ET App vs Bus & Tram
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ET App
Purchase and display mobile tickets for travel within Edinburgh. Securely buy tickets using Apple Pay or card, and present them to the driver when boarding.
- Mobile ticket purchasing
- Secure payment options
- Apple Pay integration
- Debit/credit card payments
- Digital ticket display
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The ET app from Edinburgh Trams is the perfect mobile ticketing companion for those travelling in and around Edinburgh. Mobile Tickets: Purchase mobile tickets securely with Apple Pay or a debit/credit card and show the driver when boarding - no more searching for cash! As always, we welcome your feedback. You can send it to us via the app.
Bus & Tram
Plan your bus and tram journeys in Edinburgh and the Lothians with real-time arrival information. Purchase mobile tickets directly within the app and receive live updates on delays and diversions.
- Journey planning with interactive map
- Real-time bus and tram arrival times
- Mobile ticket purchasing
- Live travel and service updates
- Customizable route suggestions
- Service notifications
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The new Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams app has everything you need to seamlessly travel on buses and trams in and around Edinburgh and the Lothians. Journey Planning Planning your journey around Edinburgh has never been easier. You can view your location on the interactive map and plan a route to your desired location. You can tailor the results to your travel preferences and we'll show you the most practical routes to get you where you need to be. Real-time Information Stay up to date with all the latest information regarding bus and tram arrival and departure times. The interactive map shows every bus and tram stop around you with subsequent real-time information about services at the selected location. Mobile Ticketing Passengers can now purchase a number of ticket types all on the one app. The app will learn ticket purchase behaviour and can present suggestions for frequently purchased tickets. Make use of our handy filters and find the tickets you need whether you're travelling across the region, in the city or to the Airport. Travel and Service Information The new and updated app can give you live updates about travel and service information, such as delays and diversions. If a stop is selected on the app, passengers will get the most up to date service information regarding the routes that serve the selected stop. Passengers have the opportunity to turn on notifications to get the latest service information straight to their smartphone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bus & Tram at 4.8 against ET App's 4.2. Bus & Tram also leads on ratings volume (219 vs 5). ET App's advantage is review sentiment (25% vs 15%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Bus & Tram holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bus & Tram has 219 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 25% of ET App's written reviews are positive against 15% of Bus & Tram's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ET App ships an update fortnightly, Bus & Tram every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ET App | Bus & Tram |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (5 ratings) | 4.8 (219 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews — better | 14.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 | 219 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 65 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Edinburgh Trams | Lothian Buses plc |
Customer experience
ET App
Bus & Tram
Bugs and requests
ET App
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Bus & Tram
Reported bugs
2 issues- App refreshes when switching away
- Address search returns irrelevant results
Requested features
4 requests- Bring back 'take me home' button
- Allow saving of favorite stops without login
- Integrate live departure times with route planning
- Improve map view to show bus locations
In-app purchases
ET App
No in-app purchases
Bus & Tram
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ET App free?
Is Bus & Tram free?
Which has better reviews, ET App or Bus & Tram?
Do ET App or Bus & Tram have ads?
Which is updated more often, ET App or Bus & Tram?
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