Comparison

Student Safety App vs OpenST

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

Head to head
About

Student Safety App

Features
Read full description

The UK’s first crowd-sourced Student Safety App. Built by students, for students. Stay safe. Stay connected. The Student Safety App (SSA) is your go-to tool for staying safe on and off campus. Whether you’re on your way home from a night out, heading back from a late library session, or just walking across campus, SSA helps you stay connected, informed, and protected. With six key features, SSA makes safety simple: Incident Report Quickly report anything suspicious, such as spiking, harassment, or unsafe behaviour, and instantly alert students nearby so they can stay aware and safe. Safe Routes Plan your journey home with confidence. SSA maps out the safest route for you, avoiding any incidents recently reported in your area. Track Me Share your live location with trusted contacts, so friends and family know you got home safe, without needing to send the β€œI’m home” text. Secret Record Discreetly record audio or take a photo if you feel unsafe. Files stay securely on your device for 30 days and can help support investigations if needed. Fake Call Schedule a fake call to your phone when you need an excuse to leave an uncomfortable situation without raising suspicion. Rewards Get exclusive discounts and rewards from top student brands, just for signing up and using the app. Download SSA today, free for all students across the UK. Stay safe, stay connected.

About

OpenST

Features
Read full description

Your speakers, brought back to life. This works with the latest firmware that locks down SoundTouch speakers. When the SoundTouch cloud was shut down on May 6, 2026, it took your presets, music browsing, and most of what made your speakers smart with it. OpenST brings it all back β€” directly on your local network, with no servers to host and no setup beyond installing the app. WHAT YOU GET BACK Hardware presets 1–6 working again, fully editable Real-time now playing across every room Multi-room grouping and party mode Volume, playback, and source switching from your phone Internet radio β€” thousands of stations via Radio Browser Stream from your NAS, Plex, or any UPnP music server Spotify, Pandora, AirPlay, and AUX, all controllable Apple Watch app with hardware preset control DESIGNED FOR YOUR HOME OpenST opens to your rooms, not a music service. See what's playing everywhere at a glance. Tap a room to take control. Long-press the volume slider for an AirPlay-style room picker. PRO FEATURES Unlimited speakers (free version supports two) Spotify playback Scenes. One-tap presets for multi-room playback at custom volumes Siri Shortcuts and home automation Sleep timers with fade-out Per-room, per-source EQ profiles Watch complications and Home Screen widgets iCloud sync across your Apple devices Custom stream URLs LOCAL-FIRST, PRIVATE BY DESIGN OpenST talks directly to your speakers. No account, no sign-up, no servers, no data collection. Your speakers, your network, your music. Nothing leaves your home. WORKS WITH SoundTouch 10, 20, 30, 300, Wave SoundTouch IV, SoundTouch Portable, and all other Wi-Fi-connected SoundTouch speakers running supported firmware. OpenST is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Bose Corporation. SoundTouch is a trademark of Bose Corporation, used here for compatibility identification only. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Student Safety App4 screens
OpenST4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Student Safety App at none against OpenST's 2. OpenST's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. OpenST sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Student Safety App asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Student Safety App ships an update weekly, OpenST every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Student Safety App versus OpenST: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStudent Safety AppOpenST
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch β€” better
Requires iOS16 β€” better17.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size75 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCayson GlobalFBeasleySoftware

In-app purchases

None

Student Safety App

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

OpenST

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Student Safety App free?
Student Safety App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is OpenST free?
OpenST is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Student Safety App or OpenST have ads?
Neither Student Safety App nor OpenST shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Student Safety App or OpenST?
Student Safety App ships an update weekly, and OpenST every 3 days. Most recently, Student Safety App was updated on October 10, 2026 and OpenST on September 24, 2026.

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