Comparison

Official MCA guidance vs PREPARED App

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

Head to head
About

Official MCA guidance

This app offers practical guidance for maritime professionals, focusing on safe practices and well-being at sea. It includes checklists for fishing vessel inspections and live updates for the latest regulations.

Highlights
  • Wellbeing at sea guidance
  • Behaving safely at sea
  • Fishing vessel checklists
  • Faceted search
  • Live updates
Features
Read full description

The Official MCA Guidance app provides useful, practical information to those working at sea. It also includes fishing industry checklists to prepare for vessel inspections. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is the UKโ€™s national regulator to prevent the loss of life on the coast and at sea. It produces legislation and guidance on maritime matters and provides certification to ships and seafarers. Created in partnership with the Stationery Office (TSO), the app is primarily for those working at sea who seek practical guidance on how to behave safely and how to maintain good physical and mental health, as well as providing accessible fishing vessel guidance. What does the app include? Guidance for seafarers Seafarers are part of an incredible, unique industry, but this can come with periods of pressure and prolonged isolation, sometimes with limited services. It is essential seafarers are supported during their time at sea. โ€ข wellbeing at sea - practical step-by-step guidance on how to achieve and maintain good physical and mental health while at work โ€ข behaving safely - looks at the risks of working at sea and how to manage these on a personal level Fishing vessel guidance and checklists Useful advice and checklists to ensure inspections or surveys are successful. โ€ข how to prepare for your next MCA visit โ€ข fishing vessel aide memoire under 15M checklist โ€ข fishing vessel aide memoire 15-24M checklist โ€ข fishing vessel aide memoire 24M and over checklist The app also includes: โ€ข faceted search so users can find guidance and content more quickly โ€ข easily browse and purchase key MCA titles โ€ข automatic live updates for the latest guidance and content Disclaimer: this app is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader must not take any decisions based solely on the content of this app and should seek independent medical advice relating to their health with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

About

PREPARED App

Features
Read full description

This app is part of PREPARED project's training toolkit to accelerate research without sacrificing ethics and integrity. This educational app aims to provide engaging, concise content for optimal training and impact. The content consists of interactive case studies, each of which covers a topic which presents different perspectives of problems that encompass ethical dilemmas. Learners interact by means of small steps which present data as text, images, videos, dialogues, and polls.

Screenshots

Official MCA guidance4 screens
PREPARED App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PREPARED App at fortnightly against Official MCA guidance's every 2 months. PREPARED App also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Official MCA guidance ships an update every 2 months, PREPARED App fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 6 level
Official MCA guidance versus PREPARED App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOfficial MCA guidancePREPARED App
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviewsโ€”
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeโ€”
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size47 MB74 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperTSO (The Stationery Office)UCLan Cyprus

In-app purchases

None

Official MCA guidance

No in-app purchases

None

PREPARED App

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Official MCA guidance free?
Official MCA guidance is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PREPARED App free?
PREPARED App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Official MCA guidance or PREPARED App have ads?
Neither Official MCA guidance nor PREPARED App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Official MCA guidance or PREPARED App?
Official MCA guidance ships an update every 2 months, and PREPARED App fortnightly. Most recently, Official MCA guidance was updated on November 3, 2026 and PREPARED App on October 27, 2026.

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