# SOS Remote vs SOS Explorer

The clearest difference is rating: SOS Remote at 5.0 against SOS Explorer's 4.7. SOS Remote also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 86%). SOS Explorer's advantage is ratings volume (20 vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

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

SOS Remote holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SOS Explorer has 20 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of SOS Remote's written reviews are positive against 86% of SOS Explorer's.

SOS Remote ships an update every 8 months, SOS Explorer every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on July 20, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SOS Remote | SOS Explorer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sos-remote/id476665630/reviews)** | [4.7 (20 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sos-explorer/id1358724422/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 2 | **20** |
| Positive reviews | **100.0% of reviews** | 85.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 8 months** | Every 11 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 4 MB | 249 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [NOAA Science On a Sphere](https://appshunter.io/developer/476665633) | [University of Colorado Boulder](https://appshunter.io/developer/972210292) |

## What reviewers say

### SOS Remote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sos-remote/id476665630)

Control a Science On a Sphere® system with your mobile device. Adjust sphere orientation, manage datasets, and enhance presentations with interactive features. Ideal for educational settings.

**Highlights:** Adjust sphere orientation, Control dataset playback, Load presentation playlists, Search and browse data catalog, View dataset descriptions, Create presentation playlists, Draw on and zoom datasets, Dynamically adjust dataset layers

**In-app purchases:** none


### SOS Explorer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sos-explorer/id1358724422)

Explore interactive animated datasets of Earth and space phenomena, from planetary rings to climate change models. This app brings complex environmental processes to life in an intuitive and captivating way, making learning accessible anywhere.

**Highlights:** Streaming high-resolution datasets, Educational videos, User-guided tours, Analysis tools, 100+ datasets, Global and flat map views

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SOS Remote free?

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

### Is SOS Explorer free?

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

### Which has better reviews, SOS Remote or SOS Explorer?

SOS Remote is rated higher. SOS Remote averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while SOS Explorer averages 4.7 from 20 ratings.

### Do SOS Remote or SOS Explorer have ads?

Neither SOS Remote nor SOS Explorer shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SOS Remote or SOS Explorer?

SOS Remote ships an update every 8 months, and SOS Explorer every 11 months. Most recently, SOS Remote was updated on July 20, 2026 and SOS Explorer on September 7, 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.*