Shadow Weather vs Leeward
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shadow Weather
Get accurate weather forecasts, severe weather alerts, and interactive radar with storm tracking. Stay informed about minute-by-minute rain, air quality, and upcoming event forecasts synced with your calendar.
- Daily, hourly, and minutely forecasts
- Severe weather alerts
- Interactive radar with storm tracking
- Real-time lightning tracker
- Minute-by-minute rain forecasting
- Air quality information
- Calendar sync for event forecasts
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Download Shadow Weather to get the most complete and accurate forecast available. Smart weather conditions and notifications will let you know of severe alerts and when the storm will start so you can be ahead of the weather. Once the storm hits you have powerful interactive radar tools with severe storm cell tracking and a real time lightning strike tracker. Minute by minute rain forecasting keeps you on top of the rain. Shadow Weather syncs with your phone's calendar so you can know the forecast for upcoming events easily. Keep track of your health with air quality information. You can easily see the past and current radar using the fastest most powerful and customizable interactive radar. Here are some of the features: daily forecast, hourly forecast, minutely forecasts, weather alerts, air quality, interactive radar, storm tracker, and more! Terms of Use: http://shadowweather.com/terms-and-privacy
Leeward
This app provides daily Caribbean weather forecasts, including marine conditions and beach reports. It also offers real-time hurricane tracking with customizable notifications and multi-storm support.
- Daily marine forecasts
- Island-specific beach reports
- Real-time hurricane tracking
- Customizable storm notifications
- Multi-storm support
- Apple Watch app and widgets
- Live Activities integration
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Leeward is your daily Caribbean weather companion — and your hurricane warning system the moment one starts forming. ISLAND LIFE — every day Daily marine forecasts for your island: wind, seas, and swell from NWS Coastal Waters Forecast (USVI, Puerto Rico) and local met offices across the Caribbean. Zone-specific, not basin-wide. USVI BEACH REPORTS Ranked beach picks for St. Thomas, St. John, and Water Island, refreshed daily. Each rating folds in sargassum exposure, water quality, cruise-ship calls, and swell — so the top of the list is actually the right pick for today. STORM MODE — when it matters Real-time tracking direct from the National Hurricane Center: storm position, category, maximum sustained winds, movement, watches and warnings, 5-day forecast cone, and closest approach distance to your island. Multi-storm support when two or more systems are in the basin. The numbers on the card and the numbers in the storm summary come from the same NHC feed — no AI inventing facts. NOTIFICATIONS YOU CONTROL Five notification modes, from Storm Only (alerts only when a system is a direct threat) to Verbose (every advisory cycle). Granular controls for formation, category change, watch/warning issuance, approach, and passage. Optional daily summary at the time you choose. COVERAGE Nine Caribbean island groups: • Leeward Islands (St. Maarten, Anguilla, Antigua, Guadeloupe) • Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Tortola, Virgin Gorda) • Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra • Northern Lesser Antilles (Martinique, St. Lucia) • Windward Islands (Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad) • Hispaniola (Dominican Republic, Haiti) • Jamaica & Cayman • Bahamas (Nassau, Grand Bahama, Abaco) • Bermuda APPLE WATCH, WIDGETS, LIVE ACTIVITIES Standalone watchOS app with risk-level complications. Home and lock screen widgets show island status at a glance. During an active storm, Live Activities and the Dynamic Island keep distance and category visible without opening the app. BUILT IN THE ISLANDS Leeward is built in the US Virgin Islands by someone who lives here — not a mainland app with the Caribbean bolted on. Data sources: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, regional met offices (Antigua, Dominica, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Bahamas, Bermuda), NOAA AOML (sargassum), USVI DPNR (water quality).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Leeward at none against Shadow Weather's 4. Leeward also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 8 months). Shadow Weather's advantage is ratings volume (174 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price 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. Shadow Weather sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Leeward asks for nothing beyond the download.
Leeward holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shadow Weather has 174 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Shadow Weather ships an update every 8 months, Leeward every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shadow Weather | Leeward |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (174 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 174 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shadow Weather LLC | Bluefin Solutions Ltd. |
Customer experience
Shadow Weather
Leeward
Bugs and requests
Shadow Weather
Reported bugs
4 issues- Premium subscription not recognized
- Radar map doesn't load or freezes
- Shows 0% chance of precipitation
- Doesn't show future wind chill
Requested features
5 requests- Widgets for iOS
- Quicker updates
- More text in forecast
- Apple Watch support
- Better notifications
Leeward
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Shadow Weather
- Shadow Weather Premium Monthly14 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Shadow Weather Premium14 Days trial$7.991 Year
- Premium14 Days trial$10.991 Year
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- Shadow Weather Premium Yearly14 Days trial$12.991 Year
Leeward
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shadow Weather free?
Is Leeward free?
Which has better reviews, Shadow Weather or Leeward?
Do Shadow Weather or Leeward have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shadow Weather or Leeward?
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