Metro vs Stroller NYC
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Metro
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Metro puts the NYC subway on your Home Screen, and in your pocket, with real-time arrival data, multi-line widgets, and a clean, minimal map designed for riders who just want to know when the next train is coming. WIDGETS THAT ACTUALLY WORK Small, medium, and large Home Screen widgets show live arrival countdowns for your pinned stations. Choose Grid mode to see multiple stations at once, or Single mode to focus on one station at a time with a tap-to-switch button. Set a widget to Nearest Station and it automatically shows arrivals for whatever stop you're closest to — no configuration needed. Tap any station on a widget to jump straight to it on the map. Every widget shows Uptown and Downtown arrivals side by side, updates every 60 seconds, and includes a manual refresh button when you need the latest data right now. Active service alerts are flagged directly on your widget so you know before you leave the house. A BEAUTIFUL, MINIMAL MAP Every subway line drawn in official MTA colors. Station dots colored by line — white at transfer points. Zoom in and station names and route badges appear automatically. Double-tap a station to zoom to street level. Tap to see full arrival details with the option to pin it to your widgets. Filter the map to show only your pinned stations, or tap the location button to jump to your current position. SERVICE ALERTS Delays, planned work, service changes, and suspensions — pulled directly from official feeds and updated every 60 seconds. Alerts show on station dots, in station detail views, and in a dedicated alerts screen with filtering by category. REAL-TIME ARRIVALS Powered by the MTA's public GTFS-Realtime feeds — the same data source the official countdown clocks use. See the next trains for every route at every station, grouped by direction, with live minute-by-minute countdowns. Station route badges update by time of day so you see what's actually running right now, not what runs at 2 AM. NEARBY STATIONS Uses your location to find the closest subway stations, sorted by distance. Every station shows which lines serve it so you can make quick transfer decisions. PIN YOUR FAVORITES Pin the stations you use every day. Drag to reorder, swipe to delete. Your pinned stations sync across all your devices via iCloud and are available to your widgets instantly. - Real-time arrival data from official GTFS-Realtime feeds - Live service alerts: delays, planned work, suspensions, service changes - Small, medium, and large Home Screen widgets - Grid and Single widget layouts with tap-to-switch pagination - Nearest Station widget mode using your location - Tap a widget station to open it directly on the map - Uptown/Downtown direction columns on medium and single widgets - Manual refresh + auto-refresh every 60 seconds - Full subway map with zoom-adaptive station details and line-colored dots - Filter map to pinned stations only - Zoom-to-me location button - Dark mode and light mode - Imperial and metric distance units - iCloud sync for pinned stations across devices - In-app widget setup guide - No account required, no ads, no tracking
Stroller NYC
This app plans subway trips using only stations with currently operational elevators. It provides real-time updates on elevator outages and train times, ensuring step-free travel across the entire subway system. Save your frequent destinations for quick access.
- Step-free A to B subway routing
- Live elevator outage alerts
- Real-time train countdowns
- Platform-specific elevator accessibility
- Save and sync home/daycare locations
- Offline trip planning
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Every parent with a stroller has done it: carried the whole thing down a flight of stairs because the elevator at the station was out, and nobody said so until you got there. Stroller NYC plans subway trips that only enter, leave and change trains at stations whose elevators are working right now. Not stations that are accessible on paper: stations where the elevator is running at the moment you search, checked against the MTA's live elevator feed. • Accessible A-to-B subway routes across all of NYC • Live elevator outages, by station and by platform • NEW: which part of the train to board (front, middle or back) so you step off right by the elevator (beta) • Route maps with walking paths and the exact spot of the street elevator • Real train countdowns for the platform you're actually boarding from • Knows which platform each elevator reaches, so it won't send you uptown from a station that's only accessible downtown • Alerts when an elevator on your route breaks • Save home, daycare and recent trips with a free account • Works underground: your plan stays on screen when the signal doesn't Made for parents with strollers, and just as useful in a wheelchair, with a walker, a suitcase or a bad knee: anyone who needs the elevator to actually work. Built by one parent in Brooklyn. Not affiliated with the MTA.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Stroller NYC at 15.0 against Metro's 17.6. On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Metro ships an update fortnightly, Stroller NYC every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Metro | Stroller NYC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | James Bradley | Julio Servan |
In-app purchases
Metro
No in-app purchases
Stroller NYC
No in-app purchases









