Transit Watch for MUNI vs Busly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Transit Watch for MUNI
Track San Francisco MUNI buses in real-time with live GPS locations and predicted arrival times. Easily find nearby stops and pin your favorite ones for quick access.
- Real-time bus GPS tracking
- Predicted arrival times
- Find nearby stops
- Pin favorite stops
- Map integration
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An essential app for San Francisco public transit riders. Features include: - Real-time GPS location of buses* - Predicted arrival times at stops* - Find nearby stops by zooming in - Pin frequently used stops on the map *All GPS locations and arrival time predictions are provided by NextBus. Disclaimer: This application is not affiliated with SFMTA.
Busly
This app provides real-time transit information for buses and trains in major U.S. cities. View live vehicle locations, arrival times, and detailed route information on an interactive map. Save favorite routes and stops for quick access.
- Live map with vehicle locations
- Real-time arrival times
- Detailed vehicle information
- Favorite routes and stops
- Nearby stops
- Fare information
- Light and dark themes
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Now with support for iOS 27 & iPhone Duo! Busly lets you view live locations & arrival times for buses & trains across major U.S. cities. LIVE MAP • Get real-time bus & train position updates on a live updating map (which can also show route lines & stops!) ARRIVAL TIMES • View up-to-date arrival times for both stops & vehicles DETAILED BUS/TRAIN INFO • Get detailed vehicle information including: heading, speed, occupancy, wheelchair accessibility, bikes allowed FAVORITES • Add route lines & stops to your Favorites for quick access NEARBY STOPS • View stops nearby to your current location SEARCH • Optimized for near-instant search results to help you quickly find what you're looking for FARE INFORMATION • View detailed fare/ticketing options for the agencies in your region LIGHT & DARK THEMES • Choose between fully supported light & dark themes or automatically switch using the system setting ACCESSIBILITY • First-class accessibility support, including VoiceOver & Dynamic Type SUPPORTED REGIONS • Atlanta (MARTA) • Austin (CapMetro) • Boston (MBTA) • Chicago (Metra) • Cincinnati (Go Metro) • Cleveland (GCRTA) • Denver (RTD) • Edmonton (ETS) • Hartford (CTTransit) • Las Vegas (RTC) • Los Angeles (LA Metro) • Minneapolis (Metro Transit) • Nashville (WeGo) • Phoenix (Valley Metro) • Raleigh (GoRaleigh) • Sacramento (SacRT) • San Francisco (SF Muni, BART, Caltrain) • Seattle (King County Metro) • Washington, D.C. (WMATA) ...And many more coming soon! NO ADS, NO TRACKERS • Busly is 100% free of ads & trackers and always will be — For questions/comments/support, email support@busly.app or navigate in-app to Settings > Support > Contact App Support.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Busly at none against Transit Watch for MUNI's shown. Busly also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). Transit Watch for MUNI's advantage is ratings volume (5.7K vs 566) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Transit Watch for MUNI sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Busly sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Transit Watch for MUNI against 4.5 for Busly. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Transit Watch for MUNI has 5.7K ratings behind it against 566, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 47% of Transit Watch for MUNI's written reviews are positive against 43% of Busly's.
Transit Watch for MUNI ships an update every 3 months, Busly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Transit Watch for MUNI | Busly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (5.7K ratings) — better | 4.5 (566 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 47.5% of reviews — better | 42.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5.7K — better | 566 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Barum Rho | Alex Perez |
Customer experience
Transit Watch for MUNI
Busly
Bugs and requests
Transit Watch for MUNI
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Busly
Reported bugs
9 issues- App crashes
- Routes do not show up
- App cuts off
- App is unstable
- Long calibration times
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- Buses appear ahead of reported location
- Missing key spots on routes
- Stops are out of order
- Atlanta map missing stations
Requested features
9 requests- Show bus numbers
- Show run numbers
- Color-code different bus lines on map
- Display bus number instead of line name when clicking a stop
- Improve refresh rate (currently 5 minutes)
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- Add tutorial or explanation of symbols
- Allow selection of favorite stops
- Add vehicle ID and Block ID
- Revert to previous app's functionality for route lists and stop order
In-app purchases
Transit Watch for MUNI
- Remove ads$1.99
Busly
- Busly Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Busly Pro Annual$9.991 Year
