Comparison

TornadoSpy+ vs Storm Shield

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

Head to head
About

TornadoSpy+

Stay informed about severe weather with real-time tornado and hail alerts. Report and view sightings instantly, access animated radar maps, and receive push notifications. Become part of a global storm spotting network for enhanced safety.

Highlights
  • Real-time tornado and hail alerts
  • User and official sighting reports
  • Animated U.S. radar maps
  • Push, email, and text notifications
  • Overlayed radar and sighting maps
  • Tornado forecast maps
  • Share and view storm photos
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Lightning strikes the earth around 100 times per second. Are you sure that the tornado sirens in your area will be in working order when the time comes? Stay safe with TornadoSpy+ featuring AccuSpy™ technology that gives you the power to report and view official and user spotted tornadoes or hail instantly. It contains U.S. animated radar maps, push alerts, overlayed maps, warnings, tornado forecast maps, and radar snapshots of tornado sighting areas. - Featured in the Joplin Globe on 5/20/12 - Featured on the front page of USAToday on 5/31/11 - Featured in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on 6/16/11 - Over 150,000 confirmed alerts sent out - Over 130,000 TornadoSpy spotters in addition to professional spotters from the national weather service. On 5/10/10, a user spotted the Oklahoma City tornado 20 MINUTES before the NOAA report, which gave other users valuable lead time to escape the storm. This is a frequent occurrence since user reports are submitted and viewable immediately. Sightings are filtered through state-of-the art AccuSpy™ technology to prevent false alerts and only send you the most accurate sightings. Features: - Track tornado/hailstorm movement worldwide on the built-in map - Report nearby tornadoes/hail with a simple touch - View HD radar, tornadoes, and hail overlayed on interactive maps simultaneously - Includes official tornado reports as well as tornado warnings from National Weather Service storm spotters - Real Time Push alerts - Email and text alerts - Share and view tornado/hail photos in seconds - Filter sightings by spotter ratings - View previous tornadoes/hail sightings - Write storm report notes - Users can rate sightings submitted by other users - Verify sighting reports with radar snapshots near report areas. - Radar loops - Tornado forecasts - Warning maps - AccuSpy™ state-of-the art storm spotting In-app Purchases - US National Weather Radio - Animated Radar using FAST technology (TornadoSpy Exclusive) - TornadoSpy One which is an optional, auto-renewable yearly subscription for roughly $0.99 a year and includes faster search times, ad removal and animated radar. The subscription can be cancelled at any time. Terms of Service: http://www.justintimeapps.com/policies.html Download now, and become a part of the fastest and largest worldwide storm spotting network. Demo video can be seen at justintimeapps.com/ss.html

About

Storm Shield

Receive precise, location-based severe weather alerts for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and more. Get voice and push notifications, view radar maps, and access forecasts. Optional premium features offer advanced radar imagery and lightning alerts.

Highlights
  • Location-based severe weather alerts
  • Voice and push notifications
  • Hi-Def radar map
  • Today screen widget
  • Apple Watch alerts
  • Current conditions and forecasts
  • Save additional locations
Read full description

Named by Time.com's @Techland as one of the best weather apps for your iPhone and Apple Watch. Severe weather alerts for your exact location. Storm Shield gives you storm-based alerts for tornado, hurricane, flood, thunderstorm, winter storms and other life-threatening weather events via voice and push notification. Storm-based alerts help reduce false alarms by alerting you to severe weather based on your exact location within a county. County-based alerts can result in false alarms, warning you when your location in the county is not within the threatened area. What people are saying: • Storm Shield "alerted our family of the Broken Arrow, OK tornado, faster than the TV and tornado sirens." - Robyn • "I was in Oklahoma City during the tornado... we were right in its path. Your app literally was a life saver." - dcalk12 Benefits: • Get voice alerts just like a NOAA weather radio via push notification anywhere in the United States. • With Apple Watch, get a tap on your wrist when alerts are issued for your locations. • Add Storm Shield's widget to your Today screen to get quick access to active alerts for the first location in your app. • Touch Storm Shield's app icon on your 3D-Touch enabled iPhone for widget access. • Hi-Def radar map is your home screen so you can quickly see what's going on at your locations. • Fully supports Dark Mode in iOS 13. • Long-tap on the map to get current conditions, hourly and daily forecasts. • Save additional locations to ensure family members stay safe. View NOAA severe weather alerts on the map to see where dangerous weather is happening: • Tap alerts to view info • Flood watches & warnings • Tornadoes & Thunderstorms • Hurricane & Tropical Storm forecast tracks • Winter storms • Marine & Coastal alerts • Radar & Clouds • Wind Speed • Snow Fall • Water Temperatures • Road Weather • Premium Weather (purchase required) • Lightning Alerts and notifications (purchase required) Enhance your app with auto-renewing monthly subscriptions: • Buy 'Premium Weather' to unlock these features and see predicted imagery for these map layers: 1) Future Radar 2) Future Clouds 3) Future Clouds & Radar together 4) Future Surface Temperature Land 5) Future Surface Temperature Water 6) Future Surface Temperature Land & Water together 7) Future Wind Speeds Map 8) Storm Tracks: See how fast storms are moving & where they're headed. • Buy 'Lightning' to unlock these 2 features: 1) Lightning strike push notifications up to 10 miles away. 2) See lightning on the map within 100 miles of a selected location. Note: • Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. • No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. • Privacy Policy: https://www.stormshieldapp.com/privacy_stormshield_wxs.html • Terms of Use: https://www.stormshieldapp.com/terms_stormshield_wxs.html • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Storm Shield is made possible by The E.W. Scripps Company & KNXV Phoenix, WCPO Cincinnati, WEWS Cleveland, WXYZ Detroit, WMAR Baltimore, WFTS Tampa, WPTV West Palm, KSHB Kansas City, KJRH Tulsa, RTV6 Indianapolis, KMGH Denver, KGTV San Diego, KERO Bakersfield, WKBW Buffalo, WTVF Nashville, KMTV Omaha, WSYM Lansing, WFTX Ft. Myers, WTMJ Milwaukee, WGBA Green Bay, KIVI Boise, KTNV Las Vegas, KGUN Tucson, WTXL Tallahassee, KXXV Waco, KRIS Corpus Christi. Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Screenshots

