Comparison

Rhode Tour vs National Forest Explorer

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

Head to head
About

Rhode Tour

Explore Rhode Island's rich heritage and culture through an interactive GPS-enabled map. Discover historical locations with detailed information, archival images, and media. Access content online or via the mobile app.

Highlights
  • Interactive GPS-enabled map
  • Historical location information
  • Archival images and media
  • Heritage and culture exploration
  • Coastal to coast coverage
Read full description

Rhode Tour places the heritage and culture of Rhode Island at your fingertips with this free Smartphone app. Known as the “Ocean State,” Rhode Island is filled with interesting stories, captivating places, and intriguing people from coast to coast. With a growing list of interpretive stories, each point on the interactive GPS-enabled map includes historical information about the location, along with historic images and media from archival collections and historical publications. The information on the app may also be accessed by visiting the project website at rhodetour.org. Rhode Tour is brought to you by the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

About

National Forest Explorer

Discover U.S. Forest Service lands and heritage sites with this official exploration tool. Access detailed information, offline maps, and recreational opportunities for your next adventure. Stay updated on closures and events with push notifications.

Highlights
  • Discover nearby forests and grasslands
  • Explore points of interest
  • Access forest facts and heritage information
  • Offline and GPS maps
  • Information on recreational opportunities
  • Educational audio tours
  • Push notifications for alerts
Features
Read full description

This official app is a portal for exploring the diverse lands and heritage sites managed by the U.S. Forest Service. A powerful exploration tool, this app allows you to discover forests near you and can help you explore each destination's points of interest. Use this app for easy access to forest facts, natural, cultural, and historic information, offline and GPS maps, recreational opportunities, and other essential visitor information to enjoy our National Forests and Grasslands. The perfect companion for your next forest adventure or armchair travels, each app was developed by the forest unit’s rangers and interpretive staff and features a variety of content, including educational audio tours and natural and historic imagery. Plan your itinerary of things to see and do with easy access to information regarding recreational opportunities, trails, maps, and visitor centers. Each forest destination can be downloaded individually from the portal, allowing you to stay up to date with your favorite destinations through push notifications alerts for closures and events. Connect with Visitor Centers and Ranger Stations using one-tap calling and submit valuable feedback or report concerns with surveys. OnCell has worked closely with each forest as the official provider of their mobile apps. You can expect additional forests to be added to this app over time, as the U.S. Forest Service continues it's commitment to provide exciting and relevant visitor information in easy to access formats.

Screenshots

Rhode Tour4 screens
National Forest Explorer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Rhode Tour at 100% against National Forest Explorer's 30%. Rhode Tour also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5). National Forest Explorer's advantage is ratings volume (736 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13 vs 15.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Rhode Tour holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: National Forest Explorer has 736 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Rhode Tour's written reviews are positive against 30% of National Forest Explorer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rhode Tour ships an update every 4 months, National Forest Explorer every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Rhode Tour versus National Forest Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRhode TourNational Forest Explorer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.5 (736 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better30.2% of reviews
Number of ratings2736 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB109 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCuratescapeToby Bloom

Customer experience

Rhode Tour

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

National Forest Explorer

All ratings728 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral3.7%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews63 reviews
Positive30.2%
Neutral7.9%
Negative61.9%

Bugs and requests

Rhode Tour

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

National Forest Explorer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login issues
  • Compatibility problems with older devices
  • Broken links and missing content

Requested features

4 requests
  • More national forests and recreation areas
  • Offline maps and content
  • Better search and filtering options
  • Integration with other outdoor apps

In-app purchases

None

Rhode Tour

No in-app purchases

None

National Forest Explorer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Rhode Tour free?
Rhode Tour is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is National Forest Explorer free?
National Forest Explorer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Rhode Tour or National Forest Explorer?
Rhode Tour is rated higher. Rhode Tour averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while National Forest Explorer averages 4.5 from 736 ratings.
Do Rhode Tour or National Forest Explorer have ads?
Neither Rhode Tour nor National Forest Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Rhode Tour or National Forest Explorer?
Rhode Tour ships an update every 4 months, and National Forest Explorer every 3 months. Most recently, Rhode Tour was updated on November 1, 2026 and National Forest Explorer on November 2, 2026.

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