Here Comes the Bus vs myBackpack
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Here Comes the Bus
Track your child's school bus in real-time and receive notifications about its location and their boarding/deboarding. This app ensures your child arrives at the bus stop on time and provides peace of mind regarding their safety and transportation.
- Real-time bus location tracking
- Customizable map view
- Push notification alerts
- Student ridership tracking
- Arrival and departure information
- Multi-child tracking
- Multilingual support
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**NOTICE: In order to use the app, your school district must have a contract with Synovia Solutions and make Here Comes the Bus® and/or Student Ridership available to parents. Please contact your school district or visit www.herecomesthebus.com for more information.** Here Comes the Bus is an easy-to-use app that gives you the real-time location of your child’s bus, and alerts you when the bus is near. With Here Comes the Bus, your children will get to the bus stop not a minute too early – or a minute too late. And with Student Ridership, you’ll not only know your child got on the right bus at the right time, but that they got off the bus at the right stop. All of this equals safety for your children, and peace of mind for you. KEY FEATURES: Find your bus quickly and easily See the exact location of your child’s school bus using your own customizable map. Receive alerts via push notification -Be notified when the bus is within 2 miles of your stop, has a schedule change, and more -Receive notifications when your child gets on/off the bus, including the bus number, location and time Access arrival & departure info Confirm your child’s bus has arrived at the bus stop and at school, both before and after school. Track all of your children Have children that ride different buses? See each child's bus information within one account. App and notifications in three languages The app and notifications are available in English, Spanish and French. Know your privacy is protected Parents must obtain a private ID number, which grants access to their child’s bus only.
myBackpack
Access your school resources from any device with this cloud desktop application. It provides real-time access to cloud folders, network shares, and applications, making it ideal for remote learning and BYOD initiatives.
- Personalized cloud desktop
- Access from any device
- Real-time file access
- Integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive
- Access school network shares
- Virtual and instructional desktop views
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myBackpack is your personalized cloud desktop giving access to school from anywhere. Accessible from any device, myBackpack is ideal for BYOD initiatives. myBackpack's multiple views include an innovatively simple virtual desktop and an empowering instructional desktop. With more and different devices showing up in the classrooms today, users expecting 24/7 access, and schools needing to lower costs, a different approach is needed and quick. myBackpack gives you real time access to your cloud folders, any mapped Active Directory shares and Apps if your school or organization has myBackpack. Seamlessly access all your files: Dropbox Google Drive SkyDrive School Network myBackpack Cloud Drive
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Here Comes the Bus at 4.5 against myBackpack's 2.9. Here Comes the Bus also leads on ratings volume (74K vs 76) and chart position (#81 vs unranked). myBackpack's advantage is review sentiment (50% vs 33%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Here Comes the Bus holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Here Comes the Bus has 74K ratings behind it against 76, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Here Comes the Bus's written reviews are positive against 50% of myBackpack's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Here Comes the Bus ships an update every 2 months, myBackpack fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Here Comes the Bus | myBackpack |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (74K ratings) — better | 2.9 (76 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 32.5% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 74K — better | 76 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #81 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 69 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synovia Solutions LLC | Atlanta Public Schools |
Customer experience
Here Comes the Bus
myBackpack
Bugs and requests
Here Comes the Bus
Reported bugs
3 issues- Bus location stuck or showing incorrect position
- App crashing or not loading bus data
- Student bus assignments not properly reflected
Requested features
3 requests- Improve notification accuracy and timeliness
- Allow customization of notification settings per child
- Integrate with school transportation systems for better data sync
myBackpack
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Here Comes the Bus
No in-app purchases
myBackpack
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Here Comes the Bus free?
Is myBackpack free?
Which has better reviews, Here Comes the Bus or myBackpack?
Do Here Comes the Bus or myBackpack have ads?
Which is updated more often, Here Comes the Bus or myBackpack?
Other comparisons
