Nautical Ship Flags vs Sailor's Deck
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nautical Ship Flags
Explore maritime signal codes and Morse code with interactive quizzes and detailed flag information. Track your learning progress with an analytics view and practice signaling using your phone's flashlight. This app offers full offline functionality for continuous learning.
- Interactive quizzes
- Flag details and reference
- Flashlight Morse signaling
- Progress tracking
- Offline functionality
- Analytics view
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A complete guide to maritime flags, including letters, numbers, substitutes, and Morse code, now with an enhanced Analytics View to track your progress and identify areas for improvement. Enjoy interactive quizzes and detailed flag information. This app also lets you view Morse code signals through your phone’s flashlight, making it perfect for boaters, sailors, and anyone fascinated by maritime navigation. Features: • Interactive Tests • Randomized Question Types • Flashlight Morse Signaling • Flag Details and Symbol Reference • Review and Progress Tracking • Analytics View for tracking your progress • Bright, minimalistic design • Full offline functionality Links for more info: - Terms of Use & Privacy policy: https://nauticalshipflags.com - Link for more info: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202039
Sailor's Deck
Master navigation lights and day shapes for skipper exams with this flashcard app. It uses spaced repetition to build lasting visual memory, tracks your progress, and resurfaces difficult configurations until they stick. Study offline with no ads or subscriptions.
- Spaced repetition learning
- Four-layer progression of study
- Confusion pair training
- Offline functionality
- Progress tracking and session summaries
- Association-specific terminology
- Daily streak motivator
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Navigation lights and day shapes is the hardest topic on every skipper exam. Minimum 50 configurations to recognise, from any bearing, under time pressure. Most sailors try to cram it from a textbook the night before. It doesn't work. Sailor's Deck is built specifically for this. Flashcards with spaced repetition — the study method proven to build lasting visual memory — sequenced across four layers from basic light identification through to full composite scenarios. The app tracks what you know, resurfaces what you don't, and keeps drilling the configurations you keep getting wrong until they stick. HOW IT WORKS Each session presents set of cards drawn from your personal review queue. Answer correctly and the card moves to a longer review interval. Answer wrong and it comes back sooner. Get a category badly wrong and the relevant COLREGS rule is shown on the spot. The four-layer progression matches the way your exam actually tests you: — Layer 1: Base lights — masthead, sidelights, sternlight — Layer 2: Status lights — what the vessel is doing — Layer 3: Day shapes — cone, ball, cylinder, diamond — Layer 4: Composite scenarios — full patterns from specific bearings Confusion pairs are built in. Miss a RAM card and the NUC card is queued immediately behind it. Miss a trawling vessel and the purse-seine card follows. The pairs most likely to lose you marks on the exam are pre-wired into the system. 100+ CARDS. ALMOST EVERY CONFIGURATION. Power-driven vessels, sailing vessels, vessels not under command, restricted in ability to manoeuvre, constrained by draught, pilot vessels, mine clearance, dredgers, air-cushion vessels, fishing vessels trawling and not trawling, vessels at anchor, towing and pushing — plus all COLREGS day shapes. Every card reviewed by a qualified sailing instructor. WORKS FOR YOUR ASSOCIATION Select your certification on first launch and the app uses your association's terminology throughout: — RYA Day Skipper / Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster — IYT Bareboat / Coastal / Master of Yachts — ISSA Inshore / Offshore — ASA 104 / 106 One card library. Your language. NO ACCOUNT. NO INTERNET. NO NONSENSE. Everything runs offline. Progress is saved locally. No login, no subscription, no ads. Free — permanently, with no card limit and no time limit on the entry skipper deck. DAILY STREAK + PROGRESS TRACKING A daily streak keeps you coming back in the weeks before your exam. Per-category accuracy shows exactly where your weak spots are. Session summaries flag the COLREGS rules you need to read. Study on the boat. Study on the bus. Five minutes before bed. The exam is closer than you think.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sailor's Deck at 100% against Nautical Ship Flags's 33%. Sailor's Deck also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Nautical Ship Flags's advantage is ratings volume (15 vs 1) and monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs paid). 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
Both are free to download. Nautical Ship Flags sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and Sailor's Deck sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Sailor's Deck holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nautical Ship Flags has 15 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Nautical Ship Flags's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sailor's Deck's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nautical Ship Flags | Sailor's Deck |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (15 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.2 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stanislav Cekunov | Vladimir Arefev |
Customer experience
Nautical Ship Flags
Sailor's Deck
In-app purchases
Nautical Ship Flags
- Weekly$0.997 Days
- Lifetime$2.99
Sailor's Deck
- Small Tip$0.99
- Buy a Coffee$2.99
- Generous Tip$3.99
Questions
Is Nautical Ship Flags free?
Is Sailor's Deck free?
Which has better reviews, Nautical Ship Flags or Sailor's Deck?
Do Nautical Ship Flags or Sailor's Deck have ads?
Which is updated more often, Nautical Ship Flags or Sailor's Deck?
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