NPMS Public Viewer vs Rail Guide
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NPMS Public Viewer
View maps of hazardous liquid and gas transmission pipelines. Discover pipeline operators, the materials they transport, and contact information. Locate pipelines by county, offshore area, or proximity to your current location.
- Hazardous pipeline maps
- Operator identification
- Material transported details
- Contact information
- Location-based search
- County and offshore area selection
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The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) has developed the NPMS Public Viewer iPhone app to allow the public to view hazardous liquid and gas transmission pipeline maps. The user can see who operates a pipeline, what it transports, and who to contact for further information. To get started, a user may choose one county or offshore area (including state waters or federal waters) or choose to see pipelines closest to the user’s current location. For more information about the NPMS, or to access the full desktop browser version of the NPMS Public Map Viewer, go to the NPMS website at https://www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov/.
Rail Guide
Explore detailed maps of active, historic, and abandoned rail lines across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Includes milepost data for most routes and points of interest. Stay updated on map changes via the official Facebook page.
- North American rail line maps
- Current, historic, and abandoned lines
- Milepost data
- Points of interest
- Map update notifications
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Maps of current, historic, and abandoned rail lines plus points of interest in the US, Canada, and Mexico with mileposts for most lines. Follow facebook.com/railguide for map updates.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Rail Guide at 100% against NPMS Public Viewer's 40%. Rail Guide also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (21 vs 4). NPMS Public Viewer's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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.
Rail Guide holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rail Guide has 21 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of NPMS Public Viewer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Rail Guide's.
| Parameter | NPMS Public Viewer | Rail Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (21 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 21 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration | Rail Guide LLC |
Customer experience
NPMS Public Viewer
Rail Guide
In-app purchases
NPMS Public Viewer
No in-app purchases
Rail Guide
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is NPMS Public Viewer free?
Is Rail Guide free?
Which has better reviews, NPMS Public Viewer or Rail Guide?
Do NPMS Public Viewer or Rail Guide have ads?
Other comparisons
