Helping Friendly App vs Deadtapes
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.
Deadtapes
Identify the Grateful Dead concert your music tape originated from. Input a sequence of up to three songs, and the app will find shows from 1972-1995 that feature that exact song order.
- Song sequence search
- Grateful Dead show identification
- 1972-1995 show coverage
- Tape origin discovery
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Finds which Grateful Dead show your dead tape was created from. You enter up to three songs, in sequence, that you hear on your tape. It reports which shows have that sequence played at the show. For all shows from 1972 through 1995.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Helping Friendly App at 60% against Deadtapes's 0%. Helping Friendly App also leads on rating (3.9 vs 3.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 46 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Helping Friendly App holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Helping Friendly App has 60 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Helping Friendly App's written reviews are positive against 0% of Deadtapes's.
Helping Friendly App ships an update fortnightly, Deadtapes every 46 months. The most recent releases landed on August 3, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Helping Friendly App | Deadtapes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (60 ratings) — better | 3.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 60 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 46 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Richard Wollack | Thomas Maher |
Customer experience
Helping Friendly App
Deadtapes
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
Deadtapes
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Helping Friendly App
No in-app purchases
Deadtapes
No in-app purchases
