Comparison

SoilWeb vs Learn Bird Watching

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

Head to head
About

SoilWeb

Access detailed soil survey information based on your current location. View soil profile sketches, estimated proportions, and geomorphic positions. Get aggregate data like water holding capacity and links to official soil descriptions.

Highlights
  • Soil profile sketches and geomorphic position
  • Map unit aggregate data (e.g., water holding capacity)
  • Soil survey area scale and publication date
  • Detailed component soil properties and ratings
  • Links to Official Series Descriptions (OSDs)
  • Location accuracy and auto-refresh settings
Features
Read full description

The SoilWeb for iOS application accesses soil survey information (the SSURGO dataset, published by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) at your current location. This app was designed to be a lightweight version of the SoilWeb GMap web application. SoilWeb GMap features an interactive map for viewing and querying individual map units, while this app does not. However, SoilWeb for iOS conveniently provides a link to the SoilWeb GMap web app. SoilWeb GMap is available at https://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/gmap/ More information about SSURGO is available at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/geo/?cid=nrcs142p2_053627 Features of SoilWeb for iOS include: - Soil profile sketches, estimated proportions, and geomorphic position of soil components associated with the SSURGO "map unit" identified at your current location. - Map unit aggregate data such as estimated water holding capacity. - Soil survey area scale and publication date. - Component details: soil taxonomy, soil property depth profiles, land classification ratings, hydraulic and erosion ratings, forest productivity, soil suitability ratings. - Links to Official Series Descriptions (OSDs) generated automatically. - Component links to related web apps: Series Extent Explorer (SEE) and Soil Data Explorer (SDE). - Link to the SoilWeb GMap web application at your current location. - Location accuracy setting allows you to select between standard accuracy (less accurate, uses less battery power) and high accuracy (more accurate, but may use more battery power). - Location auto-refresh feature allows you to continually look up soil data at a specified time interval.

About

Learn Bird Watching

Learn to identify birds by sound and sight with a game-based system. This app offers audio and visual courses created by experts to improve your birding skills, suitable for beginners and advanced enthusiasts alike.

Highlights
  • Game-based learning system
  • Identify birds by sound
  • Identify birds by sight
  • Expert-created courses
  • Suitable for all skill levels
  • Master birding by ear
Features
Read full description

BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA Learn birds the fun way! Learn to identify the birds that you're seeing and hearing. Take birding and birdwatching to a new level! Larkwire is a complete, game-based system for learning. Great for beginners and still challenging for advanced birders. Audio courses teach you to identify bird sounds and visual courses teach plumage. All courses are created by world class experts in field identification. This is the app used by professionals to master birding by ear. ***** "Best thing I’ve ever bought on the App Store." (Shopetastic review, 04/16/2020) ***** "Uniformly excellent" (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) ***** "A Rosetta Stone for birdsong." (Birding Magazine) ***** "This is a really cool tool!" (BirdChick) ***** "Really fun!" (Wildlife South) ********************************************** "Larkwire is already helping immensely with my ability to bird in the field. And my 7-year-old daughter is asking for 'that bird song game on the computer.'—I guess you have THREE of us hooked!" (Courtenay Schurman, Mountaineering Trainer) ********************************************** ********************************************** "It's like having a personal teacher who can pinpoint my weaknesses and make me work on them as I play. By far the best value for your money when you think about buying an avian audio guide." (Alain Clavette, aka @Acadian_Birder) ********************************************** ********************************************** "A fantastic tool for learning and reviewing birdsong. ... What I can vouch for, as a teacher, is the solid learning theory behind the software—this program is sure to improve the speed and accuracy with which you identify birds by ear." (David Pugh, Calgary Birder) ********************************************** SUPPORT For questions or support, email: support@larkwire.com EULA - Apple standard End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SoilWeb4 screens
Learn Bird Watching4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Learn Bird Watching at 91% against SoilWeb's 47%. Learn Bird Watching also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.5) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 8 months). SoilWeb's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.6). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Learn Bird Watching sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. SoilWeb asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Learn Bird Watching holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn Bird Watching has 1.3K ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of SoilWeb's written reviews are positive against 91% of Learn Bird Watching's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SoilWeb ships an update every 8 months, Learn Bird Watching every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
SoilWeb versus Learn Bird Watching: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSoilWebLearn Bird Watching
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (14 ratings)4.8 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews47.0% of reviews90.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings141.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB66 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUniversity of California, DavisLarkwire

Customer experience

SoilWeb

All ratings14 ratings
Positive57.1%
Neutral7.1%
Negative35.7%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive47.0%
Neutral21.2%
Negative31.8%

Learn Bird Watching

All ratings1,284 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive90.8%
Neutral4.6%
Negative4.6%

User reviews

SoilWeb

From 14 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Extremely helpful app
  • 👍 Great for soil science
  • 👍 Useful for field work
  • 👍 Intuitive data interface
  • 👍 Provides soil data instantly

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Doesn't open
  • 🐛 Incompatible with newer iOS
  • 🐛 Font color difficult to read
  • 🐛 Map data inaccurate

Learn Bird Watching

From 1.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for learning bird songs
  • 🚀 Efficient learning process
  • 💡 Customizable playlists and settings
  • 🎮 Fun and engaging game-like format
  • 🌟 Comprehensive coverage of bird species

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Difficulty finding specific birds in the app
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 📱 Not optimized for smaller screens

Bugs and requests

SoilWeb

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App crashes on opening
  • App doesn't open
  • App not compatible with iOS 11/14
  • Map gives soil data for wrong area
  • Soil series name font color is white, hard to read
Show 4 more
  • OSD links do not always work
  • Broken links
  • App not functional for updated Apple platforms
  • Response Error: 502 Bad Gateway

Requested features

8 requests
  • Allow "view map" feature like desktop version
  • Change soil series font color
  • Add map view for nearby soil types
  • Allow manual input of locations
  • Data export options
Show 3 more
  • iPad version
  • Log data points and notes on iPad
  • Print reports from iPad app

Learn Bird Watching

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unable to download sample content
  • Repeating the same bird songs in succession
  • Inconsistent progress tracking

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add bird song playback when selecting bird images
  • Implement voice recognition for answering questions
  • Include spectrograms for better visual learning
  • Expand coverage to birds in other regions

In-app purchases

None

SoilWeb

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Learn Bird Watching

Subscriptions3
  • Single Course Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • All Courses Annual7 Days trial$44.991 Year
  • All Courses Annual (Family)7 Days trial$64.991 Year
One-time7
  • Bird Songs Core West (N. Am)$9.99
  • Bird Songs Core East (N. Am)$9.99
  • Waterbirds Core (N. Am)$9.99
Show 4 more
  • Bird Songs Pro East (N. Am)$24.99
  • Bird Songs Pro West (N. Am)$24.99
  • Waterbirds songs/calls (N. Am)$24.99
  • Breeding Plumage East (N.Am.)$24.99

Questions

Is SoilWeb free?
SoilWeb is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Learn Bird Watching free?
Learn Bird Watching is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SoilWeb or Learn Bird Watching?
Learn Bird Watching is rated higher. SoilWeb averages 3.5 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Learn Bird Watching averages 4.8 from 1.3K ratings.
Do SoilWeb or Learn Bird Watching have ads?
Neither SoilWeb nor Learn Bird Watching shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SoilWeb or Learn Bird Watching?
SoilWeb ships an update every 8 months, and Learn Bird Watching every 9 days. Most recently, SoilWeb was updated on October 4, 2026 and Learn Bird Watching on October 16, 2026.

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