Comparison

Lock Status vs TowRiver

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

Head to head
About

Lock Status

Provides real-time information on U.S. river locks and dams. Get contact details and see upcoming locks for your waterway journey. Essential for boaters and canoeists navigating rivers.

Highlights
  • Up-to-date lock information
  • Contact methods for locks
  • Upcoming lock identification
  • Supports waterway journeys
  • River and dam status
Features
Read full description

Canoeing down the Mississippi? Pushing a tow up the Ohio? Crossing Florida on the Okeechobee Waterway, or spending a year on the Great Loop? Sooner or later you'll reach a lock. Lock Status shows what's happening at every U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation lock, so you know what's ahead before you get there. SEE EVERY LOCK • Delays, stoppages and the vessels waiting and locking through, colored by how busy each lock is • Pool and tailwater levels, chamber sizes, lock hours and navigation notices • Browse by river, search by name, find the locks closest to you, or use the map • Favorite the locks you pass most often HAIL THE LOCK • Each lock's VHF channel and phone number, one tap to call • Towboats: see whether the tow fits the chamber, or how many cuts it needs • Pleasure boaters: what to say on the radio, plus tips for locking through PLAN YOUR TRIP • Build a route lock by lock, and see the next lock, how far it is and what's waiting there • Great Loop planning, with the Loop's route choices MADE FOR THE WATER • Night mode in red on black protects your night vision in the pilothouse; Sun mode adds contrast for bright days • In a dead spot, the app shows the last data it loaded and when it's from, and refreshes when you're back in range • Widgets for your Home Screen, Lock Screen, Mac desktop and menu bar • In English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino and Haitian Creole • Full VoiceOver support and larger text sizes LOCK STATUS PREMIUM Free: lock status, delays, stoppages, queues, the map, VHF channels and phone numbers, what to say on the radio, one trip, widgets, and Night and Sun modes. Premium adds: • Alerts when a stoppage starts or clears, a delay passes your limit, or a navigation notice is posted, even when the app is closed • Live Activities that keep a lock updated on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • The full trip planner: more than one trip, Great Loop planning, arrival times and the delays ahead • 30 days of traffic and monthly cargo tonnage at every lock Premium is $1.99 a month or $9.99 a year, with a free first week. It's billed to your Apple Account and renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it anytime in your Apple Account settings. Lock information comes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' public Lock Performance Monitoring System and is provided on a best-effort basis. Lock Status isn't affiliated with the Corps of Engineers. Always follow the lockmaster's instructions. Terms of Use: https://lockstatus.ajthom.dev/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://lockstatus.ajthom.dev/privacy/

About

TowRiver

Plan your boating trips on major inland waterways with real-time lock traffic, bridge clearances, and river conditions. See who's waiting at locks and get estimated travel times based on your cruising speed.

Highlights
  • Interactive river map with offline nautical charts
  • Trip planner with distance and lock/bridge estimates
  • Live lock traffic and underway tow tracking
  • Bridge clearance based on air draft and river level
  • Real-time river conditions and weather forecasts
  • GPS position snapped to channel with upcoming points of interest
Features
Read full description

TowRiver is a trip-planning and live-conditions companion for boaters on the Upper Mississippi River, the St. Croix, and the Illinois Waterway — from the Twin Cities down to St. Louis and up the Illinois to Lockport. Everything below is free to use during early access. MAP & NAUTICAL CHARTS • Interactive river map with the USACE Inland ENC nautical charts built in — bundled for the whole river, so they work with no signal. • Marinas, locks & dams, and every movable (opening) bridge on the three rivers. TRIP PLANNER • Pick a start and destination and get distance, the locks and bridges you'll pass, and an estimated running time based on your own cruising speeds. • Routes across the Prescott and Grafton confluences automatically. LIVE LOCK TRAFFIC & TOWS • See who's waiting, in the chamber, and inbound at each lock, in real time. • Underway tows plotted on the map with ETAs, plus each boat's usual route. • A typical-traffic heat map so you know the busy days and hours before you go. BRIDGE CLEARANCE FOR YOUR BOAT • Enter your air draft and movable bridges are color-coded green / yellow / red by whether you'll clear them at the current river level — read live off the nearby gauge. Always confirm against the clearance board or the bridge operator. RIVER CONDITIONS & WEATHER • Live river stage and flood status from NOAA gauges. • National Weather Service forecasts along your route. WHERE AM I • A GPS view that snaps your position to the channel and shows the next lock, bridge, and marina up- and down-river. NOT FOR NAVIGATION TowRiver is a planning aid, not a navigational instrument. Lock, traffic, chart, weather, and position data may be delayed, approximate, or incomplete. Always navigate with official charts, U.S. Coast Guard Notices to Mariners, working onboard equipment, and sound judgment. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Lock & traffic data: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. River & weather: NOAA / National Weather Service. Charts: USACE Inland ENC.

Screenshots

Lock Status4 screens
TowRiver4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: TowRiver at 5.0 against Lock Status's 4.4. Lock Status's advantage is ratings volume (7 vs 1). 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

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

TowRiver holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lock Status has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Lock Status versus TowRiver: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLock StatusTowRiver
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (7 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB223 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndrew ThomTorben Rytt

Customer experience

Lock Status

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

TowRiver

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Lock Status

No in-app purchases

None

TowRiver

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lock Status free?
Lock Status is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TowRiver free?
TowRiver is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lock Status or TowRiver?
TowRiver is rated higher. Lock Status averages 4.4 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while TowRiver averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Lock Status or TowRiver have ads?
Neither Lock Status nor TowRiver shows ads.

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