Comparison

Chicago Travel Guide . vs Polarsteps

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

Head to head
About

Chicago Travel Guide .

Explore a city with an offline travel guide featuring augmented reality, interactive maps, and GPS. Discover attractions, plan daily itineraries, and find local recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and nightlife without needing an internet connection.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality (AR) city exploration
  • 100% Offline travel guide
  • Offline metro and regional maps
  • GPS-enabled location tracking
  • Interactive points of interest on maps
  • Daily and budget-based itineraries
  • Nightlife and shopping recommendations
Features
Read full description

SPECIAL FEATURES - AUGMENTED REALITY - AR - STOP CARRYING BOOK GUIDES!!! - 100% OFFLINE TRAVEL GUIDE - OFFLINE METRO MAP - ZOOMABLE 100% REGIONAL OFFLINE MAPS - PICS GALLERY - GPS CAPABLE - INTERACTIVE POINTS OF INTEREST on the maps showing public bus stops, restaurants, pubs, hotels, hospitals, museums, theatres, and many others. - DAILY BASED ITINERARIES - BUDGET BASED HOTELS & RESTAURANTS - WHERE, WHAT & HOW TO SHOP - NIGHTLIFE ACTIVITIES - CITY TIPS, MOVING AROUND, COMMUTING - SAFETY TIPS ------------------------------------------ PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Stop carrying heavy city tours guide in your pocket. TRAVEL LIGHT!!! With this Travel Guide you have a full city guide in your iPhone & iPod Touch. This tourist guide is built to be used offline. No connection to Internet required, meaning no extra charges in your phone bill!! AUGMENTED REALITY, unlike other tourist guides you will be able to discover the city with the best iPhone tool - AR - Just click on the AR button, turn yourself 360° and view on the screen where the best spots are and how to find them. You can also scroll up and down to view the closest and furthest attraction. Slide through the tutorial for more tips. After many requests, we bring to you your own steps with a GPS feature. Do not get lost, just take a look where you are standee. It is a very practical city guide since it is designed to be used by itineraries. There are 4 different itineraries for the city depending on the duration of your journey. We also provide tips and advices to travelers, how to get into the city, how to move around, where to shop, where to go at night, most popular places, safety tips, etc... Unlike other guides, this Travel Guide provides you with interactive zoomable OFFLINE MAPS (x6 zoom + GPS capable) of the region showing the attractions, public bus stops, restaurants, pubs, hotels, hospitals and many other useful points of interest. You cannot get lost!. With this guide, you will not only visit the city but also move around its region. Tourist info for must see attractions such as Grant Park, Millennium Park, Crown Fountain, Cloud Gate, Buckingham Fountain, Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue Bridge, Chicago Board of Trade Building, Streeterville, Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, Hancock Observatory, Willis Tower, Chicago City Hall, Lincoln Park Zoo, Illinois Center, among others. The travel guide is made based on travelers advices. Unlike other city guides, we can guarantee we have already visited these places and would like to give you a fancy and practical tool to make your visit a more enjoyable one. This app contains IAPs for you to enjoy and discover the best out of your visit.

About

Polarsteps

Plan, track, and relive your adventures with this app. It helps you create personalized itineraries, automatically logs your routes, and allows you to share your journey with friends and family. Capture memories with photos and videos, and even create shareable video reels or printed travel books.

Highlights
  • AI itinerary planner
  • Automatic route tracking
  • Photo and video capture
  • Trip sharing with updates
  • Trip Reels video creation
  • Printable Travel Books
Features
Read full description

Plan, track and relive your adventures with Polarsteps. Keep your friends and family up to date. Whether it’s a six-month trip or a weekend canoeing close to home, Polarsteps is here to capture and share your journeys as they unfold. Awards ■ Top 26 Apps — Apple App Store (2026) ■ Top 3 Travel Apps — Apple App Store (2026) ■ App of the Day — Apple App Store (2025) PLAN ■ AI itinerary planner: Create a personalized adventure based on past trips or current goals. ■ Destination snapshots: Get a quick overview of each place, why it fits your travel style, and which friends have already been there. ■ Trip details: Add notes, accommodation details, and must-see spots and activities. ■ Transport planner: Choose how you'll get from A to B for every leg of the trip. ■ Inspiration: Follow other explorers, see where they went, and get ideas for your own trips. TRACK ■ Automatic route tracking: Accurately track the route you took on a beautiful digital world map. ■ Travel Buddies: Invite friends to track trips together. ■ Capture the adventure: Add photos, videos, and stories to each step to bring your journey to life. ■ Travel stats: See how much of the world you’ve traveled, with your total of countries visited, distances covered, and more. ■ Top spots: Add your favorite places and activities so they’re part of your story. ■ Transport mode: Select how you got from place to place, whether by plane, train, or even tuk tuk. SHARE ■ Trip updates: Share your journey so friends and family can follow along from anywhere, seeing where you are and what you’ve been up to. ■ Traveler tips: Leave suggestions for other travelers on what to see and do. ■ Privacy controls: Decide who sees your adventures: everyone, followers only, or you only. RELIVE ■ Digital memories: Scroll through the places, photos, stories, and stats you’ve captured across all your trips. ■ Trip Reels: With the press of a button, transform your trip into a memorable video (also perfect to share on socials). ■ Travel Books: Turn your trip into a beautifully printed Travel Book that showcases your route and memories. WHAT OUR USERS SAY: “Love this app! It tracks me on my vacation and provides real-time notifications to friends and family of my trip. At the end, I ordered a Travel Book of my photos which is very high quality.” “The Polarsteps app is great. I am totally addicted. It is so nice to keep up with all your travels. And friends and family can follow you wherever you go. The Travel Book, which you can order afterwards, is of very good quality.” “I’ve been using this app for years now. It’s always been good and it keeps getting better.” WHAT THE PRESS ARE SAYING ABOUT POLARSTEPS “The Polarsteps app replaces your travel journal, making it easier and more beautiful.” - National Geographic “Polarsteps helps you track and share your journeys in an easy and visually appealing way” - The Next Web “Polarsteps’ resulting travel log is impressive, and is the source of a severe case of itchy feet in your correspondent.” - TechCrunch

