Comparison

Hidden Florence vs Hidden Beaches

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

Head to head
About

Hidden Florence

Explore Renaissance Florence with this pocket guide. Discover hidden stories and lesser-known attractions through audio-guided tours from historical characters. Dive deeper into the city's past with insights from history experts and interactive maps.

Highlights
  • Audio-guided tours from historic characters
  • Discover hidden parts of the city
  • Trigger stories with GPS
  • Interactive historical maps
  • Insights from history experts
  • Visit points in any order
Features
Read full description

This is your pocket guide to the history and people of Renaissance Florence. Hear the lesser known stories about the major historic attractions of the city, as well as finding adventures off the beaten path. - Audio-guided tours from historic characters Take a stroll alongside your guides from the past - wool workers, policemen, bankers and matriarchs are waiting to take you by the hand through this historic city. - Discover more of Florence You can use this app as you move through the streets of Florence and trigger stories with GPS - or - sit back and let your fingers do the walking by tapping on story points. - Insights from history experts Based on authentic historical documents, this app will take you places that other guides don’t reach. Stories have been created by researchers and leading experts on Florentine history, Including extra insights at every point. - Features - Audio-guide tours to hidden parts of the city; - Switch between interactive historical maps and modern day; - Visit points in any order or follow recommended routes; - Get deeper information from the scholars behind the app at every point; - Two stories available in Italian ----- Hidden Florence is the result of a collaborative research project led by Fabrizio Nevola (University of Exeter), with Donal Cooper (University of Cambridge) and Nicholas Terpstra (University of Toronto), and project team members Daniel Jamison and David Rosenthal. The project has been funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK (award: AH/R008086/1), the University of Exeter and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canada (grant: 435-2015-097). This app contains content produced for Hidden Florence, a project originally created in 2013-4 by Fabrizio Nevola with David Rosenthal and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK (award: AH/K005138/1), the University of Exeter and the HEFCE Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) for Open Innovation.

About

Hidden Beaches

Discover Britain's most beautiful secret beaches for swimming, walking, and exploring. This practical guide features inspirational photos, engaging writing, and detailed mapping for over 400 hidden coastal gems.

Highlights
  • Explore 400 secret beaches
  • Inspirational photos and writing
  • Detailed 1:25,000 mapping
  • Directions and travel information
  • Find nearby pubs and campsites
  • Interactive map search
  • Save favorite locations
Features
Read full description

Wild Swimming Hidden Beaches: Explore Britain's Secret Coast In this spectacular and practical guide Daniel Start, author of Wild Swimming, charts Britain’s 400 most beautiful secret beaches, describing the best places to swim, walk and explore, containing all the content from the best-selling book ‘Hidden Beaches’ (Wild Things Publishing, 2014, £16.99). Britain has some of the most amazing coastline in the world, and it is more accessible than ever before, yet many of its beaches remain hidden. These little slices of peace and paradise welcome the intrepid adventurer and those in the know. So why not set out to discover our shell-white sands and blue lagoons, hidden smugglers’ coves and sea grottoes sparkling with coralline. Find a campsite on the beach and cook up supper on the sands, or seek out the best local seafood at welcoming inns. This app combines inspirational photos, engaging writing and practical information to make a truly original travel guide. NOTE: due to the large number of images and places the app is slow to load first time and may not work well (or crash) if many other apps are open in parallel. Please close other apps. You will find preloaded maps, photos, directions and travel writing to inspire and inform. Most locations comes with stunning photography and include detailed 1:25,000 mapping. There is contact information for nearby pubs, campsites and attractions. If you need inspiration you can browse the app by slideshow, list, photo gallery and on an interactive map. Ask the app to find places close to you, or search using postcode, address, star rating, walk-in time, keywords or other features. You can share places on email and Facebook and save favourites too.

Screenshots

Hidden Florence4 screens
Hidden Beaches4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hidden Florence at 100% against Hidden Beaches's 0%. Hidden Florence also leads on price (Free vs $3.99) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Hidden Florence is free to download; Hidden Beaches costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hidden Florence ships an update every 3 months, Hidden Beaches every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Hidden Florence versus Hidden Beaches: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHidden FlorenceHidden Beaches
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.515.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUniversity of ExeterWild Things Publishing Ltd

Customer experience

Hidden Florence

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Hidden Beaches

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

Hidden Florence

No in-app purchases

None

Hidden Beaches

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hidden Florence free?
Hidden Florence is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hidden Beaches free?
Hidden Beaches costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Hidden Florence or Hidden Beaches have ads?
Neither Hidden Florence nor Hidden Beaches shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hidden Florence or Hidden Beaches?
Hidden Florence ships an update every 3 months, and Hidden Beaches every 7 months. Most recently, Hidden Florence was updated on September 15, 2026 and Hidden Beaches on October 26, 2026.

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