Comparison

First Bus vs Touch & Go Warrington

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

Head to head
About

First Bus

Plan your bus journeys, track buses in real-time, and purchase mobile tickets. This app offers personalized tools for a convenient travel experience, including route planning, live bus tracking, and secure payment options for digital tickets.

Highlights
  • Real-time bus tracking
  • Journey planning and route finder
  • Mobile ticket purchasing and activation
  • Save favorite stops and services
  • Secure payment management
  • Departure board with filtering
Features
Read full description

Plan your journey, track your bus, and travel with confidence using the First Bus app. With real-time updates, mobile tickets, and personalised tools, getting around by bus has never been easier. Bus travellers can buy, gift, and activate digital bus tickets, manage secure payments, and save favourite locations, stops, and services for quicker access. The app also supports account management, consent management, while providing access to help and support features. Whether you’re commuting, exploring, or travelling occasionally, the app helps you stay in control from door to door. Planning your journey Find the best routes using locations, stops, or service numbers. View routes, timings, and stop information to plan trips that suit you. Live Bus tracking See your bus in real time on an interactive map and get more accurate arrival estimates. This feature helps reduce waiting uncertainty, improves journey planning, and enables users to make informed travel decisions by knowing exactly where their bus is at any moment. Departure Board Check upcoming services for either your stop or route, with clear timings and filtering (such as First Bus only) options. The time and dates can also be easily adjusted for future travel plans. Favourites Save your most-used stops, locations, and bus services for quick access every time you travel. Buying Buy, gift, and activate digital tickets directly in the app with a variety of filters. Secure payments and instant access mean no paper tickets needed. Tickets appear instantly ready to use in your account. Gifting Send tickets to friends or family quickly and easily. During the ticket buying flow, users can choose to gift a ticket instead of using it themselves, enter recipient details, and complete the purchase securely. Activating Tickets Activate your ticket in the First Bus app when you’re ready to travel. Once activated, it clearly shows its status and validity, making it quick and easy to present when boarding the bus. Account and Payments The First Bus app lets users securely manage their account and payment details in one place. Users can sign up, sign in, and reset their password if needed, as well as view and update their personal information and account settings. They can also choose to delete their account if required. Within the app, users can manage saved payment cards, set a default payment method, and remove cards at any time. All payment information is handled securely, helping ensure a smooth, safe, and convenient ticket purchasing experience. Preferences Choose your region, set walking distance preferences, and manage consent and notifications. Help and support Access FAQs , contacts and support resources in our dedicated help centre.

About

Touch & Go Warrington

Plan your bus journeys, view live departures, and purchase mobile tickets securely. This app helps you navigate local bus routes, check timetables, and stay updated on service disruptions.

Highlights
  • Mobile ticket purchase
  • Live departure times
  • Journey planning
  • Route timetables
  • Service disruption alerts
  • Favorite routes and stops
Features
Read full description

Warrington’s Own Buses is the new name and new look for Network Warrington, your locally owned and locally run bus company. We’ve got great plans to make getting around Warrington by bus ever better, whether that’s for getting to work, going to the station to catch a train, popping out shopping or just meeting up with friends. Welcome on board - we’re delighted to have you with us! Our new Touch & Go app is packed full of everything you’ll need to get mobile. NEW! Discover your fare: Find the fare for the journeys you are planning whether you want to buy a mobile ticket in advance or pay on the bus. Mobile Tickets: Purchase mobile tickets securely with Apple Pay or a debit/credit card and show the driver when boarding - no more searching for cash! Live Departures: Browse and view bus stops on the map, explore upcoming departures, or check out the routes from a stop to see where you could travel next. Journey Planning: Plan your commute, trip to the shops or night out with friends. It’s now even easier to plan ahead with Warrington’s Own Buses. Timetables: We’ve squeezed all of our routes and bus times into the palm of your hand. Favourites: You can quickly save your favourite Departure Boards, Timetables and Journeys, with quick access from one convenient menu. Disruptions: You’ll be able to keep up to date with service updates directly from our disruption feeds inside the app. As always, we welcome your feedback. You can send it to us via the app.

Screenshots

First Bus4 screens
Touch & Go Warrington4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Touch & Go Warrington at none against First Bus's shown. Touch & Go Warrington also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). First Bus's advantage is ratings volume (2.2K vs 3). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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

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

Touch & Go Warrington holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: First Bus has 2.2K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of First Bus's written reviews are positive against 26% of Touch & Go Warrington's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

First Bus ships an update every 9 days, Touch & Go Warrington fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
First Bus versus Touch & Go Warrington: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFirst BusTouch & Go Warrington
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.2K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews22.5% of reviews25.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.2K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size143 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFirstGroup PlcWarrington Borough Transport Ltd

Customer experience

First Bus

All ratings2,221 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral3.5%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews906 reviews
Positive22.5%
Neutral11.7%
Negative65.8%

Touch & Go Warrington

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive25.9%
Neutral18.5%
Negative55.6%

Bugs and requests

First Bus

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App pausing music playback
  • Inconsistent bus tracking and location data
  • Inability to purchase certain ticket types

Requested features

4 requests
  • Offline ticket access
  • Improved journey planning with timetables
  • Service change notifications
  • Simpler and more user-friendly interface

Touch & Go Warrington

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

First Bus

No in-app purchases

None

Touch & Go Warrington

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is First Bus free?
First Bus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Touch & Go Warrington free?
Touch & Go Warrington is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, First Bus or Touch & Go Warrington?
Touch & Go Warrington is rated higher. First Bus averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.2K ratings, while Touch & Go Warrington averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do First Bus or Touch & Go Warrington have ads?
First Bus shows ads; Touch & Go Warrington does not.
Which is updated more often, First Bus or Touch & Go Warrington?
First Bus ships an update every 9 days, and Touch & Go Warrington fortnightly. Most recently, First Bus was updated on November 10, 2026 and Touch & Go Warrington on November 2, 2026.

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