# SoilWeb vs Soil Explorer

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SoilWeb at 47% against Soil Explorer's 0%. SoilWeb also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 14.7). Soil Explorer's advantage is rating (4.1 vs 3.5). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Soil Explorer holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 9 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 47% of SoilWeb's written reviews are positive against 0% of Soil Explorer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

SoilWeb ships an update every 8 months, Soil Explorer every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SoilWeb | Soil Explorer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.5 (14 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soilweb/id354911787/reviews) | **[4.1 (9 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soil-explorer/id996159565/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **14** | 9 |
| Positive reviews | **47.0% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 8 months** | Every 11 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 26 MB | 172 MB |
| Requires iOS | **9.0** | 14.7 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [University of California, Davis](https://appshunter.io/developer/356519286) | [Purdue University](https://appshunter.io/developer/371741257) |

## What reviewers say

### SoilWeb

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soilweb/id354911787)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- 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


### Soil Explorer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soil-explorer/id996159565)

Discover detailed soil property and landscape maps for U.S. states and global soil distributions. Understand how map features relate to real-world observations. This educational tool uses data from USDA and USGS to illustrate complex soil-landscape relationships.

**Highlights:** Detailed soil property maps, Landscape visualizations, Global soil distribution maps, Field observation correlation, USDA NRCS data integration, USGS data integration

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SoilWeb free?

SoilWeb is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Soil Explorer free?

Soil Explorer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, SoilWeb or Soil Explorer?

Soil Explorer is rated higher. SoilWeb averages 3.5 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Soil Explorer averages 4.1 from 9 ratings.

### Do SoilWeb or Soil Explorer have ads?

Neither SoilWeb nor Soil Explorer shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SoilWeb or Soil Explorer?

SoilWeb ships an update every 8 months, and Soil Explorer every 11 months. Most recently, SoilWeb was updated on October 4, 2026 and Soil Explorer on September 27, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*