giffgaff vs Bark
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
giffgaff
Manage your mobile account effortlessly. Track data usage, renew plans, and access WiFi hotspots across the UK. This app provides a comprehensive overview of your mobile services and allows for easy top-ups and account management.
- Check data usage
- Buy or renew plans
- Plan expiry notifications
- Add credit/auto top-up
- WiFi Extra access
- Community access
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The giffgaff mobile app lets you manage your giffgaff account with the tap of your phone. You can check your data use on the go and connect to literally thousands of WiFi hotspots all across the UK with WiFI Extra. But that's just the start of what the app can do. It's a bitesize wonder. - Check how much data you have left - Buy or renew a plan - Keep an eye on when your plan expires - Add credit or turn on auto top up - Pay with a saved card or PayPal - Redeem a voucher - Access the community - Add multiple giffgaff accounts - Access thousands of WiFi hotspots across the UK with WiFi Extra You'll need your giffgaff member name and password to log in. If you're new to giffgaff, order your free SIM card now: https://www.giffgaff.com/orders/free-sim
Bark
Send custom push notifications to your iPhone via an HTTP API. Supports advanced features like custom icons, grouping, and critical alerts. Offers privacy-protected, end-to-end encrypted pushes with self-deployable server options.
- HTTP API for push notifications
- Custom icons and grouping
- Continuous and critical alerts
- End-to-end push encryption
- Self-deployable server options
- Privacy-protected notifications
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You can send push notifications to your iPhone by simply calling an HTTP API. Bark supports many advanced iOS push features, such as custom icons, notification grouping, custom ringtones, continuous alerts, critical alerts, and encrypted pushes. Bark does not consume device battery, as its core functionality relies on system push services and push extensions, and the app itself does not need to be running. Bark ensures your privacy and security with high reliability. Bark supports self-deploying the server, which can be deployed via Docker, Serverless, or Cloudflare Worker. The bark-server supports most operating systems, and you can also run it manually. The app is compiled and uploaded through Github Action, ensuring that the version you’re using is compiled from open-source code, without any modifications by anyone (including the author). Bark supports end-to-end push encryption with a custom key, ensuring that the push content is not accessed or leaked by the Bark server or Apple’s APNs server during transmission. The notification message history saved locally by Bark is also very secure. Using the NotificationServiceExtension, the push message is only stored on the device when the push is received. Feedback email: to@day.app Privacy Policy: https://api.day.app/privacy User Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bark at 98% against giffgaff's 28%. Bark also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5). giffgaff's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (1K vs 111). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Bark sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.69 per year. giffgaff asks for nothing beyond the download.
Bark holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: giffgaff has 1K ratings behind it against 111, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of giffgaff's written reviews are positive against 98% of Bark's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | giffgaff | Bark |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1K ratings) | 4.9 (111 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 28.3% of reviews | 98.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1K — better | 111 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 99 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | giffgaff | 丰 黄 |
Customer experience
giffgaff
Bark
Bugs and requests
giffgaff
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login screen freezes
- Inability to update payment methods
- Inconsistent app behavior across devices
- Unreliable app performance after updates
Requested features
4 requests- Detailed data usage tracking
- Ability to manage family accounts
- Landscape mode support for tablets
- Seamless SIM card switching
Bark
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
giffgaff
No in-app purchases
Bark
- Continuous support$2.691 Year
- One-time donation$2.69









