# Sea Watcher vs Shell

The clearest difference is update cadence: Shell at every 10 days against Sea Watcher's every 6 weeks. Sea Watcher's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Sea Watcher ships an update every 6 weeks, Shell every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Sea Watcher | Shell |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 124 MB | 25 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sea Watch Foundation - The Cetacean Monitoring Unit](https://appshunter.io/developer/1815308568) | [Dave Hudson](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896766232) |

## What reviewers say

### Sea Watcher

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sea-watcher/id1528176810)

Log sightings of marine megafauna like whales, dolphins, and seals across UK and European waters. Identify species, record valuable data, and contribute to scientific understanding of marine life. Review your past sightings and see what others have observed.

**Highlights:** Log marine megafauna sightings, Identify whales, dolphins, seals, and more, Record sighting location and time, Contribute to marine species research, View past and recent sightings, Learn about marine species

**In-app purchases:** none


### Shell

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shell-e/id6784137022)

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Sea Watcher free?

Sea Watcher is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Shell free?

Shell is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Sea Watcher or Shell have ads?

Neither Sea Watcher nor Shell shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Sea Watcher or Shell?

Sea Watcher ships an update every 6 weeks, and Shell every 10 days. Most recently, Sea Watcher was updated on November 3, 2026 and Shell on October 31, 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.*