Comparison

IALA Navigation Marks vs Master

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

Head to head
About

IALA Navigation Marks

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
Read full description

Navigation Marks is a compact reference for skippers, sailors and students learning the IALA Maritime Buoyage System. Quickly identify lateral marks for Regions A and B, cardinal marks, isolated danger marks, safe water marks, special marks and new danger marks. Each entry shows the buoy shape, colour scheme, topmark and light rhythm so you can revise recognition rules before a course, exam or time on the water. Why it helps: - Covers the main IALA buoyage marks in one place - Includes day and night views where available - Explains colours, shapes, topmarks and light characteristics - Works as a practical study aid for RYA, IYT and general seamanship training - Built for quick lookup on iPhone and iPad Use Navigation Marks as a pocket study guide when preparing for boating exams, refreshing buoyage rules or checking how a mark should be identified. Questions or suggestions: support@appsforeach.com

About

Master

Learn maritime navigation rules with an interactive system designed for effective retention. This app breaks down complex regulations into manageable sections with visual aids and mnemonics. It revisits incorrect answers and provides instant graphical feedback, making the learning process intuitive and efficient.

Highlights
  • Interactive learning system
  • Step-by-step rule guidance
  • Mnemonics and memory aids
  • Interactive visuals
  • Graphical feedback on answers
  • Practice section with progress tracking
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Master-Nav is a progressive COLREGS learning system developed by a Master Mariner. The COLREGS are notoriously difficult to learn and retain — Master-Nav makes it significantly easier through an interactive system built around how your brain actually works. Instead of guessing through random question banks, Master-Nav guides you step by step through every rule from start to finish. Wrong answers are revisited until the rules stick — properly. Complex regulations are broken down into learnable chunks — bite-sized sections supported by mnemonics, memory aids and interactive visuals designed around how the brain actually retains information. Every incorrect answer is shown graphically alongside the correct one — immediately clear, no confusion. And with a single tap, the relevant COLREGS rule is accessible from any question at any time. Master-Nav covers COLREGS Parts A to D — General, Steering & Sailing, Lights & Shapes and Sound & Light Signals — plus Annex IV Distress Signals. Over 1000 questions in multiple formats, with a dedicated Practice Section that tracks right, wrong and unanswered so you always know where to focus. COLREGS — the easy way.

Screenshots

IALA Navigation Marks4 screens
Master4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Master at 97% against IALA Navigation Marks's 50%. Master also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 23 months) and chart position (#196 vs unranked). IALA Navigation Marks's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

IALA Navigation Marks ships an update every 23 months, Master fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
IALA Navigation Marks versus Master: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIALA Navigation MarksMaster
Price$1.99$1.99
Rating—4.7 (94 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews96.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—94 — better
Update frequencyEvery 23 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#196 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB117 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmirnov YuryPeterjohn Chisholm

Customer experience

IALA Navigation Marks

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Master

All ratings94 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral2.1%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive96.9%
Neutral3.1%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

IALA Navigation Marks

No in-app purchases

None

Master

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is IALA Navigation Marks free?
IALA Navigation Marks costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Master free?
Master costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do IALA Navigation Marks or Master have ads?
Neither IALA Navigation Marks nor Master shows ads.
Which is updated more often, IALA Navigation Marks or Master?
IALA Navigation Marks ships an update every 23 months, and Master fortnightly. Most recently, IALA Navigation Marks was updated on October 16, 2026 and Master on October 17, 2026.

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