Ingress vs Strut
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ingress
Explore the real world as a battlefield in this augmented reality game. Choose a faction, discover hidden energy sources, and collaborate with others to control territories and influence the future of humanity. Your mission begins now.
- Explore real-world locations
- Augmented reality gameplay
- Choose between two factions
- Capture and link virtual portals
- Form teams and plan strategies
- Participate in live global events
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ENTER THE INGRESS UNIVERSE Welcome, Agent. A mysterious energy source known as Exotic Matter (XM) has been discovered. Its origin is unknown, and its power is seemingly unlimited. Two Factions are racing to control it, and the future of humanity hangs in the balance. The newly enhanced Ingress Scanner is online, and waiting for you. THE WORLD IS YOUR GAME Step outside and turn the real world into your battlefield. Explore landmarks, monuments, and hidden corners of your city. Every public artwork and point of interest becomes a Portal: a gateway to gather XM and uncover the secrets that are shaping our world. CHOOSE YOUR FACTION Will you enlighten humanity’s evolution with The Enlightened, or defend free will from mind control with The Resistance? Your choice defines your mission, your allies, and your destiny. TEAM UP, THINK BIG Coordinate with Agents nearby and across the globe. Build strategies, plan operations, and take part in live events that reshape the map, and reality itself. CONTROL THE BATTLEFIELD Capture and link Portals to create massive Control Fields spanning entire cities. Compete for dominance, territory, and influence in a global, ever-changing war. YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW XM is everywhere. The battle is real. Download Ingress and join the fight. Note: Agents must be over 13 years old (for residents outside of the European Economic Area); or over 16 years old or such age needed to consent to the processing of personal data in the Agent's country of residence (for residents of the European Economic Area). Unfortunately, no children may play Ingress. The optional Adventure Sync feature integrates with HealthKit to credit your distance traveled Agent Stats, even when Ingress is in the background. Support Contact us in-game by going to Settings > Help Center > Go. Privacy Policy https://www.nianticspatial.com/privacy Terms of Service https://www.nianticspatial.com/terms
Strut
Explore the world by uncovering billions of virtual tiles on a global map. Track your travels by any means of transport, discover new routes, and compete with others on leaderboards. Earn medals and level up as you open up your world.
- Uncover billions of world tiles
- Track all forms of travel
- Explore surroundings and new routes
- Compete on global leaderboards
- Earn medals and level up
- Apple Watch integration
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Imagine the entire world is covered in billions of tiles. How many can you open up? Strut is a game of exploration where you compete with other players around the world to uncover the map of the earth. –––––– TRACK YOUR TRAVELS Whether you walk, run, bike, drive, sail, ride a goat or take a hot air balloon, use Strut to keep track of exactly where you've been in the world. Share your map with friends, or keep your wanderings private... we won't tell. EXPLORE YOUR SURROUNDINGS Take a new route to work. Go down that street you never walked through. Visit every nook and cranny of your city. See more of your neighborhood – who knows what you might find? OPEN UP YOUR WORLD Strut around, level up and climb to the top of the leaderboards – there's a top 10 for every city, state, country, and the entire world. There are also a ton of medals to earn, so keep exploring and see what pops up in your adventures around the globe. You can also now keep track of your tile counts and your Strutting status on your Apple Watch! –––––– *Please note that continued use of GPS running in the background could dramatically decrease battery life.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Ingress at 4.5 against Strut's 3.7. Ingress also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (5.4K vs 67). Strut's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, 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. Ingress sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Strut asks for nothing beyond the download.
Ingress holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ingress has 5.4K ratings behind it against 67, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 45% of Ingress's written reviews are positive against 48% of Strut's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Ingress ships an update every 3 weeks, Strut every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ingress | Strut |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (5.4K ratings) — better | 3.7 (67 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 45.4% of reviews | 48.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5.4K — better | 67 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 397 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Niantic Spatial, Inc. | Thickpolicy LLC |
Customer experience
Ingress
Strut
User reviews
Ingress
From 5.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fantastic game concept
- 👍 Great for getting exercise and exploring
- 🌈 Enjoyable community and social aspects
- 💡 Innovative location-based gameplay
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent bugs and crashes
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🤖 Concerns about stalking and harassment from other players
- 🤔 Confusing or cluttered user interface in newer versions
Strut
From 67 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🗺️ Innovative tile-based map exploration concept
- 👍 Well-designed, polished user interface
- 🎮 Gamification encourages exploration and travel
- 🚶 Motivates users to discover new places and routes
- 💰 Free app with optional donations
Room to improve
- 🔋 Severe battery drain and excessive heat generation
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and instability
- 📱 Background tracking stops or becomes unreliable
- 🔄 Slow server performance and syncing issues
- ❌ Abandoned development with infrequent updates
Bugs and requests
Ingress
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues and account problems
- Inaccurate location tracking and portal detection
- Inventory management and recharging bugs
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to change factions without contacting support
- Better portal nomination and review process
- More in-game events and community activities
- Improved performance and stability on older devices
Strut
Reported bugs
14 issues- App crashes on login, especially with Facebook/Twitter authentication
- Background tracking stops randomly and requires app restart
- Pending sync tiles accumulate and never fully sync
- Tiles lost during phone transfers or account recovery
- Medal and achievement counts not updating
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- City/town tile counts not updating for weeks or months
- Level-up banner cannot be dismissed without closing app
- Apple Watch app completely non-functional
- Map crashes when attempting to pan or interact
- iOS 7+ compatibility issues
- Crashes when camera app is opened during tracking
- Text contrast issues making score screens unreadable
- Slow server response times causing UI lag
- Donation achievements not registering
Requested features
14 requests- Battery optimization and GPS efficiency improvements
- Background tracking that works reliably
- Apple Watch app with full map functionality
- External GPS device support (Bluetooth GPS pucks)
- GPX file import/export capability
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- Alternative login methods (email, Apple ID)
- Data export and backup options
- Multiple leaderboard views (with/without flights)
- Ability to add historical travel data
- Friend finder and friends list feature
- Tile color customization based on visit frequency
- Improved map contrast and readability
- Android version release
- Monthly subscription option for ongoing support
In-app purchases
Ingress
- C.O.R.E. Monthly$7.991 Month
- 1,200 CMU$0.99
- 2,500 CMU Pack$1.99
- 7,000 CMU Pack$4.99
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- 15,000 CMU Pack$9.99
- 32,000 CMU Pack$19.99
- 90,000 CMU Pack$49.99
- 200,000 CMU Pack$99.99
Strut
No in-app purchases









