Comparison

Budo Books vs Diving Standard

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

Head to head
About

Budo Books

Access digital editions of magazines and books focused on Japanese martial arts. Explore practical, philosophical, and historical aspects of disciplines like kendo, karate, and judo. Purchase individual issues to delve into specific content.

Highlights
  • Digital editions of martial arts publications
  • Content on kendo, karate, judo, and more
  • Practical, philosophical, and historical aspects
  • Purchase individual magazine issues
  • Focus on Japanese budo
Features
Read full description

“Budo Books” is the App of Bunkasha International. We are a Japan-based company that specialises in creating, translating and publishing magazines and books about Japanese budo (martial arts). Starting out as the creator of the “Kendo World” magazine, the first English language periodical devoted to Japanese kendo and related arts, Bunkasha International now publishes books on other budo such as karate, kyudo, sumo, shorinji kempo, aikido, judo, naginata, jukendo, iaido, jodo, as well as the classical martial arts (kobudo). We are known worldwide as the purveyors of the most reliable information on all subjects related to budo. We aim to serve the international martial arts community by providing access to the vast practical, philosophical and historical aspects of Japanese budo. Downloading our App for free allows you to buy your digital editions. Magazine content can only be accessed with a purchase. Download our free app today, then select the issue you’d like to purchase. Single issues can be purchased for JPY 980 You can find our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use here: Privacy policy: https://www.kendo-world.com/privacy-policy Terms of use: https://www.kendo-world.com/terms-of-use

About

Diving Standard

Features
Read full description

Scuba. Freediving. Snorkelling and more. Everyone who loves the sea, in one place. CHECK THE SEA BEFORE YOU GET IN Water temperature, tides, currents, swell, wave height, water quality and estimated underwater visibility. One screen, so you know whether it is worth going before you pack your gear. Add the sea-conditions widget and you never even open the app. Today's verdict, sea temperature, a live tide curve and the light you have left, on your Home or Lock Screen every time you pick up your phone. YOUR WRIST BECOMES A DIVE COMPANION Depth, dive time, heart rate and NDL, live on Apple Watch Ultra. Every session logs itself. Max depth, duration, water temperature, dive mode, all written down without you touching anything. Stop tapping and start looking. FIND YOUR PEOPLE Local and global communities of sea lovers. Share trips, sightings and honest site reviews. Ask the question you are too shy to ask at the dive centre. Find a buddy near you, or someone on the other side of the world who is into exactly the same thing. SERIOUS ABOUT SAFETY NDL is calculated with Buhlmann ZHL-16C, the decompression model trusted across the industry. Safety alerts never auto dismiss. Critical numbers stay big, high contrast and glove friendly, because a screen you cannot read in low visibility is not a safety feature. A LOGBOOK WORTH KEEPING Every dive, every breath hold, every snorkel. Full metrics, full history, personal records. The record of your life in the water, not just the deep bits. BRING YOUR OLD LOGBOOK WITH YOU Years of dives somewhere else? Screenshot them and we read them for you. Suunto, Garmin, Shearwater, Subsurface, MacDive, Dive Log, PADI, SSI and most other dive apps, plus photographs of a paper logbook. No exports, no CSV files, no retyping. It happens on your phone, so the images never leave it, and you check every dive before it is saved. LEARN, FROM FIRST BREATH TO ADVANCED Built in courses across scuba, freediving and snorkelling. Sere you are. Track progress, earn completions, unlock advanced material as you go. Nobody starts as an expert. DESIGNED FOR THE DEEP Deep navy, bioluminescent accents, frosted glass. An interface that looks like the water it was made for and reads clearly in any visibility. WHAT IS INSIDE - Live depth, NDL, dive time and heart rate on Apple Watch Ultra - Automatic logging across scuba, freediving and snorkelling - Import your old logbook from another app with a screenshot - Full logbook with stats, history and personal records - Live sea conditions and estimated visibility - Home and Lock Screen sea-conditions widgets - Courses for all three disciplines - Community feed with photos, likes and comments - Buddy finder to connect with sea lovers near you - Privacy controls, including hiding your rough distance WHICH WATCH YOU HAVE Apple Watch Ultra: the full companion. All three modes with er temperature, heart rate and NDL. Sessions log themselves. Apple Watch Series 10 and later: the same three modes, the s automatic logging. Depth is capped at 6 metres by the hardware sensor. Plenty for snorkelling, breath hold practic Every other Apple Watch: Aqua Session. No depth sensor, no problem. Heart rate, compass bearing, GPS map and track, sea conditions and session duration. It will not measure depth, but it will tell you where you are, which way the boat is and what the sea is doing. No Apple Watch at all? Everything else runs on iPhone. The watch is a companion, not a gatekeeper. IMPORTANT This is not a dive computer and must not be used as your primary safety device. Depth is currently tracked to 6 metres, limited by the Apple Watch shallow depth sensor. Full 40 metre scuba tracking is coming in a future update, pending Apple entitlement approval. Always dive within your training and with appropriate equipment. Built with salt water.

Screenshots

Budo Books4 screens
Diving Standard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Diving Standard at none against Budo Books's 10. Diving Standard also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 7 months). Budo Books's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Budo Books sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Diving Standard asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Budo Books ships an update every 7 months, Diving Standard every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Budo Books versus Diving Standard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBudo BooksDiving Standard
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB107 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBunkasha International CorporationMismi Group Limited

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Budo Books

One-time10
  • SE8$6.99
  • No.31_Vol.8.3$9.99
  • No.7_Vol.2.3$9.99
Show 7 more
  • No.8_Vol.2.4$9.99
  • No.32 Vol.8.4$9.99
  • No.1 Vol.1.1$9.99
  • No.5_Vol.2.1$9.99
  • SE18$11.99
  • SE4$11.99
  • SE11_BUshido Past and Present$11.99
None

Diving Standard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Budo Books free?
Budo Books is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Diving Standard free?
Diving Standard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Budo Books or Diving Standard have ads?
Neither Budo Books nor Diving Standard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Budo Books or Diving Standard?
Budo Books ships an update every 7 months, and Diving Standard every 5 days. Most recently, Budo Books was updated on November 3, 2026 and Diving Standard on November 9, 2026.

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