Helping Friendly App vs Taper's Section
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Helping Friendly App
Access a comprehensive database of Phish setlists dating back to 1983. Track your personal concert statistics and compare them with friends. This app is essential for dedicated fans of the band.
- Phish setlist database
- Personal stats tracking
- Friend comparison
- Comprehensive data since 1983
- Phish.net integration
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The Helping Friendly App (HFA) is the must-have app for every Phish Phan! It is a comprehensive database of every Phish setlist since 1983 and it helps you keep track of your personal stats, compare your stats to your friends and much more. All setlist data provided courtesy of The Mockingbird Foundation / Phish.net.
Taper's Section
Access a vast library of live music recordings from archive.org. Stream, save, and organize your favorite shows, build playlists, and enjoy offline listening. Features background playback and powerful search capabilities.
- Stream live music from archive.org
- Save favorite bands and shows
- Background streaming
- Offline listening
- Powerful search and filtering
- Build and share playlists
- Manage play queue
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Taper's Section gives you access to the Live Music Archive from archive.org in the palm of your hand. * Stream your favorite shows from over 5,000 bands * Save your favorite bands and shows for quick access * Easily access your recently played shows * Background streaming with Bluetooth and AirPlay compatibility * Powerful search and filtering options * Build playlists and share them with your friends * Build a play queue, reorder your queue, and make it a new playlist * Offline listening - save your data plan while listening to your downloaded shows while away from WiFi.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Taper's Section at 4.5 against Helping Friendly App's 3.9. Taper's Section also leads on review sentiment (90% vs 60%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.6). Helping Friendly App's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). 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.
Taper's Section holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 60 and 39 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Helping Friendly App's written reviews are positive against 90% of Taper's Section's.
Helping Friendly App ships an update fortnightly, Taper's Section every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on August 3, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Helping Friendly App | Taper's Section |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (60 ratings) | 4.5 (39 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews | 90.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 60 — better | 39 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Richard Wollack | Franklin Kesler |
Customer experience
Helping Friendly App
Taper's Section
Bugs and requests
Helping Friendly App
Reported bugs
41 issues- NYE 2025/6 incorrect setlist
- Cream & Sincere missing
- Me & Bobby McGee not played
- Import shows option fails
- Syncing issues with .net
Show 36 moreShow fewer
- App deleted all stats/shows
- Cannot resync
- Error message 'try again'
- Human Nature not showing on July 20 2024 show
- Encore missing for 5/28/22
- Oct 29th 2021 date missing
- 10/29/21 missing from Vegas '21 Halloween run
- Login not working
- Password not working on app but works on website
- Cannot refresh or update during tour to add new shows
- Contrast issues (black on black font)
- Not importing 2020 show stats from phish.net
- Bugs prevent login or registration
- App crashing
- Cannot register as a user
- Black font on black background in night mode
- Crashing issues
- Dark appearance setting makes text unreadable
- Horrible font and background color choices
- Dark mode not working
- Setlist updates are infrequent
- Latest shows not updated in a timely manner
- App won't open
- Baker's Dozen populated incorrectly
- August 6th show listed several times
- Last two Dicks shows never added
- App crashes when trying to look up shows
- Tabs in search feature crash the app
- Stats only works sometimes
- Stats deleted twice by updates
- No shows after 2017
- App not updated since 2017 tour
- Shows after 2010 not appearing without in-app update
- Crash last Halloween, developer fixed it
- App not updated regularly
- App not updated since 9/1
Requested features
8 requests- Count NYE shows as January
- Link out to Phish.net pages
- Integration with phish.in, Relisten, or LivePhish+
- Update for 2024 stats
- Manually enter shows
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Add NYE 18 run and Mexico 19 to stats
- Ability to add friends and compare shows
- Tap on a song to see overall stats
Taper's Section
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Helping Friendly App
No in-app purchases
Taper's Section
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Helping Friendly App free?
Is Taper's Section free?
Which has better reviews, Helping Friendly App or Taper's Section?
Do Helping Friendly App or Taper's Section have ads?
Which is updated more often, Helping Friendly App or Taper's Section?
Other comparisons
