Comparison

Nautical Rules vs Navigation Almanac

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

Head to head
About

Nautical Rules

Master USCG Navigation Rules with a comprehensive question bank and smart study features. Track your progress, practice for exams, and study offline to navigate with confidence.

Highlights
  • 1,200+ practice questions
  • Inland and International waters coverage
  • Detailed explanations
  • Customizable tests
  • Offline study capability
  • Progress tracking dashboard
  • Accuracy by rule statistics
Read full description

Nautical Rules is the ultimate study companion for mastering the USCG Navigation Rules (COLREGS). Whether you're preparing for your captain's license exam or refreshing your maritime knowledge, this app provides everything you need to succeed. COMPREHENSIVE QUESTION BANK - Over 1,200 practice questions covering all Navigation Rules - Questions for both Inland and International waters - Covers Steering & Sailing Rules, Lights & Shapes, Sound Signals, and more - Detailed explanations SMART STUDY FEATURES - Take customizable tests with 10, 25, 50, or 100 questions - Practice mode with immediate feedback and explanations - Focus Area suggestions to target your weakest rules - Bookmark questions for later review - Review your mistakes to reinforce learning TRACK YOUR PROGRESS - Activity dashboard with test history and statistics - See your accuracy by rule (Rule 1, Rule 2, etc.) - Track your study streak and mastery level - View detailed results for each completed test DESIGNED FOR MARINERS - Clean, intuitive interface optimized for study sessions - No internet connection required - study anywhere - All questions based on official USCG Navigation Rules - Perfect for captains, SWO, sailors, and maritime professionals Whether you're studying for the USCG license exam, improving your seamanship skills, or just want to stay sharp on the water, Nautical Rules gives you the tools to succeed. Download now and navigate with confidence! --- Note: This app is an educational study aid and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Coast Guard. For official rules and regulations, consult the official USCG Navigation Rules publications.

About

Navigation Almanac

This app provides a comprehensive offline celestial navigation toolkit. It calculates celestial body positions, sunrise/set times, and sky charts. It also offers tools for compass error correction and position fixing, all without requiring an internet connection.

Highlights
  • Offline celestial almanac data
  • Sight reduction calculations
  • Rise, set, and twilight times
  • Sky view chart and dome
  • Live GPS position and course
  • Compass error correction
  • Fix calculator
Features
Read full description

Navigation Almanac is a complete celestial-navigation toolkit for iPhone and iPad. It reduces a sight, tabulates the almanac data you would otherwise look up on paper, and works entirely offline - no signal, no subscription, no account. SIGHT REDUCTION Enter your position and the date and time in UTC or local time, then pick a body. You get azimuth and computed altitude, GHA, LHA, SHA and declination, semi-diameter and horizontal parallax, along with the magnetic variation from the WMM-2025 model and the current value of ΔT. ALMANAC The Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn together with the 57 navigational stars, each with azimuth, altitude, hour angles and declination for the moment you have chosen. RISE, SET AND TWILIGHT Rise, meridian transit and set for any body, with civil and nautical twilight at the Sun's standard altitudes (-0°50′ / -6° / -12°), shown in UTC or local time. SKY VIEW The sky drawn as a chart of azimuth against altitude, or as a full-sky dome with the zenith at the centre. Background stars, constellation lines, and a predicted GNSS satellite layer computed from a bundled orbital catalogue. GPS Live position, course and speed over ground, altitude and horizontal accuracy, the magnetic variation at your position, and the ephemeris of the selected body. One tap fills the observer position for a reduction. COMPASS ERROR Solve gyro and magnetic compass error from an observed bearing, with variation and deviation kept separate, the way the correction is actually applied on the bridge. FIX CALCULATOR Cross two lines of position from your reductions, advance the first line for the vessel's run between sights, and read off the observed position. WORKS OFFLINE The ephemerides are computed on the device from the VSOP87 and ELP2000 series with IAU 1980 nutation - they are not downloaded. Everything above works with the phone in airplane mode, weeks from shore. SIXTEEN LANGUAGES English, Russian, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Greek, Turkish, Latvian and Simplified Chinese. The navigation terminology in each was taken from that country's own nautical almanac and navigation textbooks rather than translated word for word. NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS Warnings in force from the national coordinators of the worldwide navigational warning service, grouped by country and by NAVAREA, with the full text of every message and the positions read out of it. The feed is rebuilt every hour and the last copy stays on the device, so it is there when the signal is not. This is an experimental feature and the screen says so: the data is gathered automatically, it can lag behind the broadcast, and it can be incomplete. It does not relieve you of the requirement to receive Maritime Safety Information over NAVTEX and SafetyNET as provided for by SOLAS. Navigation Almanac is a computational aid. Carry the official almanac and tables required for your voyage.

Screenshots

Nautical Rules4 screens
Navigation Almanac4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Navigation Almanac at weekly against Nautical Rules's every 3 weeks. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Nautical Rules against 5.0 for Navigation Almanac. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nautical Rules ships an update every 3 weeks, Navigation Almanac weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Nautical Rules versus Navigation Almanac: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNautical RulesNavigation Almanac
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoseph KimVladyslav Zenchenko

Customer experience

Nautical Rules

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Navigation Almanac

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Nautical Rules

No in-app purchases

None

Navigation Almanac

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Nautical Rules free?
Nautical Rules is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Navigation Almanac free?
Navigation Almanac is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Nautical Rules or Navigation Almanac?
Nautical Rules and Navigation Almanac are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Nautical Rules or Navigation Almanac have ads?
Neither Nautical Rules nor Navigation Almanac shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nautical Rules or Navigation Almanac?
Nautical Rules ships an update every 3 weeks, and Navigation Almanac weekly. Most recently, Nautical Rules was updated on October 6, 2026 and Navigation Almanac on October 17, 2026.

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