Past Chicago vs PlusPortals
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
PlusPortals
Access school information securely on your mobile device. View combined feeds, calendars, scores, assignments, and more. Stay connected with your school for enhanced learning and success.
- Secure mobile access
- Combined Feeds
- Calendar view
- Recent Scores
- Missing Work
- Assignments
- Attendance tracking
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The PlusPortals Mobile App offers parents and students secure mobile access to view information from their school's PlusPortals account. The app showcases Combined Feeds to easily review important information in one location, as well as views for Calendar, Recent Scores, Missing Work, and Assignments. Schools can also choose to share Attendance, Report Card Grades, Schedules, Incidents, Demographics, Classroom Progress, and more! The PlusPortals Mobile App creates a stronger connection between the school, parent, and students by sharing information that is critical for success and learning.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Past Chicago at 100% against PlusPortals's 9%. Past Chicago also leads on rating (4.5 vs 1.5). PlusPortals's advantage is ratings volume (153 vs 10) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, 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.
Past Chicago holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PlusPortals has 153 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Past Chicago's written reviews are positive against 9% of PlusPortals's.
Past Chicago ships an update monthly, PlusPortals every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Past Chicago | PlusPortals |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (10 ratings) — better | 1.5 (153 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 9.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 153 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Boxcue Technologies LLC | Rediker Software, Inc. |
Customer experience
Past Chicago
PlusPortals
Bugs and requests
Past Chicago
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
PlusPortals
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login screen not working
- Unexpected errors
- Can't send messages to support
Requested features
3 requests- Bring back lesson plans
- Allow filtering by student
- Improve calendar view
In-app purchases
Past Chicago
No in-app purchases
PlusPortals
No in-app purchases









