Comparison

Swim Guide vs Ottawa Collection Calendar

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

Head to head
About

Swim Guide

Access up-to-date water quality information for thousands of beaches, lakes, and rivers worldwide. Easily find swimmable locations with clear indicators of water safety and detailed beach information. Discover new spots, get directions, and share your favorites.

Highlights
  • Real-time water quality status
  • Beach amenity and parking information
  • Map-based beach discovery
  • Searchable beach database
  • Directions to beaches
  • Bookmark favorite beaches
  • Share beach information
Features
Read full description

** As seen on USA Today, CBC, CBC Radio, Radio Canada, Huffington Post, LA Times, Water Canada, ABC News, Men's Journal, National Post, and Mashable. ** Swim Guide is a website and smartphone app for iPhone®. Swim Guide delivers free up-to-date water quality information for over 8,000 beaches, lakes, rivers, and swimming holes in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, the Bahamas, Australia and New Zealand. Swim Guide provides you with current recreational water quality information for your favourite beaches and swimming holes. Every beach is marked with a Green or Red icon so you know when the water at your favourite beach is clean for swimming and when the water quality is failed to recreational water quality criteria. As of 2019, Swim Guide is the most popular beach information service in the world, with over 4-million all time users. Finding a beach with clean, swimmable water for you and your family is easy with Swim Guide: - Find the cleanest closest beaches to you by browsing the map or by searching - Beach descriptions tell you about amenities, lifeguards, where to park, and everything else you need to know to enjoy a day at the beach. - Green icon tells you your beach passed water quality tests - Red icon tells you the water quality failed water quality test - Date/time stamp tells you when a water quality status was last updated in Swim Guide - Historical status tells you percentage of time that a beach passed water quality tests in the last year - Source information section tells you who samples the water at each beach and what recreational water quality guidelines apply - Discover a wide variety of beaches, ranging from city parks to remote lakes ideal for camping - Get directions to the beach of your choice - Bookmark your favourite beaches for easy access - Use the app to share beaches with your friends and family - Original descriptions of 8,000+ different beaches, so you can learn a bit of history and geography as you explore Get involved! Use the Swim Guide to report pollution, support your local water organizations, and learn about the issues facing your homewaters. Swim Guide is the only charity app of its kind, made by Swim Drink Fish Canada (formerly Lake Ontario Waterkeeper). Visit us online for more info: www.theswimguide.org

About

Ottawa Collection Calendar

Access your garbage and recycling schedules for the City of Ottawa. Receive timely collection notifications directly through the app to ensure you never miss a pickup.

Highlights
  • Garbage schedules
  • Recycling schedules
  • Collection reminders
  • City of Ottawa specific
Features
Read full description

Garbage and recycling schedules and reminders for the City of Ottawa, Ontario. View your garbage and recycling schedule and receive collection notifications all from within this app.

Screenshots

Swim Guide4 screens
Ottawa Collection Calendar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Ottawa Collection Calendar at 4.9 against Swim Guide's 3.6. Ottawa Collection Calendar also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 62%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.4). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ottawa Collection Calendar holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 39 and 109 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of Swim Guide's written reviews are positive against 84% of Ottawa Collection Calendar's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Swim Guide versus Ottawa Collection Calendar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwim GuideOttawa Collection Calendar
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (39 ratings)4.9 (109 ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.0% of reviews83.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings39109 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.412.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB81 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSwim Drink Fish CanadaCity of Ottawa

Customer experience

Swim Guide

All ratings39 ratings
Positive59.0%
Neutral10.3%
Negative30.8%
Written reviews71 reviews
Positive62.0%
Neutral9.9%
Negative28.2%

Ottawa Collection Calendar

All ratings109 ratings
Positive99.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive83.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative14.3%

Bugs and requests

Swim Guide

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Ottawa Collection Calendar

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App crashes when accessing details or Waste Explorer
  • Blank screen loading after splash page
  • Address not found errors
  • App unresponsive to user interactions
  • Crashes on iPhone when clicking bin information
Show 1 more
  • App crashes 50% of the time

Requested features

5 requests
  • Location/address locator integration
  • Consolidated city services in one app
  • Improved front screen with bin details displayed directly
  • Calendar synchronization option
  • Better support for special waste disposal items

In-app purchases

None

Swim Guide

No in-app purchases

None

Ottawa Collection Calendar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Swim Guide free?
Swim Guide is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ottawa Collection Calendar free?
Ottawa Collection Calendar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Swim Guide or Ottawa Collection Calendar?
Ottawa Collection Calendar is rated higher. Swim Guide averages 3.6 out of 5 from 39 ratings, while Ottawa Collection Calendar averages 4.9 from 109 ratings.
Do Swim Guide or Ottawa Collection Calendar have ads?
Neither Swim Guide nor Ottawa Collection Calendar shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Swim Guide or Ottawa Collection Calendar?
Swim Guide ships an update every 3 months, and Ottawa Collection Calendar every 3 months. Most recently, Swim Guide was updated on October 29, 2026 and Ottawa Collection Calendar on October 29, 2026.

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