Ship Shapes vs Master
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ship Shapes
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.
- Match images to descriptions
- Learn ship day shape signals
- Score points for correct answers
- Master recognition and memorization
- Interactive learning experience
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Learn Ships Day Shapes by matching Images to Descriptions. An easy and fun way to score points as you learn. Anyone who can score 50 points or more will have mastered recognising and memorising the main day shapes used by boats and ships.
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.
- Interactive learning system
- Step-by-step rule guidance
- Mnemonics and memory aids
- Interactive visuals
- Graphical feedback on answers
- Practice section with progress tracking
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Master at 97% against Ship Shapes's 0%. Master also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.0) and ratings volume (94 vs 1). Ship Shapes's advantage is iOS requirement (12.1 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Ship Shapes costs $1.99 and Master $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Master holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Master has 94 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Ship Shapes's written reviews are positive against 97% of Master's.
Ship Shapes ships an update every 3 weeks, Master fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ship Shapes | Master |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | $1.99 |
| Rating | 2.0 (1 ratings) | 4.7 (94 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 96.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 94 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #172 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 117 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Edmund Broadbent | Peterjohn Chisholm |
Customer experience
Ship Shapes
Master
In-app purchases
Ship Shapes
No in-app purchases
Master
No in-app purchases









