Highlands vs Shades Mountain
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Highlands
This app connects users with a church community, offering on-demand messages, live service streaming, and a Bible reading plan. Users can also find information on church events, locations, and more.
- On-demand messages
- One Year Bible reading plan
- Live service streaming
- Church event information
- Church location details
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Church of the Highlands exists to help people Know God, Find Freedom, Discover their Purpose, and Make a Difference. Stay connected with Highlands wherever you go! This free resource allows you to experience messages on-demand, read the One Year Bible, watch services live online, access information about church events, locations and much more! For more information about our church, please visit us on the web at http://churchofthehighlands.com.
Shades Mountain
This app enhances your on-campus experience with tools for connection, giving, event discovery, and group management. It also facilitates children's check-ins and helps you engage with the church's mission.
- Online connection card
- Giving capabilities
- Event discovery
- Group management
- Children's check-in
- Connect with church mission
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The Shades app offers you a suite of tools to complement your on campus experience. You can complete our online connection card, give, find upcoming events, manage your groups, check in your kids, and much more! Download the app to connect with Shades and its mission as we send transformed people to influence their world for Christ.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Highlands at every 3 weeks against Shades Mountain's every 29 months. Highlands also leads on ratings volume (462 vs 2). Shades Mountain's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Shades Mountain holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlands has 462 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Highlands ships an update every 3 weeks, Shades Mountain every 29 months. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Highlands | Shades Mountain |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (462 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 462 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 29 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 88 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Church of the Highlands | Shades Mountain Baptist Church |
Customer experience
Highlands
Shades Mountain
Bugs and requests
Highlands
Reported bugs
13 issues- Cafe order online shows church addresses instead of menu
- Cannot skip forward/backward in audio without freezing
- App freezes at half screen on iPad
- Sermon playback doesn't resume from saved position
- Screen locks cause audio to stop playing
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- Glitching when using app with Waze simultaneously
- Watch message link kicks users back to previous screen
- Video content fails to load properly
- Landscape mode not supported for message viewing
- Copy-paste feature removed in recent update
- Service notes highlighting and annotation removed
- Toolbar in One Year Bible reading is distracting and won't hide
- Select all and speak function no longer works
Requested features
14 requests- Highlight and underline text in One Year Bible
- Calendar feature to track completed Bible readings
- Ability to save and access notes within app
- Blank note pages for services without outlines
- Copy and paste functionality for devotionals
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- Dark mode option for One Year Bible reading
- Prayer request submission button
- Chromecast support for casting to TV
- Apple Pay integration for tithes and offerings
- Audio narration for One Year Bible readings
- Better Bluetooth integration for car audio systems
- Ability to copy location addresses for navigation apps
- Highlights Kids Studio content
- Resume playback feature for sermon progress
Shades Mountain
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Highlands
No in-app purchases
Shades Mountain
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Highlands free?
Is Shades Mountain free?
Which has better reviews, Highlands or Shades Mountain?
Do Highlands or Shades Mountain have ads?
Which is updated more often, Highlands or Shades Mountain?
Other comparisons