TornadoSpy+4 screens
Storm Shield4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Storm Shield at Free against TornadoSpy+'s $2.99. Storm Shield also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks). TornadoSpy+'s advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (13.2 vs 15.0). On review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Storm Shield is free to download; TornadoSpy+ costs $2.99 up front. TornadoSpy+ sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per year and Storm Shield sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Storm Shield holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Storm Shield has 111K ratings behind it against 62, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 43% of TornadoSpy+'s written reviews are positive against 38% of Storm Shield's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TornadoSpy+ ships an update every 6 weeks, Storm Shield weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
TornadoSpy+ versus Storm Shield: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTornadoSpy+Storm Shield
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (62 ratings)4.8 (111K ratings) — better
Positive reviews43.2% of reviews — better37.6% of reviews
Number of ratings62111K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#83#19 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS13.2 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size301 MB91 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJustin TimeMosaic S.r.l.

Customer experience

TornadoSpy+

All ratings62 ratings
Positive43.5%
Neutral6.5%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive43.2%
Neutral9.9%
Negative46.9%

Storm Shield

All ratings110,836 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral2.6%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews274 reviews
Positive37.6%
Neutral9.9%
Negative52.6%

User reviews

TornadoSpy+

From 62 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Used to be amazing
  • 👍 Great for storm spotters
  • 👍 User/spotter sightings
  • 👍 Timely alerts (historically)
  • 👍 Invaluable safety tool

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Not working recently
  • 🐛 Data lag/untimely
  • 🐛 No tornado alerts
  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Unreliable performance

Storm Shield

From 111K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fastest weather alerts
  • 📡 Accurate radar and forecasts
  • 🔔 Customizable alerts and notifications
  • 💻 Simple and easy to use interface
  • 🗺️ Tracking multiple locations

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription model for advanced features
  • 🔇 Loud and disruptive alerts
  • 🕰️ Delayed alerts compared to other apps
  • 🔍 Difficulty customizing alert locations
  • 🔋 High battery consumption

Bugs and requests

TornadoSpy+

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App crashes upon opening
  • App crashes when clicking notifications
  • Radar locks up
  • Creates fake sightings
  • Alert area not saving
Show 10 more
  • Tornado and hail forecast shows white screen
  • No radar displayed
  • App not opening after update
  • Keyboard hides save button on iOS
  • App not working correctly (notifications for storms not in area)
  • Alert area not set up
  • App crashes when trying to put in photos
  • Data lag in timeliness
  • App stopped functioning correctly
  • Support & help link no longer works

Requested features

9 requests
  • Fix tornado/severe thunderstorm map (white screen)
  • Add tornado category information
  • Improve iPad scaling
  • Add 2-hour radar motion view
  • Ability to adjust overlay layers
Show 4 more
  • Identify NEW tornado updates better
  • Include current radar/lightning
  • Make app available for all phones (not just Apple)
  • Fix keyboard blocking save button on iOS

Storm Shield

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inconsistent alert delivery
  • Radar map not always showing correct location
  • Subscription features not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to read alert details in notifications
  • Option to silence alerts during certain times
  • More customization for alert types and locations
  • Horizontal radar view with manual scrolling
  • Integration with smart home devices for alerts

In-app purchases

3 purchases

TornadoSpy+

Subscriptions1
  • TornadoSpy One1 Month trial$0.991 Year
One-time2
  • Extreme Weather Radio$0.99
  • Fast Animated Radar (US)$0.99
7 purchases

Storm Shield

Subscriptions7
  • Weekly Subscription$1.997 Days
  • Weekly with Free Trial7 Days trial$1.997 Days
  • Premium Weather$10.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Lightning Strikes$10.991 Month
  • 30-Day Limited Offer Upgrade1 Month trial$11.491 Month
  • Yearly with Free Trial7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription$29.991 Year

Questions

Is TornadoSpy+ free?
TornadoSpy+ costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Storm Shield free?
Storm Shield is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, TornadoSpy+ or Storm Shield?
Storm Shield is rated higher. TornadoSpy+ averages 3.0 out of 5 from 62 ratings, while Storm Shield averages 4.8 from 111K ratings.
Do TornadoSpy+ or Storm Shield have ads?
Storm Shield shows ads; TornadoSpy+ does not.
Which is updated more often, TornadoSpy+ or Storm Shield?
TornadoSpy+ ships an update every 6 weeks, and Storm Shield weekly. Most recently, TornadoSpy+ was updated on September 26, 2026 and Storm Shield on September 27, 2026.
Which is more popular, TornadoSpy+ or Storm Shield?
TornadoSpy+ currently peaks at #83 in the App Store charts, and Storm Shield at #19. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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