GR Walks vs Explore Michigan
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
GR Walks
Explore Grand Rapids, Michigan with self-guided walking tours. Discover historical landmarks and neighborhoods through interactive maps, audio narration, and photos that bring local history to life at your current location.
- Walking tours of Grand Rapids landmarks
- Interactive maps
- Audio narration
- Historical photos
- GPS location integration
- Offline functionality
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GR Walks features a number of walking tours of landmarks and neighborhoods in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Each tour features maps, audio, and photos about the history of each location. It brings the history to the actual location where you are standing. This app uses GPS location to help you find each stop but functions equally well without it.
Explore Michigan
Discover Michigan's natural wonders and historical sites. Browse state parks, national parks, and lighthouses with detailed information, maps, and guides to plan your adventures. Get directions and download location-specific resources for a richer outdoor experience.
- Browse State Parks, National Parks, Lighthouses
- Location-specific activities, maps, and guides
- Filter locations by type
- Map clusters for readability
- Turn-by-turn navigation integration
- Downloadable safety and topic guides
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Explore Michigan's great outdoors right from your iOS device. Browse and learn about several outdoor attractions such as State Parks, National Parks, and lighthouses. Detailed information including location specific activities, maps, and guides can help you plan your next trip. Here are just a few features of the app: - Location Filters - Want to just see lighthouses? You can filter results so that you only see specific types of locations on the map or in the list. This makes it super easy to explore what you are interested in. - Cluster Preview - The map groups locations that are close together in a "cluster" so the map remains readable when zoomed out. Tap on a cluster to see a preview of the locations in that area. - Directions - Once you are ready to go, just tap "Get Directions" to start turn-by-turn navigation via the Apple Maps app. - Resources - Location specific resources such maps and PDF guides are available to download to help you learn about specific topics such as water safety or bear safety.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Explore Michigan at every 2 months against GR Walks's every 12 months. Explore Michigan also leads on ratings volume (212 vs 4) and review sentiment (75% vs 67%). GR Walks's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
GR Walks holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Explore Michigan has 212 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of GR Walks's written reviews are positive against 75% of Explore Michigan's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
GR Walks ships an update every 12 months, Explore Michigan every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | GR Walks | Explore Michigan |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 4.7 (212 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 212 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 83 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Calvin University | Code Bits LLC |
Customer experience
GR Walks
Explore Michigan
In-app purchases
GR Walks
No in-app purchases
Explore Michigan
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is GR Walks free?
Is Explore Michigan free?
Which has better reviews, GR Walks or Explore Michigan?
Do GR Walks or Explore Michigan have ads?
Which is updated more often, GR Walks or Explore Michigan?
Other comparisons
