Comparison

Cold Case Trace vs Last Seen

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

Head to head
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.

About

Last Seen

Investigate a disappearance by searching through a missing person's phone. Uncover clues in texts, photos, and apps to piece together the timeline and solve the mystery. This interactive fiction game offers true-crime style cases.

Highlights
  • Explore a digital phone interface
  • Analyze texts and photos
  • Piece together timelines
  • Solve true-crime style mysteries
  • AI-assisted and human-edited cases
  • Two free cases included
Read full description

Nina vanished after her birthday dinner. Her phone turned up under her best friend's passenger seat — but that friend says Nina never got in. In Last Seen, you don't watch the investigation. You are the investigation. A missing person's phone lands in your hands, unlocked, and everything they left behind is yours to search: the last texts they sent, the photos they never posted, the apps they used, the calls they didn't return. Piece together the timeline. Notice what doesn't add up. Decide who was lying — and figure out what really happened in the days before they disappeared. It plays like snooping through a real phone, because that's exactly what it is. Scroll their messages. Open their gallery. Dig through their notes, their maps, their social feeds. Every case is a self-contained true-crime mystery built for people who can't stop at one episode — twisting, character-driven, and made to be solved. TWO COMPLETE CASES ARE FREE. Trace Nina's disappearance in AFTER MIDNIGHT, or investigate a stolen museum watch and a missing registrar in THE EMPTY CASE. Future case files can join the library without renumbering the stories you already started. Made for true-crime fans, mystery readers, and anyone who has ever wanted to work the case themselves. Last Seen is a work of interactive fiction. All characters, cases, and events are entirely fictional. The stories are AI-assisted and human-edited; an in-app notice explains how AI is used. Any resemblance to real people or events is coincidental. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Cold Case Trace4 screens
Last Seen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Last Seen at 100% against Cold Case Trace's 40%. Last Seen also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Cold Case Trace's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (64 vs 20). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cold Case Trace sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days and Last Seen sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Last Seen holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 64 and 20 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Cold Case Trace's written reviews are positive against 100% of Last Seen's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cold Case Trace ships an update every 9 days, Last Seen every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Cold Case Trace versus Last Seen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCold Case TraceLast Seen
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (64 ratings)4.8 (20 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings64 — better20
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size135 MB53 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperOguzhan YildirimFilipp Bazun

Customer experience

Cold Case Trace

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

Last Seen

All ratings19 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral5.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

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
4 purchases

Last Seen

Subscriptions2
  • Signal 9 — Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Signal 9 — Annual$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Second Listen$3.99
  • Closing Time$3.99

Questions

Is Cold Case Trace free?
Cold Case Trace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Last Seen free?
Last Seen is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cold Case Trace or Last Seen?
Last Seen is rated higher. Cold Case Trace averages 4.5 out of 5 from 64 ratings, while Last Seen averages 4.8 from 20 ratings.
Do Cold Case Trace or Last Seen have ads?
Neither Cold Case Trace nor Last Seen shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cold Case Trace or Last Seen?
Cold Case Trace ships an update every 9 days, and Last Seen every 3 weeks. Most recently, Cold Case Trace was updated on October 31, 2026 and Last Seen on November 1, 2026.

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