Comparison

RainMaker_CWIP vs Backyard Weather

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

Head to head
About

RainMaker_CWIP

Read full description

Weather Modification LLC has produced the "RainMaker_CWIP” application. It is the graphical user interface associated with the Cloud Water Inertial Probe (CWIP). The CWIP is an airborne environmental and inertial movement sensor designed to assist the cloud seeding pilot make informed real-time decisions as to the seed-ability of a particular cloud system.

About

Backyard Weather

Monitor personal weather stations, aviation weather, and coastal conditions. View current readings, historical charts for up to 11 metrics, and customize units. Offers widgets and a watch app for convenient access to weather data.

Highlights
  • Personal weather station monitoring
  • Aviation weather (METAR)
  • Coastal conditions (NOAA tides)
  • Current conditions and historical charts
  • Customizable units and display
  • Widgets and watch app support
Features
Read full description

**Personal Weather Station & Aviation Weather** Connect a PWS via Weather Underground, monitor aviation weather from any METAR airport, or track tides and coastal conditions from NOAA CO-OPS stations. **Three station types** • PWS — personal weather stations via Weather Underground • METAR — airport observations, updated every few minutes at most US airports • NOAA — tide gauges and coastal stations **Current conditions** Live readings with charts underneath, plus the record high, record low and average for today's date from your station's full archive. Up to 12 metrics depending on station type: temperature, feels like, humidity, wind, dew point, pressure, precipitation, UV, solar radiation, visibility, water temperature, and water level/tide. **Rich history charts** 1-day and 7-day charts you can drag to read exact values, times and wind direction. US airport stations fill in between the hourly reports, so today's line is a curve rather than 24 steps. **Alerts** Get notified when your station crosses a value you choose — a freeze, a gust, an inch of rain — or when it stops reporting altogether. Pressure drops, temperature swings and wind shifts are built in as ready-made rules. **Customisable units & display** 12- or 24-hour time, metric or imperial, and precision options for every number. **Color themes** Nine palettes for your charts and calendars. Preview any of them across every metric before you decide. **Widgets (Supporter)** Graph widgets for any metric over 1 or 7 days, a single-metric widget for one big number, a year-at-a-glance calendar, long-range history charts, a records widget, and Lock Screen complications. **Watch app (Supporter)** Temperature, feels like, humidity, wind, pressure and precipitation as watch complications, with every current metric and its graph in the app itself. **History & Records (Supporter)** Daily detail for any year your station has recorded — airports often reach back decades — plus all-time records, a record high and low for every calendar day, and yearly trends that overlay up to ten years on one chart. Free includes current conditions, 1-day and 7-day charts, one month of history, one alert per station, and three colour themes. Note: a Weather Underground API key is required for PWS stations. METAR and NOAA stations are free and need no API key. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Backyard Weather4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RainMaker_CWIP at none against Backyard Weather's 1. RainMaker_CWIP also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.6). Backyard Weather's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 12 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and ads 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

Both are free to download. Backyard Weather sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $14.99 per year. RainMaker_CWIP asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RainMaker_CWIP ships an update every 12 months, Backyard Weather every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
RainMaker_CWIP versus Backyard Weather: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRainMaker_CWIPBackyard Weather
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 12 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB21 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperWeather Modification LLCSamuel Albrecht

In-app purchases

None

RainMaker_CWIP

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Backyard Weather

Subscriptions1
  • Backyard Weather Pro1 Month trial$14.991 Year

Questions

Is RainMaker_CWIP free?
RainMaker_CWIP is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backyard Weather free?
Backyard Weather is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do RainMaker_CWIP or Backyard Weather have ads?
Neither RainMaker_CWIP nor Backyard Weather shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RainMaker_CWIP or Backyard Weather?
RainMaker_CWIP ships an update every 12 months, and Backyard Weather every 3 weeks. Most recently, RainMaker_CWIP was updated on October 11, 2026 and Backyard Weather on October 15, 2026.

Other comparisons