Comparison

Past Chicago vs Barton Tiles®

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

Head to head
About

Past Chicago

Explore Chicago's past through thousands of historic photographs overlaid on an interactive map. Discover street scenes and buildings from different eras, search for specific locations, and view original archive details. This app offers a free, ad-free way to virtually wander through the city's history.

Highlights
  • Historic photos on an interactive map
  • Search by place or address
  • Filter by year
  • View full-screen photos
  • Save favorite places
  • Includes archive source and date information
Features
Read full description

You know the street. You might not recognize the photograph. Past Chicago puts thousands of historic photographs on a map of the city. Start with your neighborhood, follow the lakefront, or wander through the Loop. Tap a place to see its buildings and street scenes from years gone by. Stop by Riverview Park or explore the 1893 World's Fair. Some places are instantly recognizable; others might have you checking the street signs. Find your own way through the collection: - Search for places and addresses, or use Locate Me to see what's nearby. - Filter by year to explore a different era, then browse the available photographs at each location. - Open a photograph full screen, swipe through the gallery, and zoom in for a closer look. - Save places you'd like to revisit. There's a little motion, too: watch a silent 1897 street scene filmed at State and Madison, right on the map where it happened. Every photograph includes its archive source, credit and available date information. Open the original archive record to keep looking. Approximate locations are labeled, with notes to help make sense of streets and addresses that have changed. The entire collection is free. No ads, subscriptions or in-app purchases. Made for iPhone and iPad. Location permission is optional, so you can explore Chicago from anywhere. TERMS OF USE (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy https://pastchicago.com/privacy

About

Barton Tiles®

This app supports users of the Barton Reading & Spelling System by streamlining tutoring sessions. It automatically displays necessary tiles and words for lessons, tracks student progress, and allows for easy note-taking and communication with students or parents.

Highlights
  • Student progress tracking
  • Automatic tile display
  • Automatic word generation
  • Digital note-taking
  • Email communication
  • Lesson setup
Features
Read full description

This app is only for people who own or use the Barton Reading & Spelling System. More than just tiles on an iPad, this app will save Barton tutors at least 10 minutes each session. How? Student tracking Set up each student once. This app keeps track of their current level and lesson. You can enter notes after each lesson. You can even send an email to the student and/or their parents or teacher – right from the app. Tiles appear automatically Tap on a student’s name and their lesson appears – with all the tiles needed for that lesson. Words appear automatically No need to build the words when you are teaching. Just click on the Next Word button. You will gain at least 10 minutes of teaching time per session. Never put tiles away When spelling with tiles, your student will pull down a COPY of each tile. When he is done, just click on the “Erase Screen” button. You never have to put tiles away.

Screenshots

Past Chicago4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Past Chicago at none against Barton Tiles®'s 10. Past Chicago also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (100% vs 76%). Barton Tiles®'s advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). 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. Barton Tiles® sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Past Chicago asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Past Chicago holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 17 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Past Chicago's written reviews are positive against 76% of Barton Tiles®'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Past Chicago ships an update monthly, Barton Tiles® every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Past Chicago versus Barton Tiles®: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPast ChicagoBarton Tiles®
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (10 ratings) — better4.1 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better76.5% of reviews
Number of ratings1017 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB30 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBoxcue Technologies LLCBright Solutions for Dyslexia, Inc.

Customer experience

Past Chicago

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Barton Tiles®

All ratings17 ratings
Positive76.5%
Neutral5.9%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral5.9%
Negative17.6%

In-app purchases

None

Past Chicago

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Barton Tiles®

One-time10
  • Phonemic Awareness$29.99
  • Consonants & Short Vowels$29.99
  • Closed & Unit Syllables$29.99
Show 7 more
  • Multi-Syllable words and Vowel Teams$29.99
  • Prefixes & Suffixes$29.99
  • Six Reasons for Silent-E$29.99
  • Vowel-R's$29.99
  • Advanced Vowel Teams$29.99
  • Influence of Foreign Languages$29.99
  • Latin Roots and Greek Combining Forms$29.99

Questions

Is Past Chicago free?
Past Chicago is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Barton Tiles® free?
Barton Tiles® is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Past Chicago or Barton Tiles®?
Past Chicago is rated higher. Past Chicago averages 4.5 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Barton Tiles® averages 4.1 from 17 ratings.
Do Past Chicago or Barton Tiles® have ads?
Neither Past Chicago nor Barton Tiles® shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Past Chicago or Barton Tiles®?
Past Chicago ships an update monthly, and Barton Tiles® every 2 months. Most recently, Past Chicago was updated on November 1, 2026 and Barton Tiles® on November 11, 2026.

Other comparisons