Comparison

TornadoSpy+ vs Hail Maps

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

Hail Maps

Visualize past and present storm events like hail, wind, and tornadoes on an interactive map. Access historical data back to 2015, receive real-time alerts, and get turn-by-turn directions to storm locations. Includes live radar and NWS watches/warnings.

Highlights
  • Live and historical storm reports
  • Real-time alerts
  • Searchable history back to 2015
  • Live and historical radar
  • NWS watches and warnings
  • Turn-by-turn directions to storm locations
  • Address lookup for hail history
Features
Read full description

Every hail strike on one map. Type an address, get the record. Built for roofers, sales reps and adjusters + Homeowners and car owners. No account, no sign-up, no ads. Free to start. Hail Maps plots NOAA Storm Prediction Center reports: hail, wind and tornado, 2015 to today, every US state except Hawaii and Alaska. WORK THE STORM • Every report as a pin. Marker size shows hail size; color shows date. • Tap a pin for the date, storm-local time, hail size and the NWS comment. • Search any address. Standard, satellite or hybrid map. • Filter by state and date. Quick presets: last 7 or 30 days. • Multiple states, storm seasons back to 2015, longer and custom ranges. (Pro) • Street View from a report or history pin; Directions in Apple Maps. (Pro) DOCUMENT THE HIT • Type an address. Get the largest reported hail within 1, 3 and 5 miles for every storm day, newest first. 3 lookups a day free. • Share it as a dated, sourced PDF with methodology and disclaimer. Proof for the adjuster's file. (Pro) • Rewind the storm. Scrub historical radar frame by frame around the time of any report. (Pro) KNOW BEFORE THE PHONES RING • Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings + Flash Flood Warnings, opt-in. • Morning Hail Outlook on days the SPC hail risk is 15% or more for your area. • Storm Report alerts as hail lands: per-area digest with report count and max hail size. Plus an Evening Storm Summary. (Pro) • Alert areas are NWS forecast office regions, picked by city, ZIP or list. Inbox keeps recent alerts. SEE IT COMING • Live radar with a playback scrubber. • SPC risk outlook layer: severe outlook Days 1-3, hail probability Days 1-2. • Dashboard: Hail Risk Today gauge (chance of 1"+ hail within 25 miles), 10-day Apple Weather forecast, latest storms, alerts, radar preview. Also handy for storm chasers and homeowners checking their own address. WHAT YOU GET FREE • Last 30 days of reports, one state at a time • 3 address lookups a day • Live radar, SPC outlook layer, Dashboard, NWS alerts • Warnings and Morning Hail Outlook for 1 alert area; Inbox WHAT PRO ADDS • Full archive to 2015: storm seasons, longer and custom ranges • Multiple states at once • Unlimited lookups and PDF hail history reports • Historical radar replay from any report pin • Storm Report alerts, Evening Storm Summary, unlimited alert areas • Street View and Directions Hail Yeah Pro is $9.99/month or $79.99/year (US; varies by region), each with a 14-day free trial. Cancel anytime in your App Store subscription settings. No commitment; the free tier stays usable if you never subscribe. Subscriptions renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Reports are public NWS/SPC local storm reports and may contain errors or omissions: a starting point, not a guarantee. Hail Maps is not affiliated with NOAA.

Screenshots

TornadoSpy+4 screens
Hail Maps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hail Maps at 100% against TornadoSpy+'s 42%. Hail Maps also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and rating (5.0 vs 2.9). TornadoSpy+'s advantage is chart position (#87 vs unranked) and ratings volume (65 vs 10). On update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Hail Maps is free to download; TornadoSpy+ costs $2.99 up front. TornadoSpy+ sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per year and Hail Maps sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hail Maps holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TornadoSpy+ has 65 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 42% of TornadoSpy+'s written reviews are positive against 100% of Hail Maps's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TornadoSpy+ ships an update every 6 weeks, Hail Maps every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
TornadoSpy+ versus Hail Maps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTornadoSpy+Hail Maps
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating2.9 (65 ratings)5.0 (10 ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings65 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#87 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJustin TimeOSCAR GARCIA

Customer experience

TornadoSpy+

All ratings65 ratings
Positive41.5%
Neutral6.2%
Negative52.3%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive41.7%
Neutral10.7%
Negative47.6%

Hail Maps

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Hail Maps

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
2 purchases

Hail Maps

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly14 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Pro Annual14 Days trial$79.991 Year

Questions

Is TornadoSpy+ free?
TornadoSpy+ costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Hail Maps free?
Hail Maps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, TornadoSpy+ or Hail Maps?
Hail Maps is rated higher. TornadoSpy+ averages 2.9 out of 5 from 65 ratings, while Hail Maps averages 5.0 from 10 ratings.
Do TornadoSpy+ or Hail Maps have ads?
Neither TornadoSpy+ nor Hail Maps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TornadoSpy+ or Hail Maps?
TornadoSpy+ ships an update every 6 weeks, and Hail Maps every 4 weeks. Most recently, TornadoSpy+ was updated on October 26, 2026 and Hail Maps on October 20, 2026.

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