BART Watch vs Hackney
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."
Hackney
This app consolidates multiple ride-sharing services into a single interface. It allows users to compare prices and wait times across various providers, book rides with a single tap, and view personalized pricing and promotions. It also offers features like saved places and a unified ride history.
- Compare prices and wait times
- Book rides with one tap
- View personalized pricing and promotions
- Save and sync favorite locations
- Unified ride history
- Real-time surge pricing indicators
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One app. Every ride. The best price. Hackney brings together Uber, Lyft, Waymo, Robotaxi, Empower, and Curb in one place. Compare prices and wait times across all your ride options, then book with one tap. See everything at once > Instantly view every available ride. See which provider has the lowest price or the shortest wait. No more app-switching. Book in seconds > Tap any ride to open the provider's app with your route and ride type already selected. Just hit confirm to book the ride. Your prices and promotions > Connect your rideshare accounts to see exact prices, including personalized promotions or discounts. Your places, always ready > Save Home, Work, and your favorite spots. Your saved places sync automatically from your rideshare accounts. Tap a saved place from the home screen to instantly view prices. Ride history > All your rides show up in one unified history. Tap any past ride to view details in the provider's app. What you'll see for each ride - Real-time prices - Wait times - Surge pricing indicators Terms of service: https://hackney.app/terms Privacy policy: https://hackney.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hackney at 82% against BART Watch's 34%. Hackney also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). BART Watch's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (2.8K vs 113). On price, ads, monetization model 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. Hackney sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. BART Watch asks for nothing beyond the download.
Hackney holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BART Watch has 2.8K ratings behind it against 113, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 34% of BART Watch's written reviews are positive against 82% of Hackney's.
BART Watch ships an update every 3 months, Hackney every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BART Watch | Hackney |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (2.8K ratings) | 4.8 (113 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 34.1% of reviews | 82.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K — better | 113 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 119 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ELERTS Corp | Hackney Carriage, LLC |
Customer experience
BART Watch
Hackney
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
Hackney
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BART Watch
No in-app purchases
Hackney
- Hackney Pro7 Days trial$4.991 Month
