First Alert Weather vs Wildfire Info
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
First Alert Weather
Get hyper-local weather updates with high-resolution radar and future tracking. Receive current conditions, hourly and daily forecasts, and severe weather alerts directly from the National Weather Service. Save your favorite locations and stay informed with push notifications.
- High-resolution 250m radar
- Future radar tracking
- Hourly and daily forecasts
- Current weather updates
- Severe weather alerts
- Favorite location saving
- GPS location awareness
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The WLBT Mobile Weather App includes: * Access to station content specifically for our mobile users * 250 meter radar, the highest resolution available * Future radar to see where severe weather is headed * High resolution satellite cloud imagery * Current weather updated multiple times per hour * Daily and Hourly forecasts updated hourly from our computer models * Ability to add and save your favorite locations * A fully integrated GPS for current location awareness * Severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service * Opt-in push alerts to keep you safe in severe weather
Wildfire Info
Stay informed about global wildfire and prescribed burn activity. Access real-time data from various sources including satellite imagery, official incident reports, and news feeds. Includes hyper-local weather forecasts for the USA, Canada, and Australia.
- Global wildfire and prescribed burn maps
- MODIS/VIIRS thermal hotspot data
- Inciweb & CAL FIRE incident links
- Hyper-local weather forecasts (USA, Canada, Australia)
- Wildfire news aggregation
- Satellite smoke plume animations
- Map measurement tool
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Disclaimer: This unofficial app does not represent any government agency and is not affiliated with any government agency. The sources of the data are the publicly accessible sources listed below. Browse current wildfire and prescribed burn activity throughout all of the world. Active Wildfire Perimeter data from NIFC WFIGS. Tagged by state, search by name, and filter by acres burned. WFIGS stands for the Wildland Fire Interagency Geospatial Services (WFIGS) Group. NIFC stands for the National Interagency Fire Center. NIFC WFIGS Source URLs: https://www.nifc.gov/ with data hosted at https://data-nifc.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/nifc::wfigs-current-interagency-fire-perimeters/about NASA MODIS and VIIRS satellite instruments data: Thermal hotspot maps by region show wildfire activity in the past 48 hours. See hotspot info including fire radiance power, brightness temperature, and confidence. NASA MODIS/VIIRS Source URL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/active_fire/ . MODIS stands for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. VIIRS stands for Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. InciWeb & CAL FIRE active fire maps: hot-link to the corresponding official incident webpage. Inciweb Source URL: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/ , CAL FIRE Source URL: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents CHP (California Highway Patrol): Incidents in the past 3 hours related to fires are filtered out separately, all traffic incidents are included viewable by last 1 or 3 hours.CHP Source URL: https://cad.chp.ca.gov/Traffic.aspx Lookup current hyper-local weather conditions, including temperature, wind and gust conditions, and local forecasts anywhere in the USA, Canada, or Australia using map quick lookup or, for USA, search: Detailed NWS Forecast, Hourly Forecast, Grid Data Forecast, and Summary Forecast. Data is from the NWS, NOAA, Government of Canada, and Government of Australia. NWS/NOAA Source URL: https://forecast.weather.gov/, Government of Canada Weather Source URL: https://weather.gc.ca/, Government of Australia Weather Source URL: http://www.bom.gov.au/ Wildfire Situation Reports section with mirrored PDFs from NIFC. NIFC Source URL: https://www.nifc.gov NESDIS GOES 16/17 Satellite Animations show wildfire smoke plumes, drought conditions, etc. from the satellite's perspective. NESDIS GOES Source URL: https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov. NESDIS stands for National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. GOES stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. A Recent Wildfire News section: find news from 1,700+ cited sources quickly on a map or in a table view tagged by state alphabetically. Set up your own custom state feed with the state toggles. Quickly lookup news source homepages near specific fires. Map Measurement Tool added to the Map Tools Side Menu. Measure distance and area. Premium users: View 250m resolution true color images from NASA GIBS (Global Imagery Browse Service). Images are available back to Jan. 1 2007. Worldwide coverage. Premium Users: Lookup a driving route to any fire or hotspot with Google or Apple Maps directions Universal Links. Save your preferred Directions Provider in the App Settings. There is a section for wildfire-related US government Twitter accounts viewable by map by approximate location or sorted into national and state sources in a table view. Twitter Source URLs: https://twitter.com User-Submitted Fire Map feature: map-based wildfire-related chatter. Photos are allowed. Posts and replies are anonymous; no account needed. Information is posted as soon as it becomes available from WFIGS, NIFC, NASA, InciWeb, CAL FIRE, CHP, NESDIS, NOAA, NWS, Government of Canada, and Government of Australia. This app is not affiliated with any government agency. Terms of Use: https://davidgrossapps.com/terms/tos-wildfire-info.html Privacy Policy: https://davidgrossapps.com/privacy-policy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: First Alert Weather at 4.7 against Wildfire Info's 3.4. First Alert Weather also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (19K vs 31). Wildfire Info's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Wildfire Info sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per year. First Alert Weather asks for nothing beyond the download.
First Alert Weather holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: First Alert Weather has 19K ratings behind it against 31, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of First Alert Weather's written reviews are positive against 39% of Wildfire Info's.
First Alert Weather ships an update every 2 months, Wildfire Info fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | First Alert Weather | Wildfire Info |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (19K ratings) — better | 3.4 (31 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 57.4% of reviews — better | 38.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 19K — better | 31 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #206 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 257 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Gray Television Group, Inc. | David Gross |
Customer experience
First Alert Weather
Wildfire Info
Bugs and requests
First Alert Weather
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashing or freezing
- Location not being saved properly
- Radar and weather data not updating correctly
Requested features
4 requests- Add weather widget for iOS
- Disable ads during severe weather events
- Improve radar overlay and transparency
- Provide more detailed weather forecasts
Wildfire Info
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
First Alert Weather
No in-app purchases
Wildfire Info
- Wildfire Info Premium$0.991 Year
Questions
Is First Alert Weather free?
Is Wildfire Info free?
Which has better reviews, First Alert Weather or Wildfire Info?
Do First Alert Weather or Wildfire Info have ads?
Which is updated more often, First Alert Weather or Wildfire Info?
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