Lights and Shapes vs Master
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lights and Shapes
Master maritime navigation rules with interactive 3D models of vessels. Learn to identify ships, understand their routes, and avoid collisions by exploring day and night views. Ideal for boaters, students, and maritime professionals seeking an engaging learning experience.
- Interactive 3D vessel models
- Day and night views
- Official text of navigation rules
- Flashcards for self-testing
- Collision avoidance guidance
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Experience maritime rules like never before! This app helps you master navigation lights and shapes with interactive 3D models you can rotate and zoom. Instantly see how the appearance of vessels changes from different angles—day or night. Identify any ship, understand its route, and know the right of way to avoid collisions. Perfect for boaters, students, and maritime professionals. Features: - Official text of the rules - 30 interactive 3D vessel models (day & night views) - 50+ flashcards for quick recognition and self-testing Make learning the rules of the sea engaging and effective!
Master
Learn maritime navigation rules with an interactive system designed for effective retention. This app breaks down complex regulations into manageable sections with visual aids and mnemonics. It revisits incorrect answers and provides instant graphical feedback, making the learning process intuitive and efficient.
- Interactive learning system
- Step-by-step rule guidance
- Mnemonics and memory aids
- Interactive visuals
- Graphical feedback on answers
- Practice section with progress tracking
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Master-Nav is a progressive COLREGS learning system developed by a Master Mariner. The COLREGS are notoriously difficult to learn and retain — Master-Nav makes it significantly easier through an interactive system built around how your brain actually works. Instead of guessing through random question banks, Master-Nav guides you step by step through every rule from start to finish. Wrong answers are revisited until the rules stick — properly. Complex regulations are broken down into learnable chunks — bite-sized sections supported by mnemonics, memory aids and interactive visuals designed around how the brain actually retains information. Every incorrect answer is shown graphically alongside the correct one — immediately clear, no confusion. And with a single tap, the relevant COLREGS rule is accessible from any question at any time. Master-Nav covers COLREGS Parts A to D — General, Steering & Sailing, Lights & Shapes and Sound & Light Signals — plus Annex IV Distress Signals. Over 1000 questions in multiple formats, with a dedicated Practice Section that tracks right, wrong and unanswered so you always know where to focus. COLREGS — the easy way.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Master at 97% against Lights and Shapes's 10%. Master also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 months) and price ($1.99 vs $6.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Lights and Shapes costs $6.99 and Master $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Lights and Shapes ships an update every 5 months, Master fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lights and Shapes | Master |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | — | 4.8 (100 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 10.0% of reviews | 96.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 100 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #152 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 117 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sergio Guaita | Peterjohn Chisholm |
Customer experience
Lights and Shapes
Master
In-app purchases
Lights and Shapes
No in-app purchases
Master
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Lights and Shapes free?
Is Master free?
Do Lights and Shapes or Master have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lights and Shapes or Master?
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