Comparison

Ship's Bell vs Ship Tracker

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

Head to head
About

Ship's Bell

This app provides traditional seafaring time signals and a tide clock. It allows users to track time acoustically without needing to check their device, mimicking historical maritime practices for duty watches and tide estimations.

Highlights
  • Traditional seafaring time signals
  • Acoustic timekeeping
  • Tide clock functionality
  • Maritime 24-hour clock face
  • GMT display
  • Customizable chime sounds
Features
Read full description

Ship's Bell is primarily an acoustic clock that sounds half-hourly or hourly time signals. Without taking the phone out of your pocket you can easily keep track of time. The principle of this bell was founded in traditional seafaring. Seafarers used the bell to keep track of their four-hourly duty watches. The first half hour is signaled by a single bell strike. Another bell strike is added every half hour, ending with eight bell strikes. To hear the bell strikes better, they are grouped into double chimes. Eight bell strikes signaled a watch change – at midnight, 4 am, 8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm and 8 pm. With just eight different signals, being repeated in six cycles during the day, you will know what time it is every half and full hour. • Ship's bell according to the seafaring tradition • Two different kinds of chimes: classic bell or a modern synthesized sound • Option to strike only once each hour • Two different chimes for hourly signals: a single beep or a triple signal counting down to the full hour • Displays the current time on a maritime 24-hour clock face • Shows Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) • Switch to quickly enable or disable the acoustic signals A new addition in version 3.0 is the Tide Clock. An additional clock hand and a tide ring can now be activated on the two dials of the glass clock (12-hour or 24-hour dial). This makes it possible to estimate the time until the next high or low tide in the style of a mechanical tide clock. The tide clock hand makes one revolution within 12 hours and 25 minutes independently of the hour clock hand and thus shows the average time between two high or low tides. The indices on the tide ring show the hours before and after a coming or past high or low tide. Dear customers, If there are any issues with this app, please send an email to our support team. We will get back to you as soon as possible!

About

Ship Tracker

Track live ship movements and record your own voyages with detailed telemetry. Offers a marine-optimized map and advanced history features for sailors and maritime enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • Live ship and vessel radar
  • Real-time AIS data
  • Vessel details and voyage info
  • Personal GPS tracking
  • Record and replay routes
  • GPX export (Premium)
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPhone into a powerful maritime companion with BoatTrack. Whether you are navigating your own yacht, recording a weekend sailing trip, or monitoring live ship movements across the globe, BoatTrack combines personal GPS telemetry with real-time vessel tracking in one beautifully designed app. Built for sailors, captains, and maritime enthusiasts, BoatTrack offers a stunning, sunlight-optimized marine map that gives you ultimate situational awareness on the water. LIVE SHIP & VESSEL RADAR Real-Time AIS Data: Spot nearby boats, commercial ships, and yachts directly on your map. Vessel Details: Tap on any ship to view its name, type, speed (knots), course, draught, and navigational status. Voyage Info: Check the origin, destination, ATD, and ETA of vessels around you. PERSONAL GPS TRACKING Record Your Routes: Track your exact path on the water using high-accuracy GPS. Live Telemetry: Monitor your current speed, maximum speed, and total distance in nautical miles (nm) or kilometers (km) with a high-contrast, easy-to-read display. Background Tracking: Continue recording your trip history seamlessly, even when your phone is locked and tucked away securely. ADVANCED VOYAGE HISTORY (Premium) Trip Logbook: Save every voyage securely to your device. Animated Map Replay: Relive your favorite trips with a dynamic map replay that shows your exact route and speed at any given point. GPX Export: Easily export your trip data as GPX files to share with friends, crewmates, or other navigation software. BEAUTIFUL & MODERN DESIGN Nautical Dark Mode: A custom marine map style optimized to reduce glare and preserve your night vision on the water. Clean Interface: Designed to be operated easily with one hand, free from the clutter of legacy navigation apps. BOATTRACK PREMIUM Upgrade to Premium to unlock unlimited trip history, animated map replays, advanced speed analytics, and full GPX export capabilities. SUBSCRIPTION PRICING & TERMS: Unlock all premium features and remove ads with our subscription plans: Weekly: $4.99/week Monthly: $9.99/week Yearly: $49.99/week Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscriptions by going to your App Store Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. DISCLAIMER: Trip Rank is designed for closed courses, track days, and safe, legal driving. Always obey local traffic laws and speed limits. Continuous use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. For support, contact: souka.hassani@icloud.com Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/boattrack/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

Ship's Bell4 screens
Ship Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Ship Tracker at Free against Ship's Bell's $5.99. Ship Tracker also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.0). Ship's Bell's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (4 vs 1). On 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

Ship Tracker is free to download; Ship's Bell costs $5.99 up front. Ship Tracker sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Ship's Bell asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ship Tracker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Ship's Bell versus Ship Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShip's BellShip Tracker
Price$5.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews53.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.5 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTrimutic UGSoukaina Hassani

Customer experience

Ship's Bell

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews58 reviews
Positive53.4%
Neutral6.9%
Negative39.7%

Ship Tracker

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

In-app purchases

None

Ship's Bell

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Ship Tracker

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly ACCESS $4.99/week$4.997 Days
  • MONTHLY ACCESS $9.99/month$9.991 Month
  • ANNUAL ACCESS $49.99/year$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Ship's Bell free?
Ship's Bell costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ship Tracker free?
Ship Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ship's Bell or Ship Tracker?
Ship Tracker is rated higher. Ship's Bell averages 3.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Ship Tracker averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Ship's Bell or Ship Tracker have ads?
Neither Ship's Bell nor Ship Tracker shows ads.

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