Comparison

ATC Simulator vs Harbor Shift

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

Head to head
About

ATC Simulator

Practice air traffic control communication using your voice. Master phonetic alphabet and traffic advisories with realistic radar displays and on-device speech recognition. Track progress and build confidence for aviation academies.

Highlights
  • Voice recognition for ATC communication
  • Realistic radar display
  • NATO phonetic alphabet training
  • Traffic advisory practice
  • On-device speech processing
  • Progress tracking and achievements
Features
Read full description

Train like a controller. Speak like a controller. ATC Tower Trainer is the only iOS app that lets you practice air traffic control skills using your actual voice. Built for ATC academy students, student pilots, and aviation enthusiasts who want to master tower communication before it counts. 5 TRAINING MODES - NATO Phonetic Alphabet — Learn A-Z with voice recognition, track accuracy per letter, unlock achievements, and build streaks - Callsign Practice — Read aircraft callsigns aloud using proper ATC phonetic protocols with real-time voice validation - Traffic Calls — Issue traffic advisories on a live radar display using proper clock position, aircraft type, and direction of flight - Phraseology — Practice standard ATC radio phrases, clearances, and pilot readbacks with AI-powered validation and a mini-map showing aircraft positions - Tower Simulator — Run a full ATC tower with AI pilots flying VFR traffic patterns and ILS arrivals at a parallel-runway airport, all controlled with your voice REALISTIC VOICE INTERACTION Push-to-talk to respond. The app understands real aviation communication — callsigns, aircraft types, clock positions, and phonetic alphabet. All speech processing happens on-device. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS Every session tracks your accuracy, streaks, and personal bests. Learning mode lets you study the correct answer before practicing. Achievements reward consistency — not just getting it right, but getting it right repeatedly. BUILT FOR ACADEMY SUCCESS 40% of ATC academy students don't make it through. The ones who practice before day one have a real advantage. ATC Tower Trainer lets you build muscle memory for the communication, cadence, and confidence you'll need — from anywhere, on your own schedule. KEY FEATURES - On-device speech recognition — no internet required - Push-to-talk with haptic feedback - 5 progressive training modes from alphabet to full tower control - Realistic radar display with color-coded aircraft - Multiple GA aircraft types (Cessna, Piper, Bonanza, Cirrus, Mooney) - AI pilots that respond to your voice commands - Achievement tracking, streaks, and personal bests - Learning mode for guided practice - Dark theme designed for extended training sessions - Privacy first — no audio is recorded or transmitted ATC Tower Trainer requires an in-app purchase or active subscription to access the training simulators, voice-powered exercises, and paid app features. Apple Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Harbor Shift

Features
Read full description

Run a complete vessel-control shift where every arrival needs a pilot, tug approach, inspection, cargo authorization, and departure clearance. The Harbor Control Desk tracks three live vessel cases at once. Watch individual deadlines, spend tug fuel on approaches, inspect manifests and storm lashings, authorize cargo work, and clear each departure in the correct order. Fog and storms alter findings. Late work accumulates delay, while every decision changes the shift's safety and throughput scores. Close a shift to receive a persistent graded report, then compare past performance in the Reports tab. The separate Operations tab adds cargo contracts, twelve ship routes, weather payouts, specialist hiring, facilities, and multi-shift progression. Features: - Five-stage vessel-control workflow - Concurrent deadlines and resource pressure - Weather-dependent inspection findings - Tug fuel, safety, delay, and throughput metrics - Persistent graded shift reports - Contracts, crew, and facility progression - Offline local save Harbor Shift is an offline single-player management game. There are no accounts, purchases, chat, user-generated content, or cloud saves.

Screenshots

ATC Simulator4 screens
Harbor Shift3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Harbor Shift at none against ATC Simulator's 3. ATC Simulator's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads 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

Both are free to download. ATC Simulator sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Harbor Shift asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ATC Simulator versus Harbor Shift: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterATC SimulatorHarbor Shift
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days—
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Vision Pro — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size253 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBagging Groceriesjeongeun lee

In-app purchases

3 purchases

ATC Simulator

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Yearly$89.991 Year
None

Harbor Shift

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ATC Simulator free?
ATC Simulator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Harbor Shift free?
Harbor Shift is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ATC Simulator or Harbor Shift have ads?
Both ATC Simulator and Harbor Shift show ads.

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