Comparison

Canal Boat Magazine vs Computeractive

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

Head to head
About

Canal Boat Magazine

Explore Britain's inland waterways with this magazine app. Discover new boat designs, cruising guides, and articles on life aboard. Access a vast archive of past issues and search for specific content.

Highlights
  • Full free issue access
  • Preview editions before purchase
  • Archive of 100 back issues
  • New search functionality
  • Account registration for purchase protection
  • Cross-platform browsing of purchases
Features
Read full description

Canal Boat is Britain's best inland waterways magazine - every month each issue is packed with up-to-the-minute new boat designs, cruising features along the country's beautiful canals and rivers, features about life on the waterways, boating equipment and the latest news and views. It's essential reading for anyone with an interest in Britain's Waterways and canal boat life. The Canal Boat magazine app features… • Full FREE Issue – Read a full issue of the magazine for FREE! • Preview Editions – Read the first 10 pages of any edition before purchasing. • Huge Archive of Back Issues – Subscribe and receive full access to the latest 100 issues for the duration of your subscription. • New Search Functionality – Quickly and easily search for articles that interest you. ---------------------------------------------- This is a free app download. Within the app users can purchase the current issue and back issues. Subscriptions are also available within the application. A subscription will start from the latest regular issue at the time of purchase. -The subscription will renew automatically unless cancelled more than 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period, for the same duration and at the current subscription rate for the product. -You may turn off the auto-renewal of subscriptions through your Account Settings, however you are not able to cancel the current subscription during its active period. -Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when a subscription to that publication is purchased. -If a subscription offers a free trial, at the end of the trial period, you will be charged the full price of the subscription. You may cancel a subscription during its free trial period via the subscription settings on your iTunes account. This must be done 24 hours before the end of the subscription period to avoid being charged. Users can register for/ login to a pocketmags account in-app. This will protect their issues in the case of a lost device and allow browsing of purchases on multiple platforms. Existing pocketmags users can retrieve their purchases by logging into their account. We recommend loading the app for the first time in a wi-fi area so that all issue data is retrieved. If your app will not load past the splash page after a first install or an update, please delete and reinstall the app from the App Store Help and frequently asked questions can be accessed in-app and on pocketmags. If you have any problems at all please do not hesitate to contact us: help@pocketmags.com -------------------- You can find our privacy policy here: http://www.pocketmags.com/privacy.aspx You can find our terms and conditions here: http://www.pocketmags.com/terms.aspx

About

Computeractive

Your friendly guide to PCs, gadgets, and the web. Get regular news updates, project ideas, and expert advice on popular reader queries, anti-virus software, and consumer rights. Learn to get the most out of your computer with clear, plain English explanations.

Highlights
  • News updates
  • Project ideas
  • Help and advice
  • Anti-virus software articles
  • Consumer rights features
  • PC and gadget guides
Features
Read full description

Computeractive is the UK’s best-selling computer magazine and your friendly guide to PCs, gadgets and the web! It includes regular news updates, project ideas, help and advice on popular reader queries, articles on anti-virus software, features on consumer rights, and a whole lot more to help you get the very best out of your computer. Get PC advice in plain English today – get Computeractive! All the subscriptions are auto-renewable subscription directly from the App Store. Payment will be charged to your App Store Account at confirmation of purchase. This subscription will 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. The cost of the renewal will match the initial subscription price. You can manage your subscriptions through your Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Subscription costs: - 26 issues (1 year) at £29.99 - 13 issues (Every 6 months) at £14.99 - 6 issues (Every 3 months) at £7.99 Please click here to read our Privacy Policy: http://www.dennis.co.uk/privacy and here to read our Terms of Use: http://www.dennis.co.uk/subs/terms

Screenshots

Canal Boat Magazine4 screens
Computeractive4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Canal Boat Magazine at free with in-app purchases against Computeractive's subscription. Computeractive's advantage is review sentiment (43% vs 20%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Canal Boat Magazine sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Computeractive sells 48 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Canal Boat Magazine ships an update every 8 months, Computeractive every 16 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Canal Boat Magazine versus Computeractive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCanal Boat MagazineComputeractive
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.2 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews20.0% of reviews43.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—9 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 months — betterEvery 16 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKelsey Publishing GroupFuture plc

