BART Watch vs Clipper Card
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BART Watch
This app provides a discreet way for public transit riders to report suspicious activity directly to transit police. Users can send text messages, photos, and location data, with options for anonymity. It also features alerts for persons of interest.
- Report suspicious activity
- Send text messages and photos
- Discreet reporting with disabled flash
- Location sharing
- Anonymous reporting option
- Direct call to transit police
- Be On the Look Out (BOLO) alerts
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BART Watch: Free Security App for Riders. The BART Watch App offers the public a quick and discreet method for reporting suspicious activity directly to BART Police. The app can send pictures, text messages, and locations of suspicious people or activities. From the home screen, users have two easy options for contacting BART Police: * The “Report a Problem” button allows users to send text or photos directly to BART Police. To ensure discretion, the camera flash is automatically disabled when photos are taken through the app. When reporting an issue, users can select locations and report categories to assist BART Police. Riders can also send reports anonymously if they chose. * The “Call BART Police” button will connect customers directly to BART Police. The application is designed for BART. If you send a report in an area without cellular connectivity, it will be stored and sent when connectivity returns. The system is also designed to send text messages before pictures so that BART Police can get app reports as quickly as possible. Additional Features BOLO (Be On the Look Out) Alerts. BOLO Alerts on the BART Watch App may display alerts from BART Police about specific persons of interest. For example, BART Watch may display information about a missing person or child, such as where they were last seen. If you see a person from a BOLO, immediately call 911 and send an app report to BART Police discreetly. Help keep BART safe, "See something, Say something."
Clipper Card
Manage your transit card for contactless fare payments across the San Francisco Bay Area. Load value, plan trips with real-time information, and pay fares directly from your iPhone or Apple Watch.
- Pay fares with Clipper in Apple Pay
- Manage transit accounts
- Load cash value and transit passes
- Plan trips with real-time info
- Add/transfer cards to Apple Wallet
- View account activity
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The Clipper app is here! - Pay your fares with Clipper in Apple Pay - Manage your account(s) - Load cash value and transit passes - Plan your trips Clipper is the all-in-one transit card used for contactless fare payments throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The new Clipper app lets you manage your Clipper account from your iPhone—add value, view your history, and plan your trip! Download the Clipper app today! Pay with Your iPhone or Apple Watch The Clipper app gives you step-by-step instructions for setting up a new Clipper card or transferring an existing Clipper card to your Apple Wallet. Manage Your Account The Clipper app gives you the same account access as the website, but on your iPhone! You can register a new card, load cash value and transit passes, set up Autoload, view your recent activity, and other features. Sign in and out of multiple Clipper accounts in the Clipper app to manage a card on behalf of someone else. Plan Your Trip The Clipper app has real-time transit information and helpful trip planning tools to make getting around the Bay easy! You can view nearby transit options and routes, get real-time travel and arrival information, and save your favorite locations, stops, and stations. By downloading this app, you agree to and accept the terms of the Clipper Mobile Application License Agreement (https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/mobile-application-agreement.html) and the Clipper Privacy Policy (https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/privacy.html). Clipper serves 24 transit services in the San Francisco Bay Area: AC Transit BART Caltrain City Coach County Connection Dumbarton Express FAST Golden Gate Ferry Golden Gate Transit Marin Transit Muni Petaluma Transit SamTrans San Francisco Bay Ferry Santa Rosa CityBus SMART SolTrans Sonoma County Transit Tri Delta Transit Union City Transit Vine VTA WestCAT Wheels By downloading this app, you agree to and accept the terms of the Clipper Mobile Application License Agreement (https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/mobile-application-agreement.html) and the Clipper Privacy Policy (https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/privacy.html).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BART Watch at 4.4 against Clipper Card's 3.8. BART Watch also leads on review sentiment (34% vs 3%). Clipper Card's advantage is chart position (#112 vs unranked) and ratings volume (11K vs 2.8K). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
BART Watch holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.8K and 11K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 34% of BART Watch's written reviews are positive against 3% of Clipper Card's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BART Watch | Clipper Card |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (2.8K ratings) — better | 3.8 (11K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 34.1% of reviews — better | 3.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K | 11K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #112 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ELERTS Corp | Metropolitan Transportation Commission |
Customer experience
BART Watch
Clipper Card
User reviews
BART Watch
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Speedy response
- 🚀 Helpful app
- 🚀 Fast response time!
- 🚀 Buen trabajo
- 🚀 Excellent app/very useful
Room to improve
- 🔍 Logo is too big
- 🔍 Works horrible in tunnel and tube
- 🔍 If you like to answer endless inane questions
- 🔍 Useless
- 🔍 No response
Clipper Card
From 11K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Convenient to add Clipper card to Apple Wallet
- 👍 Easy to manage Clipper card balance
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy app with frequent issues
- ⏱️ Slow to update card balance and transaction history
- 💳 Difficult to cancel auto-load or transfer card balances
- 🤖 Poor customer service and unresponsive support
- 🔒 Security concerns with lost/stolen cards
Bugs and requests
BART Watch
Reported bugs
3 issues- had a good connection but unable to upload
- Can't file a report and a kid is lighting things on fire in the BART car. Obvious the camera doesn't work. Good job!
- Don't see an option for fare evader
Requested features
2 requests- Need a way to report non-police matters too
- Upload a photo of disruptive behavior
Clipper Card
Reported bugs
4 issues- App freezes and crashes frequently
- Card balances not updating properly
- Issues with adding cards to Apple Wallet
- Inconsistent behavior when loading funds
Requested features
5 requests- Improve real-time sync of card balance and transactions
- Streamline process to cancel auto-load and transfer balances
- Provide better customer support and communication
- Enhance security features for lost/stolen cards
- Eliminate unnecessary fees
In-app purchases
BART Watch
No in-app purchases
Clipper Card
No in-app purchases








