Heritage Units vs Train Sounds Effects
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Heritage Units
This app allows users to track and report special interest locomotives from major US railroads. View reported units on a map within a 200-mile radius and contribute new sightings directly from your device.
- Track heritage units
- Report new locomotive locations
- View locomotives on maps
- Search within 200 miles
- Support for major railroads
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Track and report Heritage units (locomotives) and other special interest units for Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, CSX, BNSF and other railroads. Features: • View reported locomotives within a 200 mile radius of your devices location. • Report a new locomotive location directly from the app • View locomotives on maps All recorded locomotive information is provided by volunteers using native apps and website (https://www.heritageunits.com) Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Terms of use: https://www.heritageunits.com/user/terms Privacy policy: https://www.heritageunits.com/user/privacy
Train Sounds Effects
Enhance your model railway experience with a variety of realistic train sound effects. Control playback with switches for continuous loops or buttons for single plays, and adjust individual volumes. Import your own sounds to further personalize your setup.
- Expand model railway with sound effects
- Use iPad or external speakers
- Control playback with switches (loop) or buttons (once)
- Individually adjust volume for each element
- Import custom sound effects
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With Train-Sounds you expand your model railway with additional sound effects. Thus the joy deepens around your model railway. Use your iPad speakers or external speakers to listen these effects. The combination of switches and buttons allow you to determine how these effects are to be played. With switches, the effects are playing in a continuous loop and with buttons only once. At each switching element, you can adjust the volume individually. Buy through the in-app you add value to your version of Train-Sounds, you can bring your own sound effects into the program.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Train Sounds Effects at none against Heritage Units's shown. Train Sounds Effects also leads on review sentiment (73% vs 58%) and iOS requirement (12.3 vs 15.0). Heritage Units's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (258 vs 10). On price, rating, 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. Heritage Units sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per year and Train Sounds Effects sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for Heritage Units against 4.1 for Train Sounds Effects. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Heritage Units has 258 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 58% of Heritage Units's written reviews are positive against 73% of Train Sounds Effects's.
Heritage Units ships an update every 10 days, Train Sounds Effects every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Heritage Units | Train Sounds Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (258 ratings) | 4.1 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.1% of reviews | 73.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 258 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 122 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Brian Minnich | Janko Enke |
Customer experience
Heritage Units
Train Sounds Effects
Bugs and requests
Heritage Units
Reported bugs
14 issues- App crashes when refreshing or loading reports
- Persistent 'You've reached your limit for spots' error that lasts weeks or months
- Login credentials rejected despite correct password/username
- Automatic logout after 1-2 months of inactivity
- Premium subscription purchases not recognized by app
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- Email validation not working or emails not received
- Location tracking showing incorrect geographic location
- Reports not posting after submission despite multiple attempts
- Timezone error when submitting reports
- App incompatibility with certain iOS versions (iOS 12, etc.)
- Cannot report certain locomotives that exist in database
- Notification system stops working after initial use
- API exceptions with no user-side resolution
- Random account suspensions without explanation
Requested features
15 requests- Dark mode and light mode toggle
- Report timestamp visibility to distinguish old vs new reports
- Edit and delete buttons for submitted reports
- Increase daily/monthly report submission limits
- Ability to favorite or star specific locomotives
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- View history of past reports made by user
- Color-coded report age indicators (green for current, red for old, etc.)
- Push notifications for units within 50-100 miles
- Guest mode without account creation requirement
- Chat feature for railfan community discussion
- Add more heritage units to database (NS 3625, BNSF H1s, etc.)
- Unlimited photo uploads for free users
- Live time and destination information for trains
- Ability to report multiple units in single photo with highlights
- Include normal locomotives, not just heritage units
Train Sounds Effects
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Heritage Units
- Ad Free$0.991 Year
- Premium Membership$5.991 Year
Train Sounds Effects
- Extra Package$0.99
Questions
Is Heritage Units free?
Is Train Sounds Effects free?
Which has better reviews, Heritage Units or Train Sounds Effects?
Do Heritage Units or Train Sounds Effects have ads?
Which is updated more often, Heritage Units or Train Sounds Effects?
Other comparisons