Customer experience

Canal Boat Magazine

Written reviews10 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative80.0%

Computeractive

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive43.1%
Neutral7.8%
Negative49.0%

Bugs and requests

Canal Boat Magazine

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Computeractive

Reported bugs

40 issues
  • App not working
  • Saying wrong format
  • Cannot receive information
  • Not showing any magazines
  • Says turn on Java and cookies
Show 35 more
  • Error message: The data couldn't be read because it isn't in the correct format
  • Log in non-2xx response: 405 method not allowed
  • Can’t retrieve feed of feeds
  • No longer loads the magazines
  • Back button goes to the cover
  • Top of each page is hidden
  • Links aren’t clickable
  • App claiming no active subscriptions
  • App frozen, spinning wheel
  • Many bugs present
  • Issue not available in the app
  • Problems getting the latest edition
  • Suddenly cannot access the latest edition
  • Error code
  • Keeps throwing up the same error
  • Digital version often arrives after publication date
  • Digital version may arrive in the afternoon or next day
  • Constantly dropping out back to the home screen
  • New version removed access to several years of magazines
  • Latest update isn’t very good
  • Bottom chopped off page
  • Has frozen a couple of times
  • Download screen changed
  • Pages slip and slide around the screen
  • Navbar appears and disappears at random
  • Cannot get further than page 53
  • Text cannot be selected and copied
  • Table of contents isn’t hyperlinked
  • Web hyperlinks take you to a random retailer
  • Subscription isn’t coming over to the iPad app
  • Keeps logging me out
  • Lost all copies paid for
  • Lost all previous purchases
  • Unable to transfer magazines from original subscription
  • No way to transfer current subscription

Requested features

14 requests
  • Fix app to show magazines
  • Sort out login issues
  • Fix error messages
  • Make links clickable
  • Improve iPad display
Show 9 more
  • Add index
  • Allow printing pages
  • Add interactive features
  • Improve navigation
  • Allow tagging magazines as read
  • Add notes against magazines
  • Allow login without internet connection
  • Improve app for iPad Pro
  • Allow 2 pages at a time in landscape

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Canal Boat Magazine

Subscriptions7
  • Canal Boat$2.991 Month
  • Canal Boat Monthly$3.491 Month
  • Canal Boat$8.993 Months
Show 4 more
  • Canal Boat 3 Months$8.993 Months
  • Canal Boat$17.996 Months
  • Canal Boat$26.991 Year
  • Canal Boat Annual1 Month trial$28.491 Year
One-time3
  • Canal Boat September 2014$3.99
  • Mar-16 (id:687209)$4.99
  • May 2019 (id:687247)$4.99
48 purchases

Computeractive

Subscriptions4
  • 3 Month Subscription$9.993 Months
  • 6 Month Subscription$14.996 Months
  • 6 Month Subscription$16.496 Months
Show 1 more
  • 12 Month Subscription$39.991 Year
One-time44
  • Issue 414 of Computeractive Replica App$1.99
  • Issue 405 of Computeractive Replica App$1.99
  • Issue 396 of Computeractive Replica App$1.99
Show 41 more
  • Issue 394 of Computeractive Replica App$1.99
  • Issue 479 of Computeractive Replica App$1.99
  • Issue 477 of Computeractive Replica App$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 670$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 672$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 673$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 674$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 675$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 678$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 679$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 683$1.99
  • Issue 744$1.99
  • Issue 740$1.99
  • Issue 739$1.99
  • Issue 735$1.99
  • Issue 734$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 726$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 722$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 723$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 720$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 718$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 716$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 712$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 710$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 709$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 708$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 707$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 706$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 705$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 704$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 695$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 692$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 693$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 691$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 690$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 689$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 688$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 687$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 684$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 686$1.99
  • Computer Active Issue 685$1.99

Questions

Is Canal Boat Magazine free?
Canal Boat Magazine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Computeractive free?
Computeractive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Canal Boat Magazine or Computeractive have ads?
Neither Canal Boat Magazine nor Computeractive shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Canal Boat Magazine or Computeractive?
Canal Boat Magazine ships an update every 8 months, and Computeractive every 16 months. Most recently, Canal Boat Magazine was updated on October 23, 2026 and Computeractive on October 26, 2026.

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