Thunderstorm Simulator vs Natural Sounds.
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Thunderstorm Simulator
Create a personalized thunderstorm experience with adjustable rain, thunder, and lightning effects. Customize sound volumes, lightning occurrences, and light colors to relax or fall asleep. Includes a sleep timer and options for background nature sounds.
- Adjustable rain sounds and volume
- Customizable thunder and lightning occurrences
- Screen or camera flash lightning effects
- Background nature sounds
- Sleep timer with fade-out
- Keep Awake mode
- Lightning on Demand control
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Summon a thunderstorm on your mobile device. Relax and fall fast asleep to the sounds of rain and thunder. The screen or camera flashes when lightning strikes.* *Defaults to screen for lightning light effects if camera flash is not available. THUNDERSTORMS • Strong Thunderstorm — Heavy rain with frequent lightning and thunder nearby • Normal Thunderstorm — Steady rain with a full range of lightning and thunder • Weak Thunderstorm — Light rain with occasional lightning and thunder far off • Passing Thunderstorms — Rain and lightning intensity changes as the storms pass SETTINGS Rain • Toggle rain sound effects • Change rain audio: Default, Heavy, Steady, Light, On Tin Roof • Change rain volume Lightning/Thunder • Toggle thunder sound effects • Change thunder volume • Change delay lightning (Wireless audio delay offset) • Toggle delay thunder • Toggle lightning light effects • Change lightning output: Camera Flash, Screen • Change lightning transition effects • Change lightning/thunder occurrence: Default, Occasional, Normal, Frequent • Change color and max brightness of lightning light effects (Screen only) Passing Thunderstorms • Change starting storm for Passing Thunderstorms: Weak, Normal, Strong • Change cycle time for Passing Thunderstorms: 15m, 30m, 60m Background Sounds • Toggle background sounds: Birds, Cicadas, Crickets, Frogs • Change background sounds volume General • Keep Awake to prevent your device from going to sleep so lightning effects remain visible • Select a mode to automatically start when the app opens • Choose a time to automatically stop the selected mode • Choose a time to automatically restart the selected mode when the sleep timer ends, enabling a recurring cycle ADDITIONAL FEATURES • Sleep Timer — Set a timer with a gradual audio fade-out. • Turn Screen Black — Adds a black overlay and sets the device to minimum brightness. Use the Screen Brightness Delay setting to compensate for brightness ramp-up on some devices. Set to 0.25–1 second if lightning effects do not reach peak brightness when thunder is loudest. • Lightning on Demand — Start a storm and use the lightning buttons at the bottom of the screen for manual control. • Bluetooth Support — Connect to Bluetooth speakers. Adjust the Delay Lightning setting to offset wireless audio delay. Please contact me at support@thunderstorm.scottdodson.dev if you experience any issues. I'd love to hear your thoughts and appreciate you taking the time to rate and review the app. I want to continue to improve Thunderstorm Simulator and create a great experience for you and future users. Thank you! —Scott Ad-supported version: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/thunderstorm-simulator-w-ads/id1482707561
Natural Sounds.
Access a vast library of nearly 100 free, high-quality relaxing sounds categorized for sleep, meditation, and concentration. Create custom alarms with your favorite ambient noises.
- Nearly 100 free relaxing sounds
- Categorized sounds for mood
- Aids sleep and concentration
- Create custom alarms
- Diverse sound categories (Rain, Ocean, Night, Music, Asian, Urban, Home)
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Contains nearly 100 high quality relaxing sounds (all free) for any mood, divided in the following categories: This sounds will help you in sleep, meditation, concentration. Whenever you feel low, you can hear some meditation sounds and gain energy. You can use application sounds for better sleep as well. Add alarms with any sounds from the application. Rain sounds (Morning rain, Umbrella, Thunders, Light rain, Heavy rain, Distant thunder, Tent, Window, Roof) Ocean sounds (Calm waves, Waves, Seagulls, Scuba diver, Dolphins, Sailboat, Whale, Foghorn, Harbor) Night sounds (Crickets, Grasshoppers, Owls, Wolves, Loon, Frogs, Coyote, Coqui, Whippoorwill) Relaxing music (Piano, Guitar, Violin, Harp, Flute, Sax, Native american flute) Traditional Asian sounds (Tibetan Bowls, Gong, Bells, Om, Flute, Didgeridoo, Chimes, Guzheng, Temple) City/Urban sounds (Musician, Coffee Shop, Fountain, Children, Traffic, Road work, Subway, Train station) Home sounds (Fan, Air Conditioner, Hairdryer, Vacuum Cleaner, Cat purring, Shower, Washing Machine, Jacuzzi, Fridge, Vintage Clock, Gas Stove, Heater)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Thunderstorm Simulator at 100% against Natural Sounds.'s 50%. Thunderstorm Simulator also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.2) and device support (3 vs 1). Natural Sounds.'s advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and ratings volume (6 vs 2). On update cadence, 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
Natural Sounds. is free to download; Thunderstorm Simulator costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Thunderstorm Simulator holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Thunderstorm Simulator's written reviews are positive against 50% of Natural Sounds.'s.
Thunderstorm Simulator ships an update every 4 months, Natural Sounds. every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Thunderstorm Simulator | Natural Sounds. |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better | 4.2 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 83 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Scott Dodson | Sujal Adhia |
Customer experience
Thunderstorm Simulator
Natural Sounds.
In-app purchases
Thunderstorm Simulator
No in-app purchases
Natural Sounds.
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Thunderstorm Simulator free?
Is Natural Sounds. free?
Which has better reviews, Thunderstorm Simulator or Natural Sounds.?
Do Thunderstorm Simulator or Natural Sounds. have ads?
Which is updated more often, Thunderstorm Simulator or Natural Sounds.?
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