Earth vs Sea Level Check
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Sea Level Check
Visualize future sea level rise in coastal areas of the United States using augmented reality. See how your favorite beaches or communities might be impacted and share videos of the projected changes. Explore potential sea level impacts with data from NOAA and USGS.
- Augmented reality sea level visualization
- Projected sea level rise in US coastal areas
- Capture and share videos of AR simulations
- Real-time tide and elevation data integration
- Explore alternative destinations
- Based on US Global Change Research Program data
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Use Sea Level Check to explore and capture how high sea levels are expected to be in the next few decades at any beach or coastal area in the United States. Send short videos to your friends and family to show them how your own community or favorite vacation spot will be impacted as our warming atmosphere causes sea levels to rise. Whenever you're near an ocean or bay, point your mobile device towards the ground. An augmented reality (AR) simulation with animated water and a measuring pole will be displayed, indicating future sea levels at your location (in feet). You can capture and share what you see in a video loop through social media. If your area won't be affected any time before 2100, an "All dry here..." signpost will appear, giving you options to view sea levels at other destinations. The sea level rise projections in this app are based on the U.S. Global Change Research Program's National Climate Assessment. Tide and elevation data are retrieved from NOAA and USGS in real-time in order to calculate projected sea level rise at your current location. These projections are commonly used for science and coastal area infrastructure planning. The results are approximate, and don't take into account small, topographical features (e.g. standing on a rock). Sea Level Check only works in the US at this time. Sea level rise is real and is already affecting coastal regions. Explore it. Share it. Prepare for it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Earth at 4.6 against Sea Level Check's 4.0. Earth also leads on review sentiment (74% vs