Comparison

Earth vs ISS Explorer

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

Head to head
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.

About

ISS Explorer

Explore a detailed 3D model of the International Space Station. Rotate, zoom, and select individual components to learn about their function and systems. Organize your view by turning parts and labels on or off.

Highlights
  • Interactive 3D ISS model
  • Rotate and zoom functionality
  • Selectable parts with isolation
  • Detailed information on components
  • Hierarchical part organization
  • Toggle parts and labels
Features
Read full description

The ISS explorer is an interactive tool for exploring the parts and pieces of the International Space Station (ISS). The application allows the user to view a 3D model of the ISS, rotate it, zoom into it, and select different parts and pieces. When the application starts, you can see a view of the entire ISS with category labels. Tabs are available on the left hand side of the screen which allow you access to information, the hierarchy, settings and application information. From this point, you can zoom into the station, revealing more labels of visible parts. The station can also be rotated to view from different angles. If a part is selected, the part is isolated so that you can focus on the specific piece. The information tab shows information about the currently isolated part. Inside the hierarchy tab, you can turn parts on or off, turn labels for parts on or off, turn parts transparent, or select a part to focus on. The parts are organized in a hierarchy to allow for systems to be described and displayed. This includes things such as truss, modules, and external platforms. The Information tab shows information about the current isolated part, system, or the full ISS if the entire station is shown.

Screenshots

Earth4 screens
ISS Explorer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ISS Explorer at 100% against Earth's 74%. ISS Explorer also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.6). Earth's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 10 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

ISS Explorer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 42 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Earth's written reviews are positive against 100% of ISS Explorer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Earth ships an update every 4 months, ISS Explorer every 10 months. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Earth versus ISS Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarthISS Explorer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (42 ratings)4.9 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings42 — better16
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 10 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size181 MB747 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJet Propulsion LaboratoryNASA

Customer experience

Earth

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

ISS Explorer

All ratings16 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and 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)

ISS Explorer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Earth

No in-app purchases

None

ISS Explorer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Earth free?
Earth is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ISS Explorer free?
ISS Explorer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Earth or ISS Explorer?
ISS Explorer is rated higher. Earth averages 4.6 out of 5 from 42 ratings, while ISS Explorer averages 4.9 from 16 ratings.
Do Earth or ISS Explorer have ads?
Neither Earth nor ISS Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Earth or ISS Explorer?
Earth ships an update every 4 months, and ISS Explorer every 10 months. Most recently, Earth was updated on October 20, 2026 and ISS Explorer on October 20, 2026.

Other comparisons