Comparison

StarPilot vs ACR Product App

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

Head to head
About

StarPilot

This app provides advanced celestial navigation computations for iPhone and iPod touch. It offers mathematical and graphic solutions for position fixes, great circle sailing, and more, including lunar distance methods and a sight planner for accurate results.

Highlights
  • Celestial sight reductions
  • Position fixes and great circle sailing
  • Lunar distance method for GMT
  • Graphical Sight Planner
  • Sight Analyzer function
  • Menu-driven interface
  • Perpetual almanac
Features
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The state-of-the-art solution to navigation computations on your iPhone or iPod touch. StarPilot does celestial sight reductions of all bodies using high-precision internal almanac, plus mathematical and graphic solutions for position fixes, great circle, rhumb line, traverse and composite sailings, all current problems, piloting solutions, and much more...including lunar distance method of finding GMT from the sky and a unique graphical Sight Planner, and the new Sight Analyzer function that helps you get the most accurate results from a series of sights. The StarPilot is the self sufficient state of the art solution to ocean navigation, fully up-gradeable with free upgrades available via Internet download, easy to use operation from logical menu lists, plus illustrated context sensitive help with practice exercises. The StarPilot requires no external resources to complete its computations. Internet access is not required to use this program or to access any of its help files. General program design features... that save time, keystrokes, and minimize errors - Easy to use menu-driven interface - Stored settings of commonly used values - All bodies and star names stored internally, no need for separate lists - DR functions integrated with the celestial functions - Convenient DR updating by log or time - Input courses as true or magnetic - Convenient time input, with or without zone description and watch error - Graphing calculator plots LOPS, Fixes, DR positions, and Star maps - Program can be easily updated to incorporate latest version and features - Custom menu bar for quick navigation to often-used functions Sight Planning - Sunrise, Sunset, times and bearings (amplitudes) - LAN, time, Equation of time, Hs max at LAN1 - Nautical and Civil twilight times, and LHA Aries at midpoint between them - Moonrise, Moonset, Moon phase, and Moon age - Precompute specific values of Hc and Zn for any body - Planet and Star ID by observed height and bearing - SIGHT PLANNER function plots full sky showing moon, stars, and planets in Radar-like display of heights and bearings. Set Hc min/max and max number of stars before computation. Set cursor and click to read the actual height and bearing of a plotted body. - Special fast almanac mode allows full sky plot - Display internal list of 173 stars by name, brightness, and location - Unique BEST SIGHTS function selects the optimum triads of sights for any sky Sight Reduction - Optional modes for sequential sights using repeated settings or unrelated individual sights - Perpetual almanac accurate to 2100+ - Historically accurate almanac data to 16th century - Sight reduction of Sun, Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn... plus Mercury! - Sight Reduction of 173 stars plus Polaris - “Assumed positions” read directly from DR section without extra input - View intercepts (a-values) with or without course and speed corrections - Full input data displayed with results to check for errors - Special center-body mode for artificial horizon data - Dip-short mode for practice at shorelines Celestial Fixes - Unique SIGHT ANALYZER fits a sequence of sights to the right slope for optimum sight selection - All fixes corrected automatically for course and speed as needed - Fix accuracy independent of DR accuracy in all cases - Plots LOPS with live cursor position display - Fix computed by USNO algorithm in the Nautical Almanac - Zoom in on plot to see where computed fix is located - Fix can be obtained by graphic selection from the LOP plot - Automatic display of DR-to-Fix range and bearing - Optional automatic update of DR after fix - Display new course and distance to stored destination

About

ACR Product App

Access Class B AIS and Emergency PLB/EPIRB data. View live AIS targets, check distress beacon details, and monitor battery status via NFC or WiFi. Configure your AIS with vessel information.

Highlights
  • View live AIS targets
  • Check PLB/EPIRB distress beacon details
  • Monitor beacon operation time and battery condition via NFC
  • Configure Class B AIS with vessel details via WiFi
  • Access ACR CB2 WiFi connection for AIS data
Features
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The ACR App allows easy access to Class B AIS and Emergency PLB/EPIRB information. Live AIS targets can be displayed as well as Test and Ownership details for Distress Beacons. NFC (Near Field Communication) allows access to ResQLink AIS PLB and GlobalFix V5 details where operation time, Battery condition and test results can be easily checked and displayed on a mobile device. The use of NFC ensures that maximum battery capacity can be ensured giving you confidence that a Beacon will give maximum performance when required in an emergency situation. WiFi connection to the ACR CB2 gives access to live AIS target data along with status and performance details. Initial configuration with vessel details for the CB2 Class B AIS is also carried out via the WiFi connection.

Screenshots

StarPilot4 screens
ACR Product App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: StarPilot at 75% against ACR Product App's 22%. StarPilot also leads on rating (4.9 vs 1.7) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). ACR Product App's advantage is price (Free vs $49.99) and ratings volume (36 vs 8). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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

ACR Product App is free to download; StarPilot costs $49.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

StarPilot holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 1.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 36 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of StarPilot's written reviews are positive against 22% of ACR Product App's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

StarPilot ships an update every 4 months, ACR Product App every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
StarPilot versus ACR Product App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarPilotACR Product App
Price$49.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (8 ratings) — better1.7 (36 ratings)
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews — better21.7% of reviews
Number of ratings836 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB113 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStarpath CorpOcean Signal Limited

Customer experience

StarPilot

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative20.0%

ACR Product App

All ratings25 ratings
Positive4.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative96.0%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive21.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative78.3%

In-app purchases

None

StarPilot

No in-app purchases

None

ACR Product App

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is StarPilot free?
StarPilot costs $49.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ACR Product App free?
ACR Product App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, StarPilot or ACR Product App?
StarPilot is rated higher. StarPilot averages 4.9 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while ACR Product App averages 1.7 from 36 ratings.
Do StarPilot or ACR Product App have ads?
Neither StarPilot nor ACR Product App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StarPilot or ACR Product App?
StarPilot ships an update every 4 months, and ACR Product App every 2 months. Most recently, StarPilot was updated on October 27, 2026 and ACR Product App on October 24, 2026.

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