EyeOnWater vs Nature's Notebook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
EyeOnWater
Contribute to scientific research by measuring and reporting the color of nearby bodies of water. Your data helps scientists track water quality and life within it over time, building on a long-standing scientific observation method.
- Measure water color
- Contribute to scientific research
- Track water quality
- Observe algae presence
- Utilize Forel-Ule scale
- View data on website
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The EyeOnWater concept consists of an App and a website. The app allows you as user to make a contribution to science and supply information about the water colour of fresh- as well as saline waters (lakes, rivers, coastal waters, seas and oceans) near your location or elsewhere. The measurement is sent to the central server, validated and stored, after which it is visible via the EyeOnWater website: www.eyeonwater.org What is it you measure? Water colour is an indication for life (e.g. algae) in the water. Scientists have been measuring this in marine waters via the Forel-Ule scale for more than 200 years. Your measurements will contribute to this long term observation and continue the timeseries. The EyeOnWater concept has been developed by NIOZ (scientific background), Veerder (Design), and MARIS (Technical development), with assistance from other partners in the EU funded project Citclops: www.citclops.eu Join us!
Nature's Notebook
Record observations of plant and animal life cycles, such as flowering and migration. Mark observation sites, create species lists, and log seasonal changes in nature.
- Record plant and animal life cycle events
- Mark observation sites
- Create species lists
- Log seasonal observations
- Citizen science program
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Nature's Notebook is a program for observing and recording plant and animal life cycle events, like flowering and bird migration. Use this app to mark your sites, create a list of plants and animals, and going into the field to record observations throughout the seasons. Find out more at www.usanpn.org/nn/guidelines.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Nature's Notebook at 3.2 against EyeOnWater's 2.5. Nature's Notebook also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (27 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Nature's Notebook holds the better App Store score, 3.2 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nature's Notebook has 27 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
EyeOnWater ships an update every 2 months, Nature's Notebook every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | EyeOnWater | Nature's Notebook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.5 (2 ratings) | 3.2 (27 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 27 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 47 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MARIS B.V. | National Phenology Network |
Customer experience
EyeOnWater
Nature's Notebook
In-app purchases
EyeOnWater
No in-app purchases
Nature's Notebook
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is EyeOnWater free?
Is Nature's Notebook free?
Which has better reviews, EyeOnWater or Nature's Notebook?
Do EyeOnWater or Nature's Notebook have ads?
Which is updated more often, EyeOnWater or Nature's Notebook?
Other comparisons
