# SOS Explorer — Explore Earth and Space

> Interactive mobile app for exploring Earth and space datasets. (iPhone/iPad app by University of Colorado Boulder.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sos-explorer/id1358724422 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [University of Colorado Boulder](https://appshunter.io/developer/972210292)
- Category: Education, Weather
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 20 App Store ratings · 7 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 249 MB
- Languages: American English, European Spanish, Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan), Chinese (Simplified, China)
- Released: 2019-08-12
- Data updated: 2026-09-07
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sos-explorer/id1358724422/reviews.md

## What is SOS Explorer?

SOS Explorer (SOSx) Mobile is a free, flat screen mobile app version of the popular NOAA Science On a Sphere (SOS). This revolutionary software takes SOS datasets, usually only seen on a 6-foot sphere in large museum spaces, and makes them accessible, portable, and interactive anywhere. SOSx Mobile can immerse the user in animated images such as Saturn’s rings, atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperatures to help explain sometimes complex environmental processes in a way that is intuitive, captivating, interactive, and entertaining. A desktop version, called SOS Explorer, is also available. 

Thank you for using SOS Explorer (SOSx) Mobile. We are committed to continually improving our software and providing you with an engaging and educational experience. We hope you enjoy the new features and enhancements in version 1.2!  Please continue to share your feedback with us as we work on improvements. We appreciate your patience and support.

Features include:

• Streaming, high-resolution datasets
• Educational videos
• User-guided tours
• Analysis tools
• 100+ datasets
• Global and flat map views

Sample datasets:

• Recent Hurricane Seasons
• Bird Migration
• Earthquake Activity
• Snow and Ice
• Ocean Currents
• Historical Tsunamis
• Facebook Friendships
• Air Traffic
• Planets of the Solar System
• Climate Change Models
• 360 Underwater Imagery
• Narrated Movies
• ...and so much more!

## Key features

- Streaming high-resolution datasets
- Educational videos
- User-guided tours
- Analysis tools
- 100+ datasets
- Global and flat map views

## Recent user reviews (7 of 7)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sos-explorer/id1358724422/reviews.md

### 1/5 — 开发商你看一下就是嗯，对。

*2026-06-12*

他这个加载缩略图就是一直卡住一直卡住的原因，我试了好几种方法都没用。

### 5/5 — Poem

*2023-12-21*

Whoever wrote ‘What’s New’ for Version 1.2.2, I have found 
Has improved my mood, all around!

### 4/5 — It’s a good app but

*2021-01-19*

Can you please add more hurricanes and add cyclones and typhoons because me like tracking hurricanes

**Developer response:** Thanks for the feedback! It hasn't made it into the app yet, but we just updated our hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone severe storm track dataset. https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/hurricane-tracks-cumulative-1950-2020/ Keep an eye out for it soon!

### 4/5 — A Spectacular Tool!

*2020-10-08*

This is one of the most informative and innovative tools i’ve ever come across.. Period!

However, one of my goals with writing this review is to help improve the overall user experience by informing the app developer of an issue i’ve with the graphical user interface. 

The issue is as follows:
While using the pinch to zoom function concurrently with drag to rotate, the globe suddenly “jumps” sporadically to an undesired location - typically on the opposite side of the globe. This issue is greatly frustrating and makes in-depth exploration quite challenging. 

I am using the app on an iPhone 11 with iOS 14. I genuinely hope that this can be resolved as an update with future releases and bug fixes. 

Thank you,

Sincerely,
Mr. E West

### 5/5 — Ayuda

*2020-03-02, version 1.1*

Como se pone en español no entiendo nada
De lo que dice ayuuuuuuuuuuda

### 4/5 — Terrific Earth Sciences tool

*2019-08-13*

Just got this and it’s fascinating. All kinds of data and links to mini science movies explaining everything from climate change to space weather and Auroras. Great for inquisitive adults and a must have for kids interested in science

### 5/5 — Fabuloso para las asignaturas sobre Ciencias naturales

*2019-08-07, version 1.0*

Muy buena aplicación en tiempo y espacio 
Saludos
R. Gio-Argaez
Profesor UNAM

## Frequently asked questions about SOS Explorer

### What kind of datasets can I explore with SOS Explorer?

SOS Explorer offers over 100 datasets, including recent hurricane seasons, bird migration, earthquake activity, snow and ice, ocean currents, historical tsunamis, planets of the solar system, climate change models, and 360 underwater imagery.

### Is SOS Explorer suitable for all ages?

SOS Explorer is rated for ages 4+ and is designed to make complex environmental processes intuitive and entertaining for a broad audience.

### How often is SOS Explorer updated?

The app was last updated on December 20, 2023, with version 1.2.2, indicating a commitment to ongoing improvements and new features.

### Can I use SOS Explorer offline?

The description mentions 'streaming, high-resolution datasets,' which implies an internet connection is needed to access the full range of data. Specific offline capabilities are not detailed.

### What devices does SOS Explorer support?

SOS Explorer is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices, making it accessible on a range of Apple mobile hardware.

### Does SOS Explorer offer certifications or formal learning paths?

While SOS Explorer is highly educational and engaging, the description does not mention any formal certifications or structured learning paths. It focuses on interactive exploration of scientific data.

### How does SOS Explorer track user progress?

The app features 'analysis tools' and 'user-guided tours,' which can aid in learning. However, specific mechanisms for tracking user progress or performance are not detailed in the provided information.

### What is the learning methodology behind SOS Explorer?

SOS Explorer utilizes immersive, animated visualizations of real-world scientific datasets to explain complex environmental processes intuitively, captivatingly, interactively, and entertainingly.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.2.4 — 2026-04-09

Real-time (RT) datasets on mobile are back! We fixed two issues that prevented us from publishing RT data that are now fixed.

### 1.2.2 — 2023-12-20

In SOS Explorer, a bug was found,
Where Chinese texts were not sound.
Simplified, traditional, in a mix,
Characters missing, in a fix.
Now corrected, clarity abounds!

### 1.2.1 — 2023-09-05

Playback Slider Issue (iOS): Resolved an issue on iOS devices where the playback slider didn’t accurately scroll through time while viewing data sets.
UI Text Issue: Rectified a situation where loading country labels from the overlay window resulted in the disappearance of UI text.
Orbit Camera:: The “auto rotate” function has been renamed to “orbit” to accurately represent the camera’s movement orbiting the Earth.
Analysis Window: Enhanced user experience; the analysis window now seamlessly transitions between navigating the sphere and tool interactions.
Tools Menu Toggle: Refinement to the toggle menu behavior to ensure consistency with other UI elements.

### 1.2 — 2023-06-09

• Upgrade to Unity 2021.3: Experience improved performance and visual fidelity thanks to the latest version of the Unity engine.
• Initial support for WMTS (Web Map Tile Service) data sets: Enjoy more efficient loading and visualization of high resolution data sets.
• Expanded language support: We have added support for Spanish and Chinese languages, making our application more accessible to users worldwide.
• Automatic rotation of the globe and toggle for legends: Enhance your interaction with better controls of how information is presented on the screen.
• Improved rendering for real-time satellite positions: Get a more accurate and visually pleasing representation of satellite data.
• New video playback library: Enjoy a smoother video playback experience with AVPro 2.0.
• Enhancements to analysis tools: Delve deeper into datasets with our improved and more accurate analysis tools.
• Improved navigation controls: Explore the world more easily with our refined navigation controls in both globe and map modes.
• Transition to UnityWebRequest for content downloading: Experience more efficient and reliable content delivery.
• Updated UI for different device display safe zones: We've improved our user interface to respect the display safe zones for various devices.

Known Issues

• Tour content display: Tour content may appear stretched on certain devices due to variations in screen aspect ratios.
• Help screen timing: On slower devices, the help screen may appear prematurely.
• Visual artifacts when unloading data sets: Users may notice temporary visual artifacts when unloading data sets.
• Infinite scrolling in map view: Infinite horizontal scrolling is currently disabled in map view.
• Average area analysis tool: This is currently disabled while we work on an improved UI experience.

### 1.11 — 2021-04-14

Improved reliability loading datasets and viewing abstracts and summaries on the web.

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All apps by University of Colorado Boulder: https://appshunter.io/developer/972210292

## Related topics

[earth explorer](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/earth-explorer)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-07.*