# AT Mobile vs Sparkling

The clearest difference is update cadence: AT Mobile at every 2 weeks against Sparkling's every 3 months. Sparkling's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

AT Mobile ships an update every 2 weeks, Sparkling every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | AT Mobile | Sparkling |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (572 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/at-mobile/id1207704356/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **572** | — |
| Positive reviews | 29.9% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 160 MB | 35 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Auckland Transport](https://appshunter.io/developer/456823070) | [Sunru Holdings Pty Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1516670236) |

## What reviewers say

### AT Mobile

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/at-mobile/id1207704356)

Plan and track journeys across Auckland's public transport network, including buses, trains, and ferries. Discover walking, cycling, scooter, and car-sharing options. Manage your AT HOP card balance and receive real-time disruption alerts for a smoother commute.

**Highlights:** Journey planner for bus, train, ferry, bike, and foot, Real-time service departures and live tracking, Shared scooter, bike, and car location checks, AT HOP card balance management and top-up, Disruption alerts and train line status updates, Saved favorite stops and routes

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Helpful for planning long bus journeys
- 👍 Convenient app for public transport
- 🎅 Nice festive touch with Santa hat on bus

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy journey planner, freezes and disables features
- 🐛 Live departure tracking often unreliable or unavailable
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
- 🐛 Slow and unresponsive at times
- 🐛 Inaccurate timetable information

**Reported bugs**

- Journey planner not working, showing no results
- Live departure information not loading or disappearing
- Inability to top up cards online or through the app
- App freezing or crashing frequently

**Requested features**

- Integrate with Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Allow deleting old/unused cards
- Improve journey planning with more route options
- Provide more prominent disruption notifications
- Add dark mode


### Sparkling

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sparkling/id6501987259)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is AT Mobile free?

AT Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Sparkling free?

Sparkling is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do AT Mobile or Sparkling have ads?

Neither AT Mobile nor Sparkling shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, AT Mobile or Sparkling?

AT Mobile ships an update every 2 weeks, and Sparkling every 3 months. Most recently, AT Mobile was updated on October 20, 2026 and Sparkling on October 19, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*