Compass School Manager vs SharkSmart
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Compass School Manager
Access school news, events, and assignments. Stay informed about your child's academic progress and school activities. Designed for seamless communication between school and home.
- School news updates
- Event calendars
- Assignment tracking
- Parent-teacher communication
- Student progress monitoring
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Compass School Manager provides access to school news, events, upcoming assignments and more. This application is designed for staff, students and parents.
SharkSmart
Stay informed about shark activity in NSW before you swim. Get real-time alerts on tagged shark detections and drone sightings. Understand shark behavior and assess your personal risk for a safer beach experience.
- Real-time shark alerts
- Drone and tagged shark detections
- Interactive risk assessment
- Shark and marine animal identification
- Beach mitigation gear locations
- Smartwatch compatibility
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Enjoy NSW beaches. Be SharkSmart. The NSW Government’s SharkSmart app helps you stay informed before you hit the water in NSW. The app is part of the NSW Government’s Shark Management Program implemented by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). Check the latest shark alerts, Surf Life Saving NSW drone patrol observations, and tagged shark detections to better understand shark activity along the NSW coast. With greater awareness and knowledge of sharks and their behaviour, everyone can enjoy NSW beaches while reducing the risk of a shark encounter. The SharkSmart app provides real-time alerts, beach conditions, species information and helpful resources to keep you informed at NSW beaches. Stay SharkSmart with our App. Alerts & Notifications Receive alerts for tagged shark detections, shark sightings, Surf Life Saving NSW and Surfing NSW drone patrol observations, beach closures and other safety incidents. Customise notifications for alerts around you, by region, by time, or for your favourite beaches. New beach arrival notifications remind you when you are near the coast, with a quick link to today’s conditions and safety information. Daily Updates give you a snapshot of shark activity and alerts across NSW, or focused on beaches around you and your favourited beaches. Beach Status Check conditions before you go with beach status and at-a-glance information for beaches near you or in your favourites. See weather, water quality, patrol information, safety advice, and other local conditions to help you plan your visit. My Beaches Save your favourite NSW beaches and get updates and alerts for the places you visit most. Manage your list, view beach details, daily conditions and recent shark alerts for each location. Tagged Sharks When a tagged shark is detected, tap through for richer detail than ever before, including when and where it was tagged, species information, recent detections, and the path the indicative shark has taken along the NSW coast. Data may include contributions from DPIRD and research partners. Ask SharkSmart Have a question about sharks, beach safety or the latest conditions at a particular beach? Ask SharkSmart is your AI assistant for SharkSmart-related questions. Get clear, helpful answers in a conversation-style experience, with links to relevant alerts, beaches and species where available. Species There are over 180 species of sharks in Australia, and the majority are relatively harmless. In terms of shark-human interactions, the three species responsible for almost all serious and fatal interactions are the white, bull, and tiger sharks, collectively referred to in NSW as the ‘target’ species of our Shark Management Program. Browse images and information on these target sharks, as well as non-target sharks and other marine animals that sting or bite, for education and identification. Apple Watch Compatible If you have an Apple Watch, the SharkSmart app includes a companion watch app that lets you receive SharkSmart alerts on your wrist. View alerts around you or set up notifications for a region, by time or for favourite beaches. For more information visit: sharksmart.nsw.gov.au
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Compass School Manager at 4.7 against SharkSmart's 4.3. Compass School Manager also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (35% vs 27%). SharkSmart's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, ratings volume, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Compass School Manager holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 151 and 282 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 35% of Compass School Manager's written reviews are positive against 27% of SharkSmart's.
Compass School Manager ships an update monthly, SharkSmart weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Compass School Manager | SharkSmart |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (151 ratings) — better | 4.3 (282 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 35.4% of reviews — better | 27.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 151 | 282 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Compass Operations Pty Ltd | NSW Department of Primary Industries |
Customer experience
Compass School Manager
SharkSmart
User reviews
Compass School Manager
From 151 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to navigate
- 👍 Convenient for school management
- 🚀 Helpful for students and parents
- 🚀 Reliable and efficient
- 👍 Great app for school information
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔑 Login issues and session expiration
- 🤔 Confusing and cluttered UI
- 🤖 Compatibility issues on Mac devices
- 🙄 Constant need to update the app
SharkSmart
From 282 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📍 Real-time shark detection and tracking
- 🎯 Valuable safety information for ocean users
- 📊 Comprehensive shark tagging data
- 🏖️ Helpful for swimmers and surfers
- 👍 Good app concept and design
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
- 📬 Excessive notifications from distant locations
- ⚙️ Notification settings not persisting
- 🐢 Slow loading times
- 🚫 Unable to add/save favorite beaches
Bugs and requests
Compass School Manager
Reported bugs
5 issues- Unable to log in or search for school
- Notifications not working as expected
- Learning tasks page layout issues
- Landscape mode not functioning properly
- Inconsistent behavior across devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add dark mode option
- Improve navigation and organization
- Allow students to remove submissions
- Show class rosters within each class
- Provide more customization options
SharkSmart
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes on startup or when opening alerts
- Favorite beaches not saving or reverting to all beaches
- Search function not listing available beaches
- Map hanging when opening away from beaches
- Notifications not respecting location radius settings
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- Inconsistent data between map view and list view
- Add beach feature not working on iOS
- Settings menu freezing with spinning wheel
- Notifications continuing after app deletion
- Gallery tab crashing on iPhone 12
Requested features
11 requests- Ability to name individual tracked sharks
- Shark size and weight information at tagging
- Historical shark movement patterns and migration data
- Deep links from notifications to specific beaches
- Time-series reporting for shark activity
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- Apple Watch app improvements and alerts
- Expand coverage to rivers and harbors
- Better filtering by event type instead of notification source
- Expand geographic coverage beyond NSW
- More receiver stations in underserved areas
- Clearer messaging about beaches without receivers
In-app purchases
Compass School Manager
No in-app purchases
SharkSmart
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Compass School Manager free?
Is SharkSmart free?
Which has better reviews, Compass School Manager or SharkSmart?
Do Compass School Manager or SharkSmart have ads?
Which is updated more often, Compass School Manager or SharkSmart?
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