BOS vs Hoverlay Browser
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BOS
Report non-emergency neighborhood issues in Boston, such as potholes and graffiti. Track the status of your reports and view active issues on a city map. This app helps residents improve their communities by streamlining communication with city services.
- Report neighborhood issues
- Track report status
- View active reports on map
- Submit non-emergency requests
- Community improvement tool
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BOS:311 enables Boston's residents to improve their neighborhoods by reporting non-emergency issues in their communities, like potholes and graffiti. Reports are automatically fed into the City of Boston’s work order system to track and assign them to City staff. Through the app, you can follow the status of your request, as well as the statuses of other reports in the City. There’s even a map to get an easy overview of active reports in Boston.
Hoverlay Browser
Experience augmented reality by overlaying digital content onto your physical space. View art, e-commerce items, and holograms in real size, or place links and media at specific locations to augment events and businesses.
- Camera-based augmented reality
- Overlay digital content in your room
- Place links and media at locations
- Augment events and businesses
- View 3D models and holograms
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Hoverlay’s camera-based Augmented Reality browser extends your browser, social feed, or email to make content appear directly in your room. From art, to e-commerce to holograms, Hoverlay brings digital twins into your space, in real size. Use Hoverlay to also place links, social or professional profiles, contact info, videos, 3d models, audio or images at any location. Augment your next event, popup store, concert or store with content that others can unveil using the Hoverlay camera. To learn about latest Hoverlay news and updates follow @hoverlayAR on Twitter or Instagram, like us on Facebook or check the hoverlay.com webpage. Questions or feedback: feedback@hoverlay.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Hoverlay Browser at 4.3 against BOS's 2.6. Hoverlay Browser also leads on review sentiment (70% vs 36%) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). BOS's advantage is iOS requirement (13.4 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, 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.
Hoverlay Browser holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 80 and 41 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 36% of BOS's written reviews are positive against 70% of Hoverlay Browser's.
BOS ships an update every 4 months, Hoverlay Browser every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 16, 2026 and August 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BOS | Hoverlay Browser |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (80 ratings) | 4.3 (41 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 36.2% of reviews | 70.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 80 — better | 41 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 309 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | City of Boston | Hoverlay, Inc. |
Customer experience
BOS
Hoverlay Browser
Bugs and requests
BOS
Reported bugs
20 issues- Reports opened for months with no action
- App doesn't do its job or city departments don't
- Reports go unanswered for months
- App doesn't recognize certain areas
- New version is slower and less effective
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- Map feature is broken or unreliable
- Cases never close or are not resolved
- App is clunky and difficult to use
- App crashes upon opening
- App stops working after iOS updates
- App shows 'updates failed'
- App button for creating new requests not working
- App opens multiple reports at once
- Clicking on map pins opens an unclosable banner
- App stops showing correct trash pickup days
- App is broken when trying to attach a picture
- App is broken after new update
- Impossible to create a new report for months
- Server registration fails
- App crashes on older iOS versions
Requested features
13 requests- Allow users to comment on or corroborate reports
- Add ability to delete a report
- Add feature to report speeding
- Make 'recent reports' tab accessible for voiceover users
- Add more categories for reporting (e.g., cyclists, bike lanes)
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- Increase app awareness through ads, especially in underserved communities
- Improve filtering options for reports on the map
- Allow users to see if an issue has already been reported
- Revert to previous app version
- Fix bugs and add new features instead of completely changing everything
- Add dark mode option
- Improve map accuracy for address location
- Add option to report crimes (currently only for non-crimes)
Hoverlay Browser
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BOS
No in-app purchases
Hoverlay Browser
No in-app purchases
