Comparison

Upstate Curious vs Floating Maps

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

Head to head
About

Upstate Curious

Discover local gems and connect with your community in the Hudson Valley and Catskills. Find recommended restaurants, shops, and services, or ask for local advice. Meet new people and share your experiences in this vibrant region.

Highlights
  • Local discovery feed
  • Crowdsourced Q&A
  • Community profiles
  • Direct messaging
  • Interest-based connections
  • Local groups
Features
Read full description

We love the Hudson Valley + Catskills region! We love exploring every nook and cranny of the mountains and forests and farms and towns - and all the incredible restaurants and shops and art galleries and other places to visit. As residents, we also love (and need!) to know where to find a great dentist, electrician, therapist, or upholsterer, dog groomer, or babysitter depending on the day! And since one of the best parts about living in or visiting this special area are the people, we think that new ways to meet up online and (eventually!) IRL is also a pretty great idea. “Upstate Chat” is the main feed where you can share your finds or the view from your backyard (including videos and photos). By using hashtags like #restaurants, #outdoors, #townname, #county, etc., we can make things easy to find - and the section for “Popular Hashtags” will be just that. “Hotline” is where you go to ask a question you need to crowdsource - from a roofer who turns up on time to the best pizza in Ulster County to an easy hike with dogs. You can add searchable interests and a bio to your profile to connect more easily with other members - there’s a DM feature right in the app, but you can share all your social profiles as well. Upstate Curious was created for residents, visitors, weekenders, and fans - and we cover Ulster, Dutchess, Sullivan, Greene, Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam, Orange, and neighboring countries. The more the merrier! The Upstate Curious Team members will be posting their finds and tips for #upstateliving - and there are special groups for buyers and sellers to get their own burning questions answered!” This app was created by the Upstate Curious Team of Keller Williams Realty Hudson Valley North.

About

Floating Maps

Experience historical aerial photography overlaid on beautiful map art using augmented reality. Scan a QR code on a wall print to see a 3D rendering of your town, showcasing landscape changes from 1938 to 2019.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality (AR) visualization
  • Historical aerial photography
  • 3D town renderings
  • Elevation accurate landscapes
  • View changes over time
  • New towns added weekly
Features
Read full description

Floating Maps uses Augmented Reality (AR) to float historical aerial photography over beautiful map art for your home. With a wall print from Floating maps, you can scan the QR Code and bring it to life! Floating in front of you will be an elevation accurate 3D rendering of your town. You can see how the landscape has changed starting with photography from 2019 and going all the way back to black-and-white photographs from 1938. We are working hard to add new towns each week.

Screenshots

Upstate Curious4 screens
Floating Maps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Floating Maps at weekly against Upstate Curious's every 6 months. Floating Maps also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). Upstate Curious's advantage is ratings volume (144 vs 4). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Upstate Curious against 5.0 for Floating Maps. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Upstate Curious has 144 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Upstate Curious ships an update every 6 months, Floating Maps weekly. The most recent releases landed on June 10, 2026 and June 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Upstate Curious versus Floating Maps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUpstate CuriousFloating Maps
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (144 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings144 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB54 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperThe Brenn-White Group LLCFloating Maps LLC

Customer experience

Upstate Curious

All ratings144 ratings
Positive97.9%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Floating Maps

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Upstate Curious

No in-app purchases

None

Floating Maps

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Upstate Curious free?
Upstate Curious is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Floating Maps free?
Floating Maps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Upstate Curious or Floating Maps?
Floating Maps is rated higher. Upstate Curious averages 4.9 out of 5 from 144 ratings, while Floating Maps averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Upstate Curious or Floating Maps have ads?
Neither Upstate Curious nor Floating Maps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Upstate Curious or Floating Maps?
Upstate Curious ships an update every 6 months, and Floating Maps weekly. Most recently, Upstate Curious was updated on June 10, 2026 and Floating Maps on June 5, 2026.

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