Thunderstorm Simulator vs Survivor Pool Optimizer
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
Survivor Pool Optimizer
This tool helps you win your NFL survivor pool by optimizing your picks. Customize future week importance, required picks, team exclusions, and minimum win percentages. View the NFL schedule with projected win percentages for every game to find the highest probability path to survival.
- Customize future week importance
- Set required picks per week
- Define team pick/exclusion rules
- Set minimum win percentage for suggestions
- Optimize until a specific week
- View NFL schedule with win percentages
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The survivor pool optimizer is your ultimate tool to win your survivor pool. This app allows you to customize how important future weeks are, customize how many picks are required each week, customize what teams you require to be picked/ excluded each week, customize the minimum win % allowed to be suggested, customize the week you are planning to optimize until, and see the entire NFL schedule with projected win % attached to every game. We guarantee to give you the highest probability path to survival in your NFL Survivor Pool. A subscription allows you to access the app and all of the features above. A subscription is required to access the app content
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Survivor Pool Optimizer at Free against Thunderstorm Simulator's $1.99. Survivor Pool Optimizer also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (daily vs every 4 months). Thunderstorm Simulator's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (100% vs 82%). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Survivor Pool Optimizer is free to download; Thunderstorm Simulator costs $1.99 up front. Survivor Pool Optimizer sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per month. Thunderstorm Simulator asks for nothing beyond the download.
Survivor Pool Optimizer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Survivor Pool Optimizer has 16 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Thunderstorm Simulator's written reviews are positive against 82% of Survivor Pool Optimizer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Thunderstorm Simulator ships an update every 4 months, Survivor Pool Optimizer daily. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Thunderstorm Simulator | Survivor Pool Optimizer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (16 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 81.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 16 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid — better | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | #193 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0.0 — better | 15.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 164 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Scott Dodson | Michael Montalbano |
Customer experience
Thunderstorm Simulator
Survivor Pool Optimizer
In-app purchases
Thunderstorm Simulator
No in-app purchases
Survivor Pool Optimizer
- All Access3 Days trial$9.991 Month
Questions
Is Thunderstorm Simulator free?
Is Survivor Pool Optimizer free?
Which has better reviews, Thunderstorm Simulator or Survivor Pool Optimizer?
Do Thunderstorm Simulator or Survivor Pool Optimizer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Thunderstorm Simulator or Survivor Pool Optimizer?
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