Comparison

Historic Scotland vs Bus & Tram

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

Head to head
About

Historic Scotland

Discover Scotland's historic attractions with this comprehensive guide. Find essential details like admission prices, opening times, and facilities for over 300 sites. Plan your next adventure with interactive maps, event listings, and curated itineraries.

Highlights
  • Interactive map of Scotland
  • Search by region or category
  • Create custom itineraries
  • Find nearby attractions
  • Event information
  • Pricing and opening times
Features
Read full description

This app is your one-stop shop for information on Scotland’s iconic historic attractions. Packed with essential information and beautiful imagery for Historic Scotland’s 77 staffed properties - including admission price, opening times, facilities and travel - this guide will help you research your next holiday or simply plan a day trip with the kids. Intuitive and easy to use, the Historic Scotland app allows you to search by region or interest, with best for categories such as ‘families’, ‘gardens’, ‘picnics’ and ‘military history’ to choose from. You can also view all sites attractions on an interactive map of Scotland. Not sure where you want to go? The app includes event information, articles and itinerary features, with new content added regularly to provide a source of inspiration. A view of Historic Scotland on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram gives you the latest ‘social buzz’ all in one place. Features: • Create your own Historic Itinerary to share on social channels • What’s near me? Find attractions within a 50km radius of your current location • Featuring over 300 historic sites throughout Scotland • Search by region or ‘best for’ category • Image galleries • Interactive map view • Pricing, opening times and facilities information • Events search • Location and travel information • ‘Inspire Me’ – find ideas on where to visit with the latest features and itineraries

About

Bus & Tram

Plan your bus and tram journeys in Edinburgh and the Lothians with real-time arrival information. Purchase mobile tickets directly within the app and receive live updates on delays and diversions.

Highlights
  • Journey planning with interactive map
  • Real-time bus and tram arrival times
  • Mobile ticket purchasing
  • Live travel and service updates
  • Customizable route suggestions
  • Service notifications
Features
Read full description

The new Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams app has everything you need to seamlessly travel on buses and trams in and around Edinburgh and the Lothians. Journey Planning Planning your journey around Edinburgh has never been easier. You can view your location on the interactive map and plan a route to your desired location. You can tailor the results to your travel preferences and we'll show you the most practical routes to get you where you need to be. Real-time Information Stay up to date with all the latest information regarding bus and tram arrival and departure times. The interactive map shows every bus and tram stop around you with subsequent real-time information about services at the selected location. Mobile Ticketing Passengers can now purchase a number of ticket types all on the one app. The app will learn ticket purchase behaviour and can present suggestions for frequently purchased tickets. Make use of our handy filters and find the tickets you need whether you're travelling across the region, in the city or to the Airport. Travel and Service Information The new and updated app can give you live updates about travel and service information, such as delays and diversions. If a stop is selected on the app, passengers will get the most up to date service information regarding the routes that serve the selected stop. Passengers have the opportunity to turn on notifications to get the latest service information straight to their smartphone.

Screenshots

Historic Scotland4 screens
Bus & Tram4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bus & Tram at 4.8 against Historic Scotland's 4.1. Bus & Tram also leads on ratings volume (219 vs 7) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Historic Scotland's advantage is review sentiment (30% vs 15%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bus & Tram holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bus & Tram has 219 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 30% of Historic Scotland's written reviews are positive against 15% of Bus & Tram's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Historic Scotland ships an update every 2 months, Bus & Tram every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 11, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Historic Scotland versus Bus & Tram: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHistoric ScotlandBus & Tram
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (7 ratings)4.8 (219 ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.0% of reviews — better14.6% of reviews
Number of ratings7219 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS11.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB65 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPing Online Communications LimitedLothian Buses plc

Customer experience

Historic Scotland

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive30.0%
Neutral13.3%
Negative56.7%

Bus & Tram

All ratings219 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral0.9%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews309 reviews
Positive14.6%
Neutral7.8%
Negative77.7%

Bugs and requests

Historic Scotland

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Bus & Tram

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App refreshes when switching away
  • Address search returns irrelevant results

Requested features

4 requests
  • Bring back 'take me home' button
  • Allow saving of favorite stops without login
  • Integrate live departure times with route planning
  • Improve map view to show bus locations

In-app purchases

None

Historic Scotland

No in-app purchases

None

Bus & Tram

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Historic Scotland free?
Historic Scotland is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bus & Tram free?
Bus & Tram is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Historic Scotland or Bus & Tram?
Bus & Tram is rated higher. Historic Scotland averages 4.1 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Bus & Tram averages 4.8 from 219 ratings.
Do Historic Scotland or Bus & Tram have ads?
Neither Historic Scotland nor Bus & Tram shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Historic Scotland or Bus & Tram?
Historic Scotland ships an update every 2 months, and Bus & Tram every 3 weeks. Most recently, Historic Scotland was updated on June 11, 2026 and Bus & Tram on September 24, 2026.

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