Comparison

Hearts+ vs Just Shanghai

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

Head to head
About

Hearts+

Experience the #1 Hearts card game with challenging AI opponents and online multiplayer. Enjoy a realistic card table feel, track your progress with achievements and stats, and save games automatically. A fun and stable way to play this classic card game.

Highlights
  • Multiplayer online play
  • Challenging AI opponents
  • Achievements and stats tracking
  • Realistic card table feel
  • Automatic game saving
  • Jack of Diamonds game option
Features
Read full description

#1 Hearts card game! Multiplayer or Solo • Achievements • Stats • Smart AI • Millions of happy players • PLAY NOW! Hearts+ is the #1 free Hearts card game for iPhone and iPad! Hearts+ has been in development for years by a dedicated team and has seen countless new features, improvements, and bug fixes. It's fast, stable, always improving, and, above all, fun! Top Features include: * Play Hearts online with your friends and everyone else! * Realistic look and feel, just like sitting at a card table! * Game options, including "Jack of Diamonds" * Achievements, some easy, some hard, can you get them all? * Challenging and competitive computer opponents * Automatic game saving, just in case you get a call right before shooting the moon * Simple tutorial to help beginners get in the game fast * Free! What players are saying ***** "Without a doubt the best game of Hearts!" ***** "Best hearts program by far. THE best!" ***** "The opponents are good players unlike other hearts games..." ***** "Terrific! I play it every day." ***** "Hooked. Absolutely hooked!" ***** "Play this! I love this game. What more needs to be Said?" Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://astarsoftware.com/privacy

About

Just Shanghai

Experience Contract Rummy on your iPhone and iPad with this engaging card game. Play solo against AI, pass-and-play with friends, or compete online via Game Center. Features seven rounds with unique contracts, wild jokers, and strategic buying mechanics.

Highlights
  • Seven-round contract ladder
  • Solo play against AI
  • Pass-and-play multiplayer
  • Game Center turn-based multiplayer
  • Wild jokers with reclaim option
  • Hand sorting by meld, suit, or rank
  • Photorealistic cards and felt table
Features
Read full description

Just Shanghai is Contract Rummy (also called Shanghai Rummy) built for your iPhone and iPad. Seven rounds, seven contracts, jokers, and the buy. No ads. No in-app purchases. No virtual currency. Play it solo, pass-and-play around one device, or live against friends over Game Center. THREE WAYS TO PLAY • Solo against three AI opponents that draw, buy, lay down, and lay off with real strategy • Pass and Play: hand the device around a table of two to four people, with a privacy handoff between turns • Play with Friends: turn-based multiplayer over Apple Game Center, so a match can play out over minutes or days THE GAME Each round has its own contract, climbing from two books up to three runs: Round 1: two books Round 2: one book and one run Round 3: two runs Round 4: three books Round 5: two books and one run Round 6: one book and two runs Round 7: three runs A book is three or more cards of a rank. A run is four or more cards in sequence of one suit, with the ace playing low or high. Jokers are wild. You are dealt eleven cards a round and play across all seven. THE BUY When a player passes the top discard, everyone else gets a chance to buy it. Buying takes the card plus two penalty cards from the stock, and you get two buys per round. It is the decision that defines Shanghai, and the AI uses it well. FEATURES • Full seven-round contract ladder with correct minimum lay sizes • Solo, pass-and-play, and Game Center multiplayer for two to four players • A real contract solver, so the game knows the moment your hand can go down • Jokers you can reclaim from a run once you are down, with a choice of where the freed joker goes • Sort your hand by meld, by suit, or by rank with one tap • Card names spelled out and suit symbols everywhere, so a King of Spades reads as a King of Spades • Photorealistic cards and a felt table that adapts to iPhone and iPad • Sound effects and haptics, mute anytime SCORING You score the cards left in your hand: low cards five points, tens and faces ten, aces twenty, jokers fifty. Go out by playing every card and you score zero. Lowest total after seven rounds wins. PRIVACY Solo and pass-and-play stay entirely on your device. Play with Friends uses Apple Game Center to route turns between players, governed by Apple's privacy policy. The app itself has no accounts, no servers of its own, no analytics, and no tracking. Your settings and local stats live on your device. Just Shanghai does not facilitate real-money gambling. It is a classic card game for entertainment only.

Screenshots

Hearts+4 screens
Just Shanghai3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hearts+ at 45% against Just Shanghai's 0%. Hearts+ also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.0) and ratings volume (96K vs 1). Just Shanghai's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. Hearts+ sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Just Shanghai asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hearts+ holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hearts+ has 96K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Hearts+'s written reviews are positive against 0% of Just Shanghai's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hearts+ ships an update every 4 weeks, Just Shanghai every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Hearts+ versus Just Shanghai: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHearts+Just Shanghai
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (96K ratings) — better2.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews45.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings96K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size154 MB54 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperA Star Software LLCAlchemaize

Customer experience

Hearts+

All ratings95,636 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.2%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews931 reviews
Positive45.1%
Neutral8.1%
Negative46.8%

Just Shanghai

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Hearts+

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Ads that cannot be closed, leading to game timeouts
  • Unexpected screen orientation changes during gameplay
  • Inability to log out of Game Center account

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to play against friends/family on the same device
  • Improved multiplayer experience with better matchmaking and leaderboards
  • Option to pay for an ad-free version
  • Stricter penalties for players who quit games prematurely
  • More detailed scoring and statistics tracking

Just Shanghai

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Hearts+

Subscriptions3
  • A-Star VIP Membership Weekly$2.997 Days
  • A-Star VIP Membership Monthly$9.991 Month
  • A-Star VIP Membership Yearly$99.991 Year
One-time6
  • 25 Tokens$0.99
  • Remove Ads (1 Day)$1.99
  • 100 Tokens$2.99
Show 3 more
  • Remove Ads (7 Days)$3.99
  • 500 Tokens$9.99
  • Remove Ads (30 Days)$9.99
None

Just Shanghai

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hearts+ free?
Hearts+ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Just Shanghai free?
Just Shanghai is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hearts+ or Just Shanghai?
Hearts+ is rated higher. Hearts+ averages 4.8 out of 5 from 96K ratings, while Just Shanghai averages 2.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Hearts+ or Just Shanghai have ads?
Hearts+ shows ads; Just Shanghai does not.
Which is updated more often, Hearts+ or Just Shanghai?
Hearts+ ships an update every 4 weeks, and Just Shanghai every 3 months. Most recently, Hearts+ was updated on October 22, 2026 and Just Shanghai on October 10, 2026.

Other comparisons