Comparison

Polarsteps vs Tetiaroa Fish Guide

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

Head to head
About

Polarsteps

Plan, track, and relive your adventures with this app. It helps you create personalized itineraries, automatically logs your routes, and allows you to share your journey with friends and family. Capture memories with photos and videos, and even create shareable video reels or printed travel books.

Highlights
  • AI itinerary planner
  • Automatic route tracking
  • Photo and video capture
  • Trip sharing with updates
  • Trip Reels video creation
  • Printable Travel Books
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Join 23M+ travelers using Polarsteps as their all-in-one travel app. Build unique itineraries with the travel planner, let the travel tracker record your route, share the journey with friends and family, and turn it into a photo book to relive later. Whether it's a six-month trip or a weekend canoeing close to home, Polarsteps is here to capture and share your journey as it unfolds. Awards ■ Top 26 Apps — Apple App Store (2026) ■ Top 3 Travel Apps — Apple App Store (2026) ■ App of the Day — Apple App Store (2025) PLAN ■ AI itinerary planner: Create a personalized adventure based on past trips or current goals. ■ Destination snapshots: Get a quick overview of each place, why it fits your travel style, and which friends have already been there. ■ Trip details: Add notes, accommodation details, and must-see spots and activities. ■ Transport planner: Choose how you'll get from A to B for every leg of the trip. ■ Inspiration: Follow other explorers, see where they went, and get ideas for your own trips. TRACK ■ Automatic route tracking: Accurately track the route you took on a beautiful digital world map. ■ Travel Buddies: Invite friends to track trips together. ■ Capture the adventure: Add photos, videos, and stories to each step to bring your journey to life. ■ Travel stats: See how much of the world you’ve traveled, with your total of countries visited, distances covered, and more. ■ Top spots: Add your favorite places and activities so they’re part of your story. ■ Transport mode: Select how you got from place to place, whether by plane, train, or even tuk tuk. SHARE ■ Trip updates: Share your journey so friends and family can follow along from anywhere, seeing where you are and what you’ve been up to. ■ Traveler tips: Leave suggestions for other travelers on what to see and do. ■ Privacy controls: Decide who sees your adventures: everyone, followers only, or you only. RELIVE ■ Digital memories: Scroll through the places, photos, stories, and stats you’ve captured across all your trips. ■ Trip Reels: With the press of a button, transform your trip into a memorable video (also perfect to share on socials). ■ Travel Books: Turn your trip into a beautifully printed Travel Book that showcases your route and memories. WHAT OUR USERS SAY: “Love this app! It tracks me on my vacation and provides real-time notifications to friends and family of my trip. At the end, I ordered a Travel Book of my photos which is very high quality.” “The Polarsteps app is great. I am totally addicted. It is so nice to keep up with all your travels. And friends and family can follow you wherever you go. The Travel Book, which you can order afterwards, is of very good quality.” “I’ve been using this app for years now. It’s always been good and it keeps getting better.” WHAT THE PRESS ARE SAYING ABOUT POLARSTEPS “The Polarsteps app replaces your travel journal, making it easier and more beautiful.” - National Geographic “Polarsteps helps you track and share your journeys in an easy and visually appealing way” - The Next Web “Polarsteps’ resulting travel log is impressive, and is the source of a severe case of itchy feet in your correspondent.” - TechCrunch

About

Tetiaroa Fish Guide

Identify common shallow-water reef fish in the Tetiaroa Atoll lagoon with this guide designed for snorkelers. Browse species like a book or search by color and shape, viewing up to five photos per fish. Save identified fish with notes and share your discoveries.

Highlights
  • Identify 134 fish species
  • Search by color, shape, or name
  • Multiple photos per fish
  • Logbook for saved sightings
  • Works on iPhone and iPad
Features
Read full description

Updated February 2021. Identify common shallow-water reef fish seen by snorkelers in the Tetiaroa Atoll lagoon. Flip through screens like pages of a book, or find a fish quickly by color or shape. Up to 5 photos per fish -- showing juveniles, males, females, color variations. - Designed for snorkelers - 134 species / 289 photos - Identify fish by color, shape, family group, scientific name, Tahitian name, English name. - Multiple photos of most fish. - Logbook: save fish, add notes, share Logbook (text only). - Works great on iPads too. Created for the Tetiaroa Society by John Hoover, author of Hawaii's best-selling marine life ID books: The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, and: Hawaii's Sea Creatures, a Guide to Hawaii's Marine Invertebrates. Check them out on Amazon.

Screenshots

Polarsteps4 screens
Tetiaroa Fish Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Tetiaroa Fish Guide at none against Polarsteps's 2. Tetiaroa Fish Guide also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 90%) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.0). Polarsteps's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 13 months) and ratings volume (10K vs 6). On price, rating, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Polarsteps sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Tetiaroa Fish Guide asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Polarsteps against 5.0 for Tetiaroa Fish Guide. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Polarsteps has 10K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Polarsteps's written reviews are positive against 100% of Tetiaroa Fish Guide's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, Tetiaroa Fish Guide every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Polarsteps versus Tetiaroa Fish Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPolarstepsTetiaroa Fish Guide
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (10K ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10K — better6
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 13 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#57 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size228 MB201 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperPolarsteps B.V.Tetiaroa Society

Customer experience

Polarsteps

All ratings9,920 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews2,325 reviews
Positive89.8%
Neutral3.9%
Negative6.3%

Tetiaroa Fish Guide

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Polarsteps

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Trouble uploading videos
  • Incorrect time zone and location tracking
  • Steps and photos randomly disappearing
  • Crashes and freezes during usage

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to collaborate on trips with others
  • Option to customize page layouts for travel books
  • Improved video support and integration
  • More flexible map and route editing tools
  • Synchronization across multiple devices

Tetiaroa Fish Guide

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Polarsteps

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$34.991 Year
None

Tetiaroa Fish Guide

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Polarsteps free?
Polarsteps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tetiaroa Fish Guide free?
Tetiaroa Fish Guide is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Polarsteps or Tetiaroa Fish Guide?
Tetiaroa Fish Guide is rated higher. Polarsteps averages 4.9 out of 5 from 10K ratings, while Tetiaroa Fish Guide averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Polarsteps or Tetiaroa Fish Guide have ads?
Neither Polarsteps nor Tetiaroa Fish Guide shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Polarsteps or Tetiaroa Fish Guide?
Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, and Tetiaroa Fish Guide every 13 months. Most recently, Polarsteps was updated on October 25, 2026 and Tetiaroa Fish Guide on October 13, 2026.

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