Comparison

Unlocked vs Cold Case Trace

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

Head to head
About

Unlocked

Immerse yourself in realistic phone investigations to uncover the truth. Explore messages, photos, and financial records to deduce the culprit. This game offers original, complete cases with new investigations added regularly.

Highlights
  • Realistic phone investigation
  • Message and photo analysis
  • Financial record review
  • Social media profiling
  • Cross-checking clues
  • Deductive reasoning gameplay
Features
Read full description

What if the truth was hidden in a single phone? Someone hands you their phone and asks for your help. Read the messages, open the photos, follow the money, scroll the feeds. Every detail counts. Tell the truth from the lies, then name the culprit. Unlocked is an investigation game where you lead the case by searching a realistic phone. No tutorial to hold your hand: you read, you cross-check, you deduce. WHAT YOU SEARCH: • Private conversations and full history • Photos, deleted shots and hidden albums • Bank statements and suspicious payments • Social media, profiles and mysterious contacts • Email threads, call logs and voice messages • Notes, calendar and locked content to crack HOW YOU PLAY: • Open each app and gather the clues • Cross-check facts across apps to expose the lie • Answer the case's questions in your Notebook • One red herring can change everything Original, complete cases. New investigations added regularly. 100% fiction. All characters, names and situations are imaginary. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ https://unlocked-legal.netlify.app/

About

Cold Case Trace

Uncover the truth by examining a simulated phone's messages, photos, and data. Connect clues on an evidence board and accuse the killer in this interactive detective story. Your first case is free to play.

Highlights
  • Simulated phone with chats, photos, and data
  • Interactive live chat with client
  • Evidence board with red string connections
  • Escalating hint system
  • Multiple European case locations
  • Unlockable cases via subscription
Features
Read full description

Someone is lying. The phone knows. Redstring is a found-phone detective story. A client messages you in a live chat, hands you the victim's phone, and asks you to find the truth — from the first message to the final accusation. Every text, photo, voice memo, bank line and map ping is evidence. Read between the lines. Crack the passcodes. Pin the red string. Name the killer. YOUR FIRST CASE IS FREE Play "The Kessler File" from the opening message to the verdict — a full investigation, with no paywall in the middle of the story. A LIVE CHAT WITH THE CLIENT The person who knew the victim talks to you the whole way — asking the questions, reacting to your answers, and finally asking you to name a suspect. Type what you found; the story reacts. SNOOP A FULLY SIMULATED PHONE - Chats and DMs, including the deleted ones - A gallery with Hidden and Recently Deleted albums - Locked notes, voice memos, calendar, bank statements, browser tabs and location history - Every app can hide a clue. Nothing is random. PIN IT ON THE BOARD Your evidence board pins each discovery and links it with red string. Leave for days, come back, and the case is exactly where you left it — progress is saved per case. STUCK? ASK FOR A HINT Up to three escalating hints per question nudge you toward the evidence without spoiling the answer. Smart answer-matching understands what you mean. NAME THE TRUTH The final question is an accusation. Get it right and the case closes; get it wrong and you can reconsider the suspects. 10 CASES AT LAUNCH — MORE ON THE WAY Murder, disappearance, blackmail and betrayal across Europe — Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, Vienna, Amsterdam, Prague, Copenhagen and Barcelona. Fully playable in 8 languages. REDSTRING PASS Case 1 is free forever. The Redstring Pass unlocks every case: - Weekly: $4.99 per week - Annual: $29.99 per year - Lifetime: $39.99 one-time — not a subscription Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel anytime in Settings - Apple Account - Subscriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://redstring-98526.web.app/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://redstring-98526.web.app/privacy.html Redstring is a work of interactive fiction. All characters, phones, messages and events are fictional; any resemblance to real people or events is coincidental. The app never accesses your real messages, photos or data.

Screenshots

Unlocked4 screens
Cold Case Trace4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Cold Case Trace at 64 against Unlocked's 7. Unlocked's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Unlocked sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Cold Case Trace sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Unlocked against 4.5 for Cold Case Trace. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cold Case Trace has 64 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 36% of Unlocked's written reviews are positive against 40% of Cold Case Trace's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Unlocked ships an update weekly, Cold Case Trace every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Unlocked versus Cold Case Trace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUnlockedCold Case Trace
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (7 ratings)4.5 (64 ratings) — better
Positive reviews36.4% of reviews40.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings764 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB135 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperLouis DussoulierOguzhan Yildirim

Customer experience

Unlocked

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive36.4%
Neutral18.2%
Negative45.5%

Cold Case Trace

All ratings62 ratings
Positive83.9%
Neutral4.8%
Negative11.3%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative40.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Unlocked

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly sub$6.991 Month
  • Yearly$24.991 Year
7 purchases

Cold Case Trace

Subscriptions3
  • Redstring Pass — Weekly$6.997 Days
  • Annual Pass — Special Offer$19.991 Year
  • Redstring Pass — Annual$39.991 Year
One-time4
  • Reveal the Answer$1.99
  • 5 Reveals$4.99
  • 10 Reveals$7.99
Show 1 more
  • All Cases — Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Unlocked free?
Unlocked is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cold Case Trace free?
Cold Case Trace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Unlocked or Cold Case Trace?
Cold Case Trace is rated higher. Unlocked averages 4.4 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Cold Case Trace averages 4.5 from 64 ratings.
Do Unlocked or Cold Case Trace have ads?
Neither Unlocked nor Cold Case Trace shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Unlocked or Cold Case Trace?
Unlocked ships an update weekly, and Cold Case Trace every 9 days. Most recently, Unlocked was updated on October 31, 2026 and Cold Case Trace on October 31, 2026.

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