Comparison

LERC Wales vs Macsen

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

Head to head
About

LERC Wales

Easily record wildlife sightings across Wales using your device's GPS or interactive maps. Add photos and descriptions to help experts analyze your data. Your contributions support conservation and research efforts.

Highlights
  • Offline functionality
  • Record all UK species
  • Add new records easily
  • Automatic data checks
  • Expert review of sightings
  • Share sightings with community
  • Contribute to science and conservation
Features
Read full description

Biological recording in Wales has never been easier. With this app, you can quickly enter your sightings either using your device's GPS or the interactive mapping facilities, add photos, descriptions and other information to help the local experts make the most of your wildlife sightings. The data that you provide will be kept secure and will be regularly backed up. Automatic checks will be applied to your observations to help spot potential errors, and experts can review your sightings. All wildlife sightings for non-sensitive species are shared with other users and will be made available to National Recording Schemes, Local Environmental Record Centres and Vice County Recorders (VCRs). The Local Environmental Record Centres in Wales will ensure that your wildlife sightings are available to those that need them whether it is for nature conservation, planning, research or education. • Works fully offline • Record all the wildlife you see - supports all UK species • Add new records with minimal effort • Benefit from automatic data checks and review by experts • Share your sightings with the recording community • Contribute to science and conservation • Fully bilingual

About

Macsen

A Welsh language voice assistant that performs tasks and provides information. It can play music, access media, control smart devices, and translate speech. It's an open-source project focused on developing Welsh AI technology.

Highlights
  • Welsh language voice commands
  • Play Welsh music on Spotify
  • Access S4C Clic programs
  • Control smart home devices
  • Get news and weather updates
  • Translate English speech to Welsh text
  • Transcribe Welsh speech to text
Features
Read full description

Scroll down for English Mae Macsen yn feddalwedd cynorthwyydd personol Cymraeg cod agored tebyg i Alexa neu’r Google Assistant. Ystyr cod agored yw y gall unrhyw un weld, addasu a dosbarthu’r cod fel yr hoffen nhw. Mae’n gweithio fel ap ar ffôn neu dabled yn ogystal â fersiwn ar-lein. Mae’n bosib siarad gyda Macsen mewn Cymraeg naturiol er mwyn gofyn iddo gwblhau tasgau neu ofyn am wybodaeth, Erbyn hyn, mae gan ap Macsen nifer o sgiliau, gan gynnwys y gallu i chwarae cerddoriaeth Cymraeg ar Spotify, rhaglenni ar S4C Clic, rhoi’r golau ymlaen neu i ffwrdd, adrodd y newyddion diweddaraf, darparu rhagolygon y tywydd, defnyddio ChatGPT, cyfieithu lleferydd Saesneg i destun Cymraeg a thrawsgrifio lleferydd Cymraeg i destun. Felly mae modd teipio yn ogystal â defnyddio’r llais i ofyn cwestiynau a rhoi gorchmynion i Macsen. Rydyn ni’n defnyddio’r project hwn i ddangos beth allwn ni greu wrth ddatblygu technoleg lleferydd a deallusrwydd artiffisial Cymraeg. Rydyn ni’n cyhoeddi’r cydrannau a’r adnoddau perthnasol yma yn agored ar y Porth Technolegau Iaith, er mwyn i ddatblygwyr eraill hefyd fedru’u defnyddio. Rydyn ni wrthi yn gwneud ymchwil pellach i’w wella, a’i alluogi mewn sefyllfaoedd eraill. Macsen is an open source Welsh language voice assistant similar to Alexa or the Google Assistant. Open source means that anyone can see, adapt and distribute its code as they wish. It works as an app for phones and tablets. An online version is also available. You can speak in Welsh to Macsen to ask it to do various tasks or provide information. Its growing set of skills include the ability to play Welsh Language music through Spotify, programmes through S4C Clic, turn the light on or off, get the news and weather, use ChatGPT, translate spoken English to Welsh text and transcribe Welsh speech to text. We are using this project to show what we can create when developing Welsh language speech technology and artificial intelligence. We publish relevant components and resources with open licences on the Welsh National Language Technology Portal, so that other developers can also use them. We are also undertaking further research to improve it, and to enable it in other environments.

Screenshots

LERC Wales4 screens
Macsen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: LERC Wales at every 5 months against Macsen's every 18 months. On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LERC Wales ships an update every 5 months, Macsen every 18 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
LERC Wales versus Macsen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLERC WalesMacsen
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 months — betterEvery 18 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCentre for Ecology and HydrologyBangor University

Customer experience

LERC Wales

Written reviews14 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Macsen

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

LERC Wales

No in-app purchases

None

Macsen

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is LERC Wales free?
LERC Wales is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Macsen free?
Macsen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do LERC Wales or Macsen have ads?
Neither LERC Wales nor Macsen shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LERC Wales or Macsen?
LERC Wales ships an update every 5 months, and Macsen every 18 months. Most recently, LERC Wales was updated on October 20, 2026 and Macsen on October 16, 2026.

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