Comparison

FDNY vs Transit Tracker

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

Head to head
About

FDNY

This app simplifies managing your work schedule, including mutuals, vacations, and paydays. It also provides a directory of firehouses with map and contact information. Track overtime and special events with ease.

Highlights
  • Six-year schedule display
  • Mutual partner tracking
  • Banked mutual recording
  • Firehouse directory with maps
  • Overtime and pay tracking
  • Event logging
  • Retirement countdown
Features
Read full description

Tired of fumbling with your FDNY Chart to figure out when you’ll be working two months from now? Sick of coloring the boxes and adding reminders about your mutuals? FDNY to the rescue! Custom-designed with the help of New York City firefighters, FDNY is smart about your chart. It knows about the 25 groups and their schedules, pairing of mutual partners, vacations, RSOT, and so on. The calendar screen always shows your day and night tours and your partner’s tours (using colors of your own choosing) for the next six years from “today.” It takes only a few taps to enter a mutual with your partner. A few more taps and you’ve got a banked mutual recorded with somebody else. Separate balances are maintained for each person. And, there’s no need for a new chart every year. FDNY also contains a list of NYC firehouses and callboxes, complete with locations (one touch to see maps) and firehouse phone numbers (one touch to make calls). Features: • Displays your schedule for the next six years, including vacations, holidays, and paydays. • Double-tap any day to see the day and night group numbers, just like the printed chart. • You can enter colleagues for other groups. • Records banked mutuals. Tracks tours earned or owed on a person-by-person basis. • Formats emails for sending out mutual offers. • Contains a Logbook for keeping track of tours or hours of your choosing. • Shows your vacation periods. • Logs “events” with date, time and location — you can edit the title, text, and location details when you have time. • Displays your tours and those of your mutual partner simultaneously. • Adjustable colors for day/night tours, vacations, RSOT holidays, etc. • Track all overtime, P/P, A2R, and CFR-D by pay period. • Mark special days such as training or medical appointments. • Quickly locate any NYC firehouse on a map. Sort the list by engine or ladder. • Countdown to retirement. • Extensive Help pages for every feature and screen; indexed. If you need help, or have questions or comments, the best way to contact me is by using the in-app email button on the Help screen (2nd best: fdny@buddy.com).. Please don't put questions or suggestions in a review; there's no way for me to reply directly to you. -- Jeff I reply to all emails immediately (or within a few hours if I'm sleeping or traveling, which isn't often). If you didn't hear from me promptly, it means there was failure in the "Tubes." Please try again to contact me. FDNY is for members of the New York City FD (including Fire Marshals, EMS, ABCD, and Light Duty). If you’re not a member of that department, then you do not want this app. Instead, check out Scheduler, which can handle repeatable shift schedules and on which FDNY is based.

About

Transit Tracker

Track MTA buses and trains in real-time using vehicle monitoring data. View route schedules, see upcoming arrivals at stops, and access origin/destination tables or map views. This unofficial app provides transit information for New York City riders.

Highlights
  • Real-time vehicle tracking
  • Track by route number
  • Track by stop number
  • Track by individual vehicle
  • Downloadable route schedules
  • View schedules on map
  • View schedules as tables
Features
Read full description

Transit Tracker - MTA allows riders to take advantage of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's vehicle monitoring service, MTA Bus Time. Transit Tracker - MTA also includes the ability to download route schedules. Please send me an email if you find a problem or if you have any comments or suggestions. TRACKING Put in one or more route numbers, separated by spaces or commas, and see all vehicles on those routes, put in a stop number to see all buses serving that stop, or put in an individual vehicle number (printed on the side of MTA buses). ROUTE SCHEDULES - You can request a route schedule for any MTA route by entering its number. Schedules can be viewed as origin/destination tables or on a map. On the map, see when the next bus/train is scheduled to arrive by tapping on a stop. See all times for that stop by tapping on the info window that appears. This is not an official MTA app; I am not affiliated with MTA in any way.

Screenshots

FDNY4 screens
Transit Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Transit Tracker at Free against FDNY's $7.99. Transit Tracker also leads on rating (3.9 vs 3.2) and iOS requirement (9.2 vs 14.0). FDNY's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months). On review sentiment, ads 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

Transit Tracker is free to download; FDNY costs $7.99 up front. Transit Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. FDNY asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Transit Tracker holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FDNY has 84 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of FDNY's written reviews are positive against 64% of Transit Tracker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FDNY ships an update every 9 days, Transit Tracker every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 12, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
FDNY versus Transit Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFDNYTransit Tracker
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating3.2 (84 ratings)3.9 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.9% of reviews63.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings84 — better16
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#198 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS14.09.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Buddy System, LLCJeffrey Hillman

Customer experience

FDNY

All ratings84 ratings
Positive52.4%
Neutral8.3%
Negative39.3%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive60.9%
Neutral10.9%
Negative28.1%

Transit Tracker

All ratings16 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral18.2%
Negative18.2%

Bugs and requests

FDNY

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Overtime hours not adding up
  • Events not saving on calendar
  • App crashes regularly
  • All data lost
  • New version unusable
Show 3 more
  • Erased old events
  • Paycheck button crashes app
  • Dark mode unreadable elements

Requested features

18 requests
  • Comprehensive user guide
  • Tutorial video
  • iCloud syncing
  • Native iPad support
  • ABCD chart for modified schedule
Show 13 more
  • Military leave tracking
  • Vacation entry feature
  • Alarm integration for scheduler
  • Mutual exchange via text messages
  • Highway boxes
  • New transit boxes
  • Vacation letter chart integration
  • EMS side support
  • Add station numbers to contacts
  • OT shifts slot
  • EMS only stations slot
  • Ability to turn off dark mode
  • Revert to older version

Transit Tracker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

FDNY

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Transit Tracker

One-time1
  • Unlocker$1.99

Questions

Is FDNY free?
FDNY costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Transit Tracker free?
Transit Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, FDNY or Transit Tracker?
Transit Tracker is rated higher. FDNY averages 3.2 out of 5 from 84 ratings, while Transit Tracker averages 3.9 from 16 ratings.
Do FDNY or Transit Tracker have ads?
Neither FDNY nor Transit Tracker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FDNY or Transit Tracker?
FDNY ships an update every 9 days, and Transit Tracker every 2 months. Most recently, FDNY was updated on September 12, 2026 and Transit Tracker on June 10, 2026.

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