Comparison

Wind Wheel vs Binnacle

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

Head to head
About

Wind Wheel

This navigation app helps sailors and maritime enthusiasts understand wind dynamics. It calculates optimal courses and speeds based on desired wind conditions and forecasts relative wind shifts. Gauge wind intensity and anticipate conditions for precise navigation.

Highlights
  • Desired wind calculation
  • True wind determination
  • Relative wind forecasting
  • Beaufort Wind Force Scale
  • Course and speed optimization
Features
Read full description

Navigate the vast oceans with precision and confidence using Wind Wheel, an indispensable tool for sailors and maritime enthusiasts alike. Delve into the complexities of wind dynamics with ease, allowing you to fine-tune your course and speed with unparalleled accuracy. - Desired Wind: Generate optimal course and speed solutions for your preferred relative winds - True Wind: Determine the true wind conditions based on your vessel's course, speed, and observed relative wind - Relative Wind: Forecast shifts in relative wind before making adjustments to your course or speed - Condition Determination: Gauge wind intensity and anticipate conditions using the Beaufort Wind Force Scale Whether a seasoned mariner or a budding sea explorer, Wind Wheel is the perfect companion to help you harness the power of the wind. Set sail with confidence, chart your course, and let Wind Wheel handle the complexities of wind dynamics for you.

About

Binnacle

This navigation app provides tools for maritime professionals and sailing enthusiasts. It offers features like true wind calculation, celestial navigation, ETA estimation, logbook management, and port search. Stay informed with real-time NavArea warnings for safer voyages.

Highlights
  • True Wind Calculation
  • Celestial Navigation Tools
  • ETA Estimation
  • LogBook Management
  • UNLOCODE Search
  • NavArea Warnings
Features
Read full description

Binnacle is a set of bridge instruments for merchant marine deck officers. Thirteen tools, most of them working with no signal, and none of them pretending to be more certain than it is. ON WATCH • Navigational warnings, plotted. NAVAREA and the coastal services drawn on a chart where they actually are, instead of read as a wall of text at three in the morning. Set a radius from your position and follow only the services that concern the passage. • Weather for a position and a time you choose — wind in forces, the barometric tendency, fog risk. Forecast data from MET Norway. • True wind from course, speed and apparent wind. • Manoeuvring board — CPA and TCPA for two to five contacts at once, and one alteration that clears all of them. POSITION AND CHECKS • Compass error by amplitude or azimuth, worked against celestial data for the moment you observed. • Celestial fix — reduce two or three sights and see the cocked hat plotted, with its residuals, not just a number. • ETA and passage timing in UTC, with the arithmetic shown. • Heel, trim and roll period from the phone's own sensors, with GM estimated from the roll period. RECORDS AND REFERENCE • Log book for bridge events, kept for the whole contract and handed over as a PDF. • 17,998 ports by UN/LOCODE, and 11,728 port facilities with their GISIS codes, searchable by name or code — the reference is bundled, so it works alongside. • Manoeuvring miles — passage legs with sea and manoeuvring totals kept apart. • Unit converter for the units a bridge actually uses: knots, cables, fathoms, hectopascals, tonnes and the rest. WHAT IT WILL NOT DO It is an aid, not an authority. It does not replace corrected charts, official publications, the ship's procedures or the officer's judgement. Every screen states its own limits rather than hiding them, and every export says on its face what it is. WHAT STAYS FREE True wind, ETA, compass error, the manoeuvring board, heel and trim, weather and the unit converter are free, with no limit and no trial. The log book keeps ten entries free. Celestial reduces one sight free. Port search and the match count are free. ONE PURCHASE, NOT A SUBSCRIPTION • Navigational warnings — NAVAREA and the coastal services, with the chart and the radius • The facility's own record in Port Facilities • Fixes from two or three lines of position, and the plot • PDF export, on every screen including the free ones One payment of $5.99 unlocks all of it, on every device signed in to your Apple Account. There is no subscription, nothing renews, and there is nothing to cancel. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy and Terms are also in the app, under More.

Screenshots

Wind Wheel4 screens
Binnacle4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Binnacle at Free against Wind Wheel's $4.99. Binnacle also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4). Wind Wheel's advantage is ratings volume (7 vs 1). On ads, in-app purchases, 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

Binnacle is free to download; Wind Wheel costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Binnacle holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wind Wheel has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Wind Wheel versus Binnacle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWind WheelBinnacle
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (7 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings7 — better1
Update frequency—Every 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.016.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUniversal Queue LLCDanylo Budylkin

Customer experience

Wind Wheel

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

Binnacle

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Wind Wheel

No in-app purchases

None

Binnacle

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Wind Wheel free?
Wind Wheel costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Binnacle free?
Binnacle is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Wind Wheel or Binnacle?
Binnacle is rated higher. Wind Wheel averages 4.4 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Binnacle averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Wind Wheel or Binnacle have ads?
Neither Wind Wheel nor Binnacle shows ads.

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