Comparison

Shadow Weather vs Leeward

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Shadow Weather4 screens
Leeward2 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Shadow Weather versus Leeward: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShadow WeatherLeeward
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (174 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings174 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShadow Weather LLCBluefin Solutions Ltd.

Customer experience

Shadow Weather

All ratings159 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral0.6%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive76.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.3%

Leeward

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

4 purchases

Shadow Weather

Subscriptions4
  • Shadow Weather Premium Monthly14 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Shadow Weather Premium14 Days trial$7.991 Year
  • Premium14 Days trial$10.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Shadow Weather Premium Yearly14 Days trial$12.991 Year
None

Leeward

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shadow Weather free?
Shadow Weather is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Leeward free?
Leeward is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shadow Weather or Leeward?
Leeward is rated higher. Shadow Weather averages 4.8 out of 5 from 174 ratings, while Leeward averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Shadow Weather or Leeward have ads?
Shadow Weather shows ads; Leeward does not.
Which is updated more often, Shadow Weather or Leeward?
Shadow Weather ships an update every 8 months, and Leeward every 3 weeks. Most recently, Shadow Weather was updated on October 24, 2026 and Leeward on October 16, 2026.

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