Bus Panda vs Great Rides
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bus Panda
Get real-time Wellington bus departure information, timetables, and local weather. Save favorite bus stops for quick access and sync across your Apple devices. Includes an Apple Watch app for condensed views.
- Real-time bus departures
- Bus timetables
- Favorite bus stops
- Local weather updates
- iCloud sync across devices
- Apple Watch app
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Do you live in Wellington, New Zealand and use the bus often? If so, you need Bus Panda! The information you want, when you want it, with minimum fuss and distraction. Store as many favourite bus stops as you want by adding them from a map or by stop ID. Very quickly access realtime departure information along with timetables and see local Wellington weather from a variety of weather providers. Bus Panda uses iCloud to sync stop information between your iOS and macOS devices, should you choose to install it on more than one under the same iCloujd account and the bundled Apple Watch application shows a condensed view of the full iPhone application.
Great Rides
Discover and navigate New Zealand's Great Rides with this comprehensive guide. Track your position offline using GPS, view trail details with elevation profiles, and find essential bike services. Explore points of interest with photos and descriptions for a complete cycling adventure.
- Offline trail maps
- GPS position tracking
- Trail section details
- Elevation profiles
- Bike service identification
- Points of interest information
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New Zealand's best guide and tracking app for the NZ Great Rides a partner of the NZ Cycle Trail Once a trail is downloaded it can work offline: • To track your position along the trail using your phone's GPS. • Showing key stops on the trail with photos and descriptions. • Providing information about trail sections with elevation profiles. • Identifying bike-related services to help you along your ride. • As a guide with trail information all packaged into one app. All the trail data has been carefully collected on-site then compiled with relevant trail side attractions and points of interest. Key sites can be found on the map screen and selected to provide more information, photos, and links.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bus Panda at 100% against Great Rides's 67%. Bus Panda also leads on device support (5 vs 3). Great Rides's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 8 months). 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.
Bus Panda ships an update every 8 months, Great Rides every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bus Panda | Great Rides |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 141 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MR A D HODGKINSON | Gary Patterson |
Customer experience
Bus Panda
Great Rides
In-app purchases
Bus Panda
No in-app purchases
Great Rides
No in-app purchases









