Norway Lights vs Ruter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Norway Lights
This travel guide provides a user-friendly forecast for experiencing the northern lights in Norway. It offers a 3-day extended forecast, hourly predictions, and recommendations on the best times and locations to see the aurora borealis. The app also includes tips for photography and travel planning.
- 3-day extended forecast
- Hourly forecast
- Northern light activity recommendations
- Aurora facts
- Interactive map
- Photography tips
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Boost your chances of experiencing the northern lights phenomenon! Visit Norway, the official travel guide to Norway, gives you a user-friendly northern lights forecast app with an overview of places known as “northern light cities” in Norway. The interface of the app is slick, yet simple, which sought to provide nature-loving explorers guidelines in regards to when to go, where to go and how to get there. Our favorite features include: 3-day extended forecast Hourly forecast for today Recommendation on whether to anticipate northern light activities in a specific city in Norway or not Facts about the northern lights phenomenon Map which locate your position relative to the cities in Norway Photo tips and other tips & tricks Short-cuts to flight and tour options Download NorwayLights for free and start exploring the best northern lights forecast available!
Ruter
Plan your journeys and purchase tickets for public transport in Oslo and Akershus. This app provides real-time departure information, route planning, and allows you to see vehicle locations and crowding levels. It also offers options for renting e-scooters, e-bikes, and city bikes.
- Plan journeys from A to B
- Buy tickets for public transport
- Real-time departure times
- Live vehicle tracking
- See crowding information
- Rent e-scooters and bikes
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The Ruter app gives you full mobility in Oslo and Akershus. Find all departures and get around with public transport such as trams, metro, buses and ferries. Select your preferred modes of transport, find the best routes and buy your tickets – all in one app. Top features in the Ruter app: • Buy tickets for public transport – for yourself and others • Plan journeys from A to B • See all departure times, and use the map to see where your mode of transportation is in real time • See how crowded the bus or tram is • Get relevant service disruption information • Add favourites to save places you visit often • See accessibility information for stops • Pay by card, Vipps or Apple Pay Unlock more features by creating a personal profile: • Find, ride and pay for e-scooters, e-bikes and city bikes • Save your journeys for later • Store tickets, history and favourites – even if you change phones • Get access to new concepts and products With a Ruter profile you’ll also get quicker and more convenient customer service. We’re always happy to hear from you if you need help, have feedback or suggestions for improvement. Tips to get even more out of the Ruter app: • If you share your location, the app will show you nearby stops and give you more accurate and relevant travel suggestions. • Use smart widgets to buy tickets or see departures from your favourite stops. Keep an eye out for more features in the future – and thank you for travelling with us!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Ruter at 4.8 against Norway Lights's 1.5. Ruter also leads on review sentiment (51% vs 20%) and update cadence (weekly vs every 30 months). Norway Lights's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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.
Ruter holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ruter has 3.8K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of Norway Lights's written reviews are positive against 51% of Ruter's.
Norway Lights ships an update every 30 months, Ruter weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Norway Lights | Ruter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.5 (2 ratings) | 4.8 (3.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 20.0% of reviews | 50.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 3.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 30 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 89 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Visit Norway | Ruter As |
Customer experience
Norway Lights
Ruter
Bugs and requests
Norway Lights
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Ruter
Reported bugs
3 issues- Tickets disappearing after phone restart
- Verification codes not being received
- App crashing or freezing on older devices
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to manually reorder shortcut stations
- Offline support for proof of fare
- Improved walking directions between connections
- Support for international credit cards and Apple Pay
In-app purchases
Norway Lights
No in-app purchases
Ruter
No in-app purchases
