Comparison

WX View vs FD Viewer

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

Head to head
About

WX View

Access current weather conditions and forecasts for local areas, ideal for pilots. It provides color-coded weather categories, tracks flight compliance with regulations, and allows airport customization. Share weather information with friends and view it on Apple Watch.

Highlights
  • Current weather conditions (METAR)
  • Forecasts (TAF)
  • Color-coded weather categories
  • Flight compliance tracking
  • Customizable weather information
  • Favorite airport marking
  • Weather info sharing
Features
Read full description

You are going for a local fight, or just to a neighboring airport, or a training flight -- do you really need to check the weather? FAR 91.103 says "Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight." That is where WX View fits in.  • Lets you quickly check the current weather conditions (METAR) and forecasts (TAF) for the local area based on your current location. • Gives you standard weather category (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR) colors, that make the information easy to comprehend. • Tracks the weather info that you have received to show the you have complied with FAR 91.103.  • Allows you to customize the weather information shown to your needs.  • Mark your favorite airports so they show up at the top of the list for easy viewing. • And lastly, share current weather info to your pilot friends! WX View runs on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Includes complications to add to your Apple Watch face to check the weather at your nearest airport at a glance. Time to fly!

About

FD Viewer

Access and read detailed text weather products from the National Weather Service. This app reformats Area Forecast Discussions into a user-friendly interface, allowing easy navigation through sections and offices.

Highlights
  • Read Area Forecast Discussions (AFDs)
  • View NWS offices on a map
  • List offices by distance or alphabetically
  • Paginated section navigation
  • User-friendly reformatting of weather data
Features
Read full description

Area Forecast Discussions (AFDs) are a text weather product released by the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices to inform and elaborate on the public forecast. FD Viewer presents each office on a map and also displays a list of offices sorted by distance or alphabetically. Selecting an office will display the latest Forecast Discussion paginated by section. Swipe right or left to navigate through each section. This app merely reformats the web-based AFD information in a user-friendly format. All credit for the forecast information goes to all the hardworking people at the NWS. TBD: I plan to support in-app glossary popups that will describe some of the more arcane acronyms and phrases used in the forecast text.

Screenshots

WX View4 screens
FD Viewer3 screens

Verdict

The call

WX View and FD Viewer are too close to call on the numbers: across 9 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for WX View against 5.0 for FD Viewer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

WX View ships an update fortnightly, FD Viewer every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 12, 2026 and June 5, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
WX View versus FD Viewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWX ViewFD Viewer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSCK Designs, Inc.Neil Cormia

Customer experience

WX View

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

FD Viewer

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

WX View

No in-app purchases

None

FD Viewer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is WX View free?
WX View is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FD Viewer free?
FD Viewer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, WX View or FD Viewer?
WX View and FD Viewer are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do WX View or FD Viewer have ads?
Neither WX View nor FD Viewer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, WX View or FD Viewer?
WX View ships an update fortnightly, and FD Viewer every 2 weeks. Most recently, WX View was updated on June 12, 2026 and FD Viewer on June 5, 2026.

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