Comparison

SOS Remote vs Earth

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

Head to head
About

SOS Remote

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
Read full description

SOS Remote is a universal app for the iPhone*, iPod Touch*, and iPad that is used to control a Science On a Sphere® (SOS) system. SOS is a room sized, global display system that uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a six-foot diameter sphere, analogous to an animated globe. SOS is used as an educational tool to help illustrate Earth System science to people of all ages in a way that is intuitive and captivating. The SOS Remote app affords greater interaction capabilities and ease of use compared to previous SOS controllers such as the Wii Remote. With this app, you can: • Adjust the orientation of the sphere in an intuitive way • Control playback of datasets • Load any presentation playlist stored on the SOS computer • Quickly search and browse the entire SOS Data Catalog and select datasets at random to load on the sphere • View a dataset's description and presenter notes while giving an SOS presentation • Quickly create a presentation playlist directly from the iPad • Draw on and zoom into a dataset loaded on the sphere • Dynamically turn on/off dataset layers and pips and adjust their transparency • Split the sphere into 2-4 vertical slices to replicate a portion of the dataset around the sphere • Perform full alignment of the sphere using an intuitive three step process * Note: The iPhone/iPod Touch support only a subset of the features described above. The iPad supports all features. Requirements: • In order to functionally use the SOS Remote app, you must have a Science On a Sphere® (SOS) installation • Wi-Fi or Bluetooth access to the SOS computer that is being controlled • SOS Software Version 5.5.0

About

Earth

Visualize global climate data from NASA satellites, including temperature, CO2, and sea level. Explore 3D Earth models with interactive controls and color-coded maps to understand environmental conditions.

Highlights
  • Global climate data visualization
  • Satellite data from Earth Science
  • Surface air temperature maps
  • CO2 and CO levels
  • Ozone and water vapor data
  • Gravity and sea level variations
  • Interactive 3D Earth model
Read full description

NASA's Earth Now is an application that visualizes recent global climate data from Earth Science satellites, including surface air temperature, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and water vapor as well as gravity and sea level variations. Data sets are visually described using "false color" maps. Color-coded legends are provided to indicate relative strength or weakness of an environmental condition. The resulting 3D model of the Earth may be rotated by a single finger stroke, and may also be zoomed in or out by pinching 2 fingers. It was developed by the Earth Science Communications and Visualization Technology Applications and Development Teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with support from NASA Headquarters.

Screenshots

SOS Remote2 screens
Earth4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SOS Remote at 5.0 against Earth's 4.6. SOS Remote also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 74%). Earth's advantage is ratings volume (42 vs 2) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 8 months). On price, 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

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SOS Remote holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Earth has 42 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 74% of Earth's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SOS Remote ships an update every 8 months, Earth every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on July 20, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SOS Remote versus Earth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSOS RemoteEarth
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.6 (42 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better73.7% of reviews
Number of ratings242 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB181 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNOAA Science On a SphereJet Propulsion Laboratory

Customer experience

SOS Remote

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Earth

All ratings42 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.8%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews114 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative20.2%

Bugs and requests

SOS Remote

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Earth

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App crashes on startup or during use
  • Endless 'Loading model' message
  • Crashes on iPhone 4 and older devices
  • Pixel doubler requirement on iPad
  • No landscape orientation support
Show 7 more
  • Doesn't fill iPhone 5 screen properly
  • Extremely slow data loading
  • Menu navigation issues
  • Equator display shows slashes of emptiness
  • Zoom sensitivity causes twitchy behavior
  • Text readability issues against Earth background
  • Geographic data coverage gaps

Requested features

17 requests
  • Celsius/Kelvin temperature unit options
  • Satellite information (height, launch date)
  • ISS tracking capability
  • Ocean current visualization
  • Ice sheet data layers
Show 12 more
  • Methane concentration data
  • Snapshot/screenshot capability
  • Adjustable animation playback speed
  • Manual timeline scrolling for animations
  • Higher resolution maps for Retina displays
  • Landscape orientation support
  • iPad version
  • Google Earth integration
  • More detailed explanations of data
  • Selectable date ranges for animations
  • Atmospheric CO2 levels (previously removed)
  • Surface temperature data (previously removed)

In-app purchases

None

SOS Remote

No in-app purchases

None

Earth

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SOS Remote free?
SOS Remote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Earth free?
Earth is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SOS Remote or Earth?
SOS Remote is rated higher. SOS Remote averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Earth averages 4.6 from 42 ratings.
Do SOS Remote or Earth have ads?
Neither SOS Remote nor Earth shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SOS Remote or Earth?
SOS Remote ships an update every 8 months, and Earth every 4 months. Most recently, SOS Remote was updated on July 20, 2026 and Earth on September 5, 2026.

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