Boating Weather vs Actual Currents
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Boating Weather
Get detailed marine weather forecasts for coastal zones in the United States. View wind speed, wave height, surf conditions, and small craft advisories. Perfect for planning boating trips, fishing, or sailing.
- National Weather Service forecasts
- Wind speed, wave height, surf forecast
- Small craft advisories
- Favorites for easy location switching
- Default location setting
- Intuitive and quick design
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Need to know what the marine forecast is before you go boating or during your boating trip? The Boating Weather App for iPhone and iPod Touch is the answer. This intuitive app will show you the wind speed, surf and wave height for your coastal zone in the United States. Marine weather data is provided by the National Weather Service (NOAA). Features: - One touch National Weather Service forecast for today, tonight and this week. - Shows wind speed, seas wave height and surf forecast. - Add a location to Favorites for easy reference when switching between zones - Shows small craft advisories. - Set your default location to show your local boat weather forecast. - Simple, intuitive design, quick loading Whether you want to go on a boating trip, out fishing or for a quick sail, the Boating Weather iPhone App will tell you in a snap what the seas are doing! Thank you for choosing our marine weather application. We understand that some users have encountered issues due to recent changes in the NOAA API endpoint. Our team has worked diligently to resolve these issues and has updated the application accordingly. To benefit from these changes, we kindly request that you update or re-install the application. Should you continue to experience difficulties, please don't hesitate to contact us at support@bluewhaleapps.com. Our team is committed to assisting you promptly.
Actual Currents
Visualize real-time tidal currents with animated particles and a detailed heatmap on an interactive nautical map. Plan your trips with confidence by scrubbing through time to see how currents change throughout the day, with options for global ocean currents and wind overlays.
- Animated tidal current visualization
- Real-time wind overlay
- Interactive nautical map
- Time scrubber for predictions
- Route planning with current analysis
- Global ocean currents view
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Actual Currents brings tidal currents to life with real-time animated particle visualization on a nautical-grade interactive map. See the actual flow of water in your area — not just tide times, but the speed and direction of tidal currents rendered as thousands of flowing particles over a detailed heatmap. Plan your trip with confidence by scrubbing through time to see how currents change throughout the day. FEATURES • Animated tidal current visualization with speed-colored particles and GPU-accelerated heatmap • Time scrubber — view current predictions for any time, past or future • Globe view with global ocean currents when zoomed out • Real-time wind overlay with global weather data • ENC nautical chart data with navigation aids, depth soundings, and depth contours • Satellite, bathymetry, and nautical basemap options • Route planning with current-aware analysis • Trip logging with GPS drift tracking • Location search to jump to any harbor or waterway COVERAGE • US Atlantic coast — Maine to Florida • US Pacific coast — Washington to California • Gulf of Mexico • Global ocean surface currents BUILT FOR BOATERS Whether you're sailing, fishing, kayaking, or navigating commercially, understanding tidal currents is critical for safety and efficiency. Actual Currents gives you an intuitive, visual understanding of water movement that tide tables alone can't provide. SUBSCRIPTION TIERS • Basic (free) — Real-time currents within ±3 hours of now • Pro ($4.99/mo) — Full historical and forecast access • Unlimited ($39.99/yr) — Full historical and forecast access with 7-day free trial Terms of Use: https://www.actualcurrents.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://www.actualcurrents.com/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Actual Currents at Free against Boating Weather's $1.99. Actual Currents also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). Boating Weather's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (3.4K vs 21). On rating, review sentiment, ads and device support 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
Actual Currents is free to download; Boating Weather costs $1.99 up front. Actual Currents sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Boating Weather asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Boating Weather against 4.7 for Actual Currents. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Boating Weather has 3.4K ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 66% and 67% positive.
Boating Weather ships an update every 6 weeks, Actual Currents fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Boating Weather | Actual Currents |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.4K ratings) — better | 4.7 (21 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.2% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.4K — better | 21 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #35 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blue Whale Apps Inc | Luka Catipovic |
Customer experience
Boating Weather
Actual Currents
Bugs and requests
Boating Weather
Reported bugs
3 issues- Forecast data stuck on old dates
- App freezing or not loading properly
- Location detection issues
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for more geographic areas
- Provide longer-range weather forecasts
- Implement a widget for quick weather access
- Include NOAA marine area forecasts
- Improve app performance and stability
Actual Currents
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Boating Weather
No in-app purchases
Actual Currents
- Pro monthly$2.991 Month
- Unlimited monthly$4.991 Month
- Unlimited Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Questions
Is Boating Weather free?
Is Actual Currents free?
Which has better reviews, Boating Weather or Actual Currents?
Do Boating Weather or Actual Currents have ads?
Which is updated more often, Boating Weather or Actual Currents?
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