Nova Safe vs Speed Queen
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nova Safe
This safety app connects users to university safety forces for quick assistance. It allows sending crime tips with media, requesting safety escorts, and tracking friends' locations. Users can also access campus resources, shuttle schedules, and view a crime map.
- Contact university safety forces
- Send crime tips with photos/videos
- Request safety escorts
- Friend Watch location tracking
- View real-time shuttle locations
- Access campus resources
- View campus crime map
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Nova Safe is the official safety app of Villanova University. If you're in a dangerous situation, use the Nova Safe application to quickly and easily contact university safety forces. Nova Safe also allows you to: -Send text messages, as well as photos and videos of crime tips and suspicious behavior directly to university safety forces. -Request a safety escort to walk you though campus. -Use the Friend Watch feature to create a peer-to-peer safety network. Walking to class alone and want some additional safety? Use Friend Watch to allow your friends and family to track your location during that activity. -View campus shuttle schedules and even view the shuttles location in real-time. -Access campus resources, such as the student handbook, and emergency procedures directly through the app. -View a crime map which displays recent incidents on campus. GPS disclaimer: "Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life."
Speed Queen
Easily pay for washers and dryers directly from your smartphone. Check machine availability, receive notifications when your laundry is almost done, and streamline your laundry day.
- Mobile payment for washers and dryers
- View machine availability
- Location-based machine finder
- Laundry completion notifications
- Contactless payment
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The Speed Queen app makes it easy to pay for a washer or dryer right from your phone. No more last-minute searching for quarters or wondering if machines are available. Enter a location, view machine availability, pay from your phone and you are ready to go. We’ll even let you know when your laundry is almost finished. Your best laundry day starts now.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Speed Queen at 4.8 against Nova Safe's 3.5. Speed Queen also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (21K vs 6). Nova Safe's advantage is monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and review sentiment (50% vs 40%). On price, 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.
Speed Queen holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Speed Queen has 21K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Nova Safe's written reviews are positive against 40% of Speed Queen's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Nova Safe ships an update every 5 months, Speed Queen every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nova Safe | Speed Queen |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (6 ratings) | 4.8 (21K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better | 40.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 21K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.2 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Villanova University | Alliance Laundry Systems LLC |
Customer experience
Nova Safe
Speed Queen
Bugs and requests
Nova Safe
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Speed Queen
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes, freezes, or fails to connect to machines
- Incorrect machine availability status
- Unexpected charges or lost funds
- Issues with email verification and account login
Requested features
4 requests- Allow users to pay per cycle instead of pre-loading funds
- Implement a way to notify others when machines are available
- Add a directory to find laundromats that support the app
- Improve the app's stability and reliability
In-app purchases
Nova Safe
No in-app purchases
Speed Queen
No in-app purchases
