Smoke Point vs Fire
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Smoke Point
Locate new wildfires using camera networks and crowd-sourced data. Triangulate fire positions with uncertainty bounds and receive notifications for nearby observations to aid firefighters and citizens.
- Access 800+ camera images
- Acquire position and directional observations
- Triangulate fire position with uncertainty
- Utilize crowd-sourced observations
- Receive push notifications for new observations
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Quickly locate the positions of new wild fires through the ALERTCalifornia and Alert Wildfire camera networks, your phone's camera, and crowd-sourced observations from nearby users. * Access information and live images from 800+ (and growing) ALERTCalifornia (http://alertca.live/) and Alert Wildfire (http://www.alertwildfire.org/) camera images * Acquire position and directional observations directly from your mobile device * Triangulate fire position with uncertainty bounds * Utilize your own observations as well as those shared by users nearby * Receive push notifications for new nearby observations Help firefighters and local citizens gain situational awareness in the early stages of new wildfires, when accurate and actionable information is scarce. Smoke Point is an app used by firefighters and the public to provide location information about new fires in the wildland. Smoke Point is purpose-built for triangulation of fire position using ALERTCalifornia and Alert Wildfire cameras and the phone's built-in camera.
Fire
Get real-time updates on active wildfires across California. This app provides crucial information for residents and travelers to stay informed and make safe decisions regarding fire conditions.
- Real-time wildfire data
- Active wildfire locations
- California-specific information
- Informed decision-making tool
- Safety alerts
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Firewatch - California Wildfire Tracker Stay informed and safe with real-time wildfire information across California. Firewatch provides up-to-date data on active wildfires, helping residents, travelers, and anyone concerned about fire conditions make informed decisions.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Smoke Point at 67% against Fire's 0%. Smoke Point also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.5) and ratings volume (10 vs 2). Fire's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Smoke Point holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Smoke Point has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Smoke Point's written reviews are positive against 0% of Fire's.
Smoke Point ships an update monthly, Fire fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Smoke Point | Fire |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (10 ratings) — better | 2.5 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 127 MB | 112 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gabriel Schine | Coding Minds, Inc. |
Customer experience
Smoke Point
Fire
In-app purchases
Smoke Point
No in-app purchases
Fire
No in-app purchases
