# IALA Navigation Marks vs Ship Shapes

The clearest difference is review sentiment: IALA Navigation Marks at 50% against Ship Shapes's 0%. Ship Shapes's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 23 months) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 15.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

IALA Navigation Marks costs $1.99 and Ship Shapes $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

IALA Navigation Marks ships an update every 23 months, Ship Shapes every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | IALA Navigation Marks | Ship Shapes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $1.99 | $1.99 |
| Rating | — | **[2.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ship-shapes/id1451703120/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | — | **1** |
| Positive reviews | **50.0% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 23 months | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Size | 28 MB | 10 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | **12.1** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Smirnov Yury](https://appshunter.io/developer/420438416) | [Edmund Broadbent](https://appshunter.io/developer/1440789617) |

## What reviewers say

### IALA Navigation Marks

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/iala-navigation-marks/id1224059816)

A quick reference guide for sailors and students to identify maritime navigation marks according to the IALA system. It covers buoy shapes, colors, topmarks, and light rhythms for various mark types, aiding in exam preparation and on-water identification.

**Highlights:** Identify lateral, cardinal, and special marks, Covers buoy shape, color, topmark, and light rhythm, Includes day and night views, Practical study aid for seamanship training, Quick lookup on iPhone and iPad

**In-app purchases:** none


### Ship Shapes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ship-shapes/id1451703120)

Learn to recognize and memorize the main day shapes used by boats and ships through an interactive matching game. Score points by correctly matching images to their descriptions. Achieve a score of 50 or more to demonstrate mastery.

**Highlights:** Match images to descriptions, Learn ship day shape signals, Score points for correct answers, Master recognition and memorization, Interactive learning experience

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is IALA Navigation Marks free?

IALA Navigation Marks costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Ship Shapes free?

Ship Shapes costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Do IALA Navigation Marks or Ship Shapes have ads?

Neither IALA Navigation Marks nor Ship Shapes shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, IALA Navigation Marks or Ship Shapes?

IALA Navigation Marks ships an update every 23 months, and Ship Shapes every 3 weeks. Most recently, IALA Navigation Marks was updated on October 16, 2026 and Ship Shapes on October 10, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*