Storm Distance Tracker vs Thunderly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Storm Distance Tracker
Measure the distance to a storm by timing the interval between seeing lightning and hearing thunder. This tool uses the difference in the speed of light and sound to provide an estimated distance.
- Calculate storm distance
- Uses lightning and thunder timing
- Calculates based on speed of light and sound
- Simple tap interface
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Calculate the distance of lightning and find out how far away the storm is. This app calculates distance using the difference between the speed of light and sound. Tap a button when you see the lightning and then again when you hear the thunder and the app will tell you how far away it is using a time difference between the two.
Thunderly
Visualize real-time lightning strikes globally on an interactive map. Explore weather data like clouds and precipitation, and measure distances to storms. You can even simulate lightning flashes with your camera.
- Real-time global lightning map
- Accurate day/night cycle
- Real-time clouds and precipitation layers
- Lightning history layer (last hour)
- Zoomable map detail
- Storm distance measurement
- Simulated lightning flashes
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Do you love storms as we do? Then you’ll love our app. At photorealistic globe you can see real time lightning all around the world. Besides accurate day and night cycle, globe contains real time clouds, precipitation and lightning history layer for last hour. For better resolution you can zoom into map detail. If you zoom really closely to your location, you can use start-stop feature to measure your distance from nearby storm. When no storm is close enough, feel free to “stream” lightnings via your camera flash from opposite side of the world to your living room. ...and one more thing: If you try hard enough we are pretty sure that you’ll find switch for real time aurora. Not as cool as lightning, but also kind of amazing!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Thunderly at 4.3 against Storm Distance Tracker's 3.7. Thunderly also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On price and device support 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. Storm Distance Tracker sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Thunderly asks for nothing beyond the download.
Thunderly holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thunderly has 2.6K ratings behind it against 101, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Storm Distance Tracker's written reviews are positive against 58% of Thunderly's.
Storm Distance Tracker ships an update every 7 months, Thunderly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Storm Distance Tracker | Thunderly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (101 ratings) | 4.3 (2.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 57.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 101 | 2.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 113 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DOUBLE U s.r.o. | Jan Plesek |
Customer experience
Storm Distance Tracker
Thunderly
Bugs and requests
Storm Distance Tracker
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Thunderly
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on launch
- Globe not rendering properly
- Lightning data not updating in real-time
- Incorrect lightning strike detection
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to track past lightning strikes
- Implement distance/location-based alerts
- Include weather data and radar
- Add support for landscape mode and iPad
- Provide more customization options
In-app purchases
Storm Distance Tracker
- Remove ads$1.99
- Remove Ads$2.99
- Remove Ads$4.99
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- Remove Ads$9.99
Thunderly
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Storm Distance Tracker free?
Is Thunderly free?
Which has better reviews, Storm Distance Tracker or Thunderly?
Do Storm Distance Tracker or Thunderly have ads?
Which is updated more often, Storm Distance Tracker or Thunderly?
Other comparisons
