MapSwipe vs Chronicle (PLUM Study)
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MapSwipe
Contribute to humanitarian efforts by analyzing satellite imagery. Identify settlements, roads, and rivers in crisis-prone areas to help aid organizations locate vulnerable populations. Your contributions enable faster and more effective delivery of life-saving assistance.
- Analyze satellite imagery
- Identify settlements and infrastructure
- Support humanitarian missions
- Contribute to mapping projects
- Crowdsource data for aid organizations
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Make a meaningful impact from your phone, one swipe at a time. MapSwipe is part of the Missing Maps project. It is a free, open-source app that lets anyone contribute to humanitarian and development projects in just minutes a day. No mapping experience needed: review satellite imagery, identify features like buildings, roads, and waterways, and help validate map data used by organizations around the world. The data you generate supports humanitarian organizations, researchers, and local communities, making OpenStreetMap data more accessible for disaster response, public health, climate resilience, and sustainable development. How you can contribute: * Find Features: Swipe through satellite imagery to spot buildings, roadways, waterways, and more * Compare Dates: Review before-and-after imagery to detect environmental changes and assess damage * Validate Footprints: Check building footprints and flag areas that need remapping * Check Completeness: Compare mapped data against aerial imagery to find gaps * Assess Images: Review photographs to confirm features and improve machine learning tools * Locate Objects: Mark rooftops, solar panels, trees, and other features to help train machine learning models Your swipes have real impact. MapSwipe is managed by a volunteer-led team with support from the American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, HeiGIT, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Togglecorp. Download MapSwipe and join a global community putting the world's most vulnerable places on the map.
Chronicle (PLUM Study)
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Chronicle is a passive sensing application for behavioral research studies. Participants must first be enrolled in an approved research study and be possession of a unique enrollment link provided by the researcher in order to provide data. This application also queries, but does not collect step counts from HealthKit as a workaround to known SensorKit limitations.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Chronicle (PLUM Study) at daily against MapSwipe's every 6 weeks. Chronicle (PLUM Study) also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MapSwipe ships an update every 6 weeks, Chronicle (PLUM Study) daily. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MapSwipe | Chronicle (PLUM Study) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (26 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 76.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 26 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | British Red Cross | Methodic, Inc. |
In-app purchases
MapSwipe
No in-app purchases
Chronicle (PLUM Study)
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is MapSwipe free?
Is Chronicle (PLUM Study) free?
Do MapSwipe or Chronicle (PLUM Study) have ads?
Which is updated more often, MapSwipe or Chronicle (PLUM Study)?
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