Comparison

Catholic Essentials vs Star.Mugs

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

Head to head
About

Catholic Essentials

This app serves as a digital prayer book for Filipino Roman Catholics, offering essential guides and prayers for their spiritual journey. It provides offline access to a collection of prayers and spiritual resources, with more content planned for future updates.

Highlights
  • Holy Rosary Guide with photos
  • Holy Mass Guide
  • Holy Rosary Prayers
  • Holy Rosary Mysteries
  • Miscellaneous Prayers
  • Offline access
Features
Read full description

Catholic Essentials is a Filipino prayer companion. Over 180 prayers in Tagalog and English, side by side, in text you can actually read. Completely rebuilt from the ground up. READABLE, FINALLY Every prayer supports the iPhone's own text size settings, plus a slider right beside the text. Make it as large as you need without losing your place. Dark mode for praying at night or before dawn. TAGALOG AND ENGLISH, TOGETHER Read one language, the other, or both at once. The whole app can be set to Tagalog — not just the prayers, but the buttons and menus too. THE ROSARY, GUIDED Follow the beads one at a time. The app knows the day's mysteries, tracks where you are, and remembers your place if you're interrupted. All four sets — Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, Luminous — each with a scripture reading and a short reflection for every decade. TEN NOVENAS Nine days, tracked. Pasiyam for the departed. For the sick. For overseas workers and the families waiting at home. For students before an exam. For work and livelihood. For the family, for expectant mothers, in thanksgiving, in hardship, and for peace of mind. HOLY WEEK Visita Iglesia and Bisita Iglesya, the Stations of the Cross, and the Scriptural Way of the Cross in Tagalog — each station its own screen, no more pinching at a scanned page. DAILY RHYTHM The Angelus at 6:00 AM, noon and 6:00 PM, with optional reminders. The Hour of Mercy at 3:00 PM. Both open straight to the prayer. During Eastertide the Angelus becomes the Regina Caeli, as it should. THE CHURCH'S YEAR The app quietly follows the liturgical calendar — the season shows on the home screen, along with Philippine feasts like Santo Niño, Peñafrancia, Undas and Simbang Gabi. A calendar of saints, with the Filipino ones marked. ALSO INSIDE The Order of the Mass. Morning and evening prayers. Prayers for the sick, for travel, for storms, for the departed, for a home at peace. An examination of conscience and a plain guide to going to confession. The Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the works of mercy, the seven sacraments. FIND ANYTHING Search across both languages at once. Bookmark what you return to. WORKS ANYWHERE Everything is stored on your phone. No internet needed — in a jeepney, in the province, on a ship, anywhere. No ads. No account. Nothing about you is collected or sent anywhere. Built in the Philippines.

About

Star.Mugs

Catalog and track your Starbucks city mug collection. Connect with other collectors worldwide to find exchange partners and discover new mugs. Search for desired mugs on major online marketplaces with a single tap.

Highlights
  • Browse Starbucks city mug catalog
  • Track personal mug collection
  • Connect with collector community
  • Find mug exchange partners
  • Search mugs on eBay/Amazon
Features
Read full description

Star.Mugs is an independent collector's catalog and community for the collectible city mugs released by Starbucks — souvenir mugs dedicated to cities, states, countries, and landmarks around the world. With Star.Mugs you can: • Browse the growing city mug catalog right on your iOS device • Keep track of your own collection and wishlist • Join a worldwide community of collectors and find an exchange partner to get the mug of your dreams • Search for wanted mugs on eBay or Amazon with one tap from the mug details screen New mugs are added shortly after they're discovered by our community members. On the Sort screen, select Recently Added to see the latest additions on top. City mugs come in different shapes and design styles known as collections or series — You Are Here, Been There, Global Icon, and more. Our list is regularly updated with the help of community enthusiasts — keeping up with new releases while gradually covering older collections. Star.Mugs and its team are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Starbucks Corporation in any way. We just love the mugs — and traveling the world and meeting new people. These mugs are memories of places we've visited and moments we've experienced.

Screenshots

Catholic Essentials4 screens
Star.Mugs4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Star.Mugs at Free against Catholic Essentials's $1.99. Star.Mugs also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 29 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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

Star.Mugs is free to download; Catholic Essentials costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Catholic Essentials ships an update every 29 months, Star.Mugs every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Catholic Essentials versus Star.Mugs: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCatholic EssentialsStar.Mugs
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating—3.8 (27 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—73.1% of reviews
Number of ratings—27 — better
Update frequencyEvery 29 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJovito Jr. AuzaSergey Timoshpolskii

In-app purchases

None

Catholic Essentials

No in-app purchases

None

Star.Mugs

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Catholic Essentials free?
Catholic Essentials costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Star.Mugs free?
Star.Mugs is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Catholic Essentials or Star.Mugs have ads?
Neither Catholic Essentials nor Star.Mugs shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Catholic Essentials or Star.Mugs?
Catholic Essentials ships an update every 29 months, and Star.Mugs every 6 days. Most recently, Catholic Essentials was updated on November 3, 2026 and Star.Mugs on November 6, 2026.

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