Comparison

onTime vs Arrival BART

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

onTime

Get real-time transit information for BART, Muni, and Caltrain. View schedules, countdowns to the next train, and receive important service alerts. Go paperless and stay informed about your commute.

Highlights
  • Real-time train and bus countdowns
  • Commuter notification service
  • Automatic schedule updates
  • Online and offline schedule access
  • Paperless trip planning
  • Integrated transit maps
Features
Read full description

onTime is fast and easy to use. It is designed with commuters in mind. With onTime you can look up schedules anytime anywhere without having to carry and dig through paper schedules. The act of simply opening the app will show you the schedules and count-down of the next trains. Sign up for commuter-notification to receive latest outages, delays and service changes. Be on time and be environmental friendly at the same time. FEATURES: - Countdown to the next train - Track info - Commuter-Notification Service - Automatic Schedule Update - Real-time​ updates and track info (where available) - Online and Offline Schedule - Paperless - Trip duration - Maps onTime Premium: – $4.99 USD (or equivalent) per year and may vary from country to country. – Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase – Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period – Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal – Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase – Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable Term Of Service: http://www.mobilewareinc.com/legal/ontime_tos.html Privacy Policy: http://www.mobilewareinc.com/legal/ontime_privacy.html * Note: onTime App uses BART transit agency's schedule data but it is not affiliated with BART.

About

Arrival BART

Get real-time train predictions and plan your journeys with this intuitive transit app. It offers fast access to essential BART information, including transfer details and alerts, all without ads or data collection.

Highlights
  • Real-time train predictions
  • Intuitive user interface
  • Detailed stop information
  • Trip planner with suggestions
  • BART alerts for delays
  • Intelligent station search
  • Siri Shortcuts integration
Read full description

Arrival is the beautiful and clean BART app for commuters. With an interface that is easy and intuitive to use, you get access to real-time train predictions for the station nearest to you from the moment you launch it. This fast experience quickly gets you access to the information you need without excess tapping and visual clutter and allows you to quickly see detailed information (where to transfer, transfer windows, and train colors) for any stop. Key Features: * FAST One of Arrival's best features is that it is fast. Really fast. It loads the information you need quickly and without any extra steps. This allows you to take BART throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with ease. * Trip Planner Arrival's trip planner allows you to plan trips to stations ahead of time. It will even provide suggestions of potential arrival and departure times. * BART Alerts Arrival displays BART warnings in real time to help you avoid delays. * Station Search Arrival has an intelligent station search algorithm that uses on-device machine learning to provide you with relevant results. * Siri Shortcuts Use Siri Shortcuts to automate Arrival. * Machine Learning Arrival uses on-device machine learning throughout the system to provide intelligent suggestions and speed up your experience. * NO ADs Arrival has zero ads or clutter. It's just the BART information you need. * Private & Secure Arrival intentionally does not collect identifiable information. It processes as much data as it can on device. Additionally, it does not sell or share information with 3rd party advertisers. Arrival is an unofficial BART app. BART is the trademark of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Arrival's data comes from the BART developer program under the respective license.

Screenshots

onTime4 screens
Arrival BART4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Arrival BART at 4.7 against onTime's 4.0. Arrival BART also leads on review sentiment (92% vs 53%) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). onTime's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. onTime sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per year. Arrival BART asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Arrival BART holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 51 and 21 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of onTime's written reviews are positive against 92% of Arrival BART's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

onTime ships an update every 2 months, Arrival BART every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and June 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
onTime versus Arrival BART: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteronTimeArrival BART
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (51 ratings)4.7 (21 ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.9% of reviews92.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings51 — better21
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size130 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMobileware Inc.Ronan Furuta

Customer experience

onTime

All ratings51 ratings
Positive74.5%
Neutral2.0%
Negative23.5%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive52.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative47.1%

Arrival BART

All ratings21 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative9.5%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

onTime

Subscriptions1
  • Premium$4.991 Year
None

Arrival BART

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is onTime free?
onTime is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Arrival BART free?
Arrival BART is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, onTime or Arrival BART?
Arrival BART is rated higher. onTime averages 4.0 out of 5 from 51 ratings, while Arrival BART averages 4.7 from 21 ratings.
Do onTime or Arrival BART have ads?
onTime shows ads; Arrival BART does not.
Which is updated more often, onTime or Arrival BART?
onTime ships an update every 2 months, and Arrival BART every 3 weeks. Most recently, onTime was updated on September 18, 2026 and Arrival BART on June 4, 2026.

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