepare for your journey and avoid last-minute rushes.
- Platform information before departure boards
- Departure times displayed
- Confirmed platform numbers
- Station preparedness
- Basic yet functional interface
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Live departures, arrivals and platform numbers for every station on the National Rail network. See the platform as soon as it is known — and know how much to trust it. A platform confirmed by the train operator turns green. One that is only expected, or due to be confirmed shortly, says so. If it changes, you will see that too. ON THE BOARD • Live departures and arrivals, refreshed automatically • Platform numbers marked confirmed, expected or changed • Delays with the revised time and the reason for them • Cancellations, with the reason and where the train was meant to go • Operator, headcode and coach count at a glance TRAINS THAT DIVIDE Ending up in the wrong half of a dividing train means ending up somewhere you did not intend to go. Both destinations are named on the board, and at the stop where the train splits you are told which portion carries on where — and whether that is the front or rear coaches. THE WHOLE JOURNEY Open any service for its full list of calling points, where the train has got to, the reason for any delay, and the train actually working it — class, unit numbers and name. GETTING TO YOUR TRAIN FASTER • Filter the board down to trains calling at your destination • Look ahead to a particular time of day • Find your nearest station — matched on device, so your location never leaves your phone Covers every National Rail station in England, Scotland and Wales. Departure data is supplied by Realtime Trains. It is generally reliable, but please check platform and on-train displays before boarding.
NCP
Manage all your parking needs in one place. Purchase digital season tickets, pay-as-you-go for parking, and extend your sessions remotely. Features include favorite sites, AutoPay, and in-app customer support.
- Digital season tickets
- Ticketless pay-as-you-go parking
- Extend parking sessions remotely
- Favorite car park sites
- AutoPay with VRN
- In-app chat support
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The NCP app brings all your parking needs together in one convenient and easy-to-use place, offering the ability to: • Purchase and access a digital Season Ticket, giving you the ability to manage your account with ease • Ticketless pay-as-you-go parking at 370+ car parks across the UK Make sure you download the NCP app before entering one of our car parks to guarantee the best experience. Downloading the NCP app means you can purchase digital monthly, quarterly, and annual season tickets, depending on your needs. Your season ticket will then be stored in the app, meaning you’ll never forget or lose a physical season ticket again! Features of the NCP app include: • The ability to pay as you go and access your season ticket, if you have one, in one place • Extend your parking session in-app to save you having to go back to your car, you’ll be notified by push notifications from the app, so please ensure you have enabled notifications in your device settings to stay up to date • One QR code for all your products • Ability to favourite sites that you regularly visit in your favourites list • AutoPay provides fully automatic recognition and payment at selected sites via your vehicle registration number (VRN) • Map and list view of car parks with additional features • Buy and pay for a season ticket within the app, allowing unlimited parking within your chosen site for the length of your ticket • In-app chat function, giving you a direct line to customer service • Pay with Apple Pay
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Platforms at 67% against NCP's 12%. NCP's advantage is rating (4.3 vs 1.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, update cadence and device support 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. Platforms sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. NCP asks for nothing beyond the download.
NCP holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NCP has 100 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Platforms's written reviews are positive against 12% of NCP's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.
| Parameter | Platforms | NCP |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 4.3 (100 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 11.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 100 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Will Nash | National Car Parks Limited |
Customer experience
Platforms
NCP
Bugs and requests
Platforms
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
NCP
Reported bugs
4 issues- App not recognizing account
- Inability to pay in app after getting ticket
- Duplicate parking sessions
- Inconsistent pricing between app and machines
Requested features
4 requests- Add biometric login options
- Allow saving multiple vehicles
- Improve session management and reminders
- Integrate with car park barriers
In-app purchases
Platforms
- Remove adverts for a year$1.99
NCP
No in-app purchases









