Comparison

Thunderstorm Simulator vs Survivor Pool Optimizer

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Thunderstorm Simulator3 screens
Survivor Pool Optimizer4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Thunderstorm Simulator versus Survivor Pool Optimizer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThunderstorm SimulatorSurvivor Pool Optimizer
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (2 ratings)5.0 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better81.8% of reviews
Number of ratings216 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#193 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0.0 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB164 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperScott DodsonMichael Montalbano

Customer experience

Thunderstorm Simulator

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Survivor Pool Optimizer

All ratings16 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%

In-app purchases

None

Thunderstorm Simulator

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Survivor Pool Optimizer

Subscriptions1
  • All Access3 Days trial$9.991 Month

Questions

Is Thunderstorm Simulator free?
Thunderstorm Simulator costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Survivor Pool Optimizer free?
Survivor Pool Optimizer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Thunderstorm Simulator or Survivor Pool Optimizer?
Survivor Pool Optimizer is rated higher. Thunderstorm Simulator averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Survivor Pool Optimizer averages 5.0 from 16 ratings.
Do Thunderstorm Simulator or Survivor Pool Optimizer have ads?
Neither Thunderstorm Simulator nor Survivor Pool Optimizer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Thunderstorm Simulator or Survivor Pool Optimizer?
Thunderstorm Simulator ships an update every 4 months, and Survivor Pool Optimizer daily. Most recently, Thunderstorm Simulator was updated on October 13, 2026 and Survivor Pool Optimizer on September 27, 2026.

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