Explore Michigan vs Schoonmaker Tour
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Explore Michigan
Discover Michigan's natural wonders and historical sites. Browse state parks, national parks, and lighthouses with detailed information, maps, and guides to plan your adventures. Get directions and download location-specific resources for a richer outdoor experience.
- Browse State Parks, National Parks, Lighthouses
- Location-specific activities, maps, and guides
- Filter locations by type
- Map clusters for readability
- Turn-by-turn navigation integration
- Downloadable safety and topic guides
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Go where only Michigan can take you. Freshwater shores. Sweeping dunes. Northern forests. A lighthouse at the end of the road. Discover the places that make Michigan worth exploring, and find your next stop with Explore Michigan. FOLLOW YOUR CURIOSITY Browse parks and lighthouses across both peninsulas. Explore destinations on the map, search by place, city or county, and filter by location type to find the places that speak to you. SEE WHAT'S WAITING Take a closer look with destination photos and available information about activities, visitor resources and more. Photos and details vary by location. TURN A DISCOVERY INTO A DAY OUT Open a destination's website, share a place with someone, or get directions through Apple Maps. Find useful maps, guides and reservation links where available. MORE MICHIGAN IN VIEW Explore on iPhone and iPad. Browse the location list alongside the map on iPad and the open iPhone Duo display, then take a closer look at a place that catches your eye. A little Michigan. Wherever you go.
Schoonmaker Tour
Explore a historic Great Lakes lake freighter with an audio guide. Discover the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship through narrated clips and historical images. Learn about the "Queen of the Lakes" and its role in Great Lakes history.
- Audio tour guide
- Historic images
- Information on lake freighter history
- Details about the Col. James M. Schoonmaker
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This app from the National Museum of the Great Lakes will lead you on a guided tour of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship in Toledo, Ohio. Included in the app are audio clips describing the ship as well as historic images. The Schoonmaker is a lake freighter built in 1911 for the bulk cargo trade on the Great Lakes and, at 617’ long, she was the “Queen of the Lakes”. NMGL is dedicated to preserving and making known the history of the Great Lakes.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Schoonmaker Tour at 100% against Explore Michigan's 75%. Schoonmaker Tour also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Explore Michigan's advantage is ratings volume (228 vs 2) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 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.
Schoonmaker Tour holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Explore Michigan has 228 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Explore Michigan's written reviews are positive against 100% of Schoonmaker Tour's.
Explore Michigan ships an update every 2 months, Schoonmaker Tour every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Explore Michigan | Schoonmaker Tour |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (228 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 228 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 137 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Code-Bits | STQRY Limited |
Customer experience
Explore Michigan
Schoonmaker Tour
In-app purchases
Explore Michigan
No in-app purchases
Schoonmaker Tour
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Explore Michigan free?
Is Schoonmaker Tour free?
Which has better reviews, Explore Michigan or Schoonmaker Tour?
Do Explore Michigan or Schoonmaker Tour have ads?
Which is updated more often, Explore Michigan or Schoonmaker Tour?
Other comparisons