Screenshots

Chicago Travel Guide .4 screens
Polarsteps4 screens

Verdict

The call

Chicago Travel Guide . and Polarsteps both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 90% of Polarsteps's written reviews are positive against 22% of Chicago Travel Guide .'s. Polarsteps also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (9.5K vs 411). 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. Chicago Travel Guide . sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Polarsteps sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Chicago Travel Guide . against 4.9 for Polarsteps. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Polarsteps has 9.5K ratings behind it against 411, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 22% of Chicago Travel Guide .'s written reviews are positive against 90% of Polarsteps's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chicago Travel Guide . ships an update every 5 months, Polarsteps every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Chicago Travel Guide . versus Polarsteps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChicago Travel Guide .Polarsteps
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (411 ratings)4.9 (9.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.7% of reviews89.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4119.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#57 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size178 MB218 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperDaniel GarciaPolarsteps B.V.

Customer experience

Chicago Travel Guide .

All ratings411 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive21.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative78.3%

Polarsteps

All ratings9,486 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.9%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews2,223 reviews
Positive89.6%
Neutral4.0%
Negative6.4%

User reviews

Chicago Travel Guide .

From 411 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app, very useful
  • 👍 Helpful guide for Chicago
  • 👍 Nice pictures and history info
  • 👍 Augmented reality feature
  • 👍 Maps are useful

Room to improve

  • 💰 Not free, requires upgrade
  • 💰 Misleading advertising
  • 💰 Useless without purchase
  • 💰 Limited information
  • 💰 Cluttered and messy

Polarsteps

From 9.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Excellent app for travel blogging
  • 👍 Easy to use and share with family/friends
  • 🗺️ Great GPS tracking and map features
  • 📷 Seamless photo/video integration
  • 📚 Ability to create high-quality travel books

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔄 Difficulty editing/rearranging photos and steps
  • 🔋 Can be battery-intensive
  • 🗺️ Inaccurate GPS tracking in some cases
  • 🤖 Struggles with importing past trips and photos

Bugs and requests

Chicago Travel Guide .

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when not on WiFi
  • Overlapping building icons on map
  • GPS not accurate
  • Incomprehensible French translation

Requested features

8 requests
  • Full access to content without purchase
  • More detailed information on attractions
  • Public transport information
  • Operating hours and ticket prices
  • URLs to official attraction websites
Show 3 more
  • Ability to favorite places
  • Improved French translation
  • App stability on WiFi

Polarsteps

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Trouble uploading videos
  • Incorrect time zone and location tracking
  • Steps and photos randomly disappearing
  • Crashes and freezes during usage

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to collaborate on trips with others
  • Option to customize page layouts for travel books
  • Improved video support and integration
  • More flexible map and route editing tools
  • Synchronization across multiple devices

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Chicago Travel Guide .

One-time10
  • Chicago Augmented RealityFree
  • Navy PierFree
  • Field Museum of Natural HistoryFree
Show 7 more
  • Shedd AquariumFree
  • MilwaukeeFree
  • Niagara FallsFree
  • New York CityFree
  • Navy Pier Visitor Guide$1.99
  • Chicago Full Access$3.99
  • Chicago$3.99
2 purchases

Polarsteps

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$34.991 Year

Questions

Is Chicago Travel Guide . free?
Chicago Travel Guide . is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Polarsteps free?
Polarsteps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chicago Travel Guide . or Polarsteps?
Polarsteps is rated higher. Chicago Travel Guide . averages 4.8 out of 5 from 411 ratings, while Polarsteps averages 4.9 from 9.5K ratings.
Do Chicago Travel Guide . or Polarsteps have ads?
Neither Chicago Travel Guide . nor Polarsteps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chicago Travel Guide . or Polarsteps?
Chicago Travel Guide . ships an update every 5 months, and Polarsteps every 4 days. Most recently, Chicago Travel Guide . was updated on September 21, 2026 and Polarsteps on September 24, 2026.

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