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
Practice maritime navigation rules and buoyage systems with this app. It helps you identify knowledge gaps and track your progress in mastering essential regulations for mariners.
- USCG Navigation Rules practice
- IALA Maritime Buoyage System tests
- Knowledge gap identification
- Progress tracking
- Developed by Master Mariner
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Master-Nav: COLREGS IALA Tests is a free practice app developed by a Master Mariner with 30 years of seagoing experience. Test your knowledge of the USCG Navigation Rules and IALA Maritime Buoyage System — the regulations every mariner needs to know. A straightforward way to find out where you stand, identify gaps in your knowledge and track your progress over time. Master COLREGS & IALA — the easy way.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Master at 100% against Ship Shapes's 0%. Master also leads on price (Free vs $1.99) and rating (5.0 vs 2.0). Ship Shapes's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 17.6). On ratings volume, 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
Master is free to download; Ship Shapes costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Master holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Ship Shapes's written reviews are positive against 100% of Master's.
Ship Shapes ships an update every 3 weeks, Master fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ship Shapes | Master |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 305 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
