SOS Explorer vs Inside Earth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SOS Explorer
Explore interactive animated datasets of Earth and space phenomena, from planetary rings to climate change models. This app brings complex environmental processes to life in an intuitive and captivating way, making learning accessible anywhere.
- Streaming high-resolution datasets
- Educational videos
- User-guided tours
- Analysis tools
- 100+ datasets
- Global and flat map views
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SOS Explorer (SOSx) Mobile is a free, flat screen mobile app version of the popular NOAA Science On a Sphere (SOS). This revolutionary software takes SOS datasets, usually only seen on a 6-foot sphere in large museum spaces, and makes them accessible, portable, and interactive anywhere. SOSx Mobile can immerse the user in animated images such as Saturn’s rings, atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperatures to help explain sometimes complex environmental processes in a way that is intuitive, captivating, interactive, and entertaining. A desktop version, called SOS Explorer, is also available. Thank you for using SOS Explorer (SOSx) Mobile. We are committed to continually improving our software and providing you with an engaging and educational experience. We hope you enjoy the new features and enhancements in version 1.2! Please continue to share your feedback with us as we work on improvements. We appreciate your patience and support. Features include: • Streaming, high-resolution datasets • Educational videos • User-guided tours • Analysis tools • 100+ datasets • Global and flat map views Sample datasets: • Recent Hurricane Seasons • Bird Migration • Earthquake Activity • Snow and Ice • Ocean Currents • Historical Tsunamis • Facebook Friendships • Air Traffic • Planets of the Solar System • Climate Change Models • 360 Underwater Imagery • Narrated Movies • ...and so much more!
Inside Earth
Explore the Earth's interior by virtually peeling back its layers. Understand the composition of the crust, mantle, and core. Learn about tectonic plates, volcanism, and earthquakes.
- Interactive layer peeling
- Tectonic plate visualization
- Volcanism and earthquake explanation
- Compositional learning
- Geological process discovery
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What's inside our planet? Peel away layers to discover their composition. Learn how earth's crust is divided into tectonic plates. Discover how volcanism and earthquakes occur wherever these plates meet.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Inside Earth at fortnightly against SOS Explorer's every 11 months. Inside Earth also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 86%) and ratings volume (81 vs 20). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for SOS Explorer against 4.7 for Inside Earth. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 81 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of SOS Explorer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Inside Earth's.
SOS Explorer ships an update every 11 months, Inside Earth fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SOS Explorer | Inside Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (20 ratings) | 4.7 (81 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 20 | 81 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 249 MB | 190 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | University of Colorado Boulder | Sebastian Andre |
Customer experience
SOS Explorer
Inside Earth
In-app purchases
SOS Explorer
No in-app purchases
Inside Earth
No in-app purchases
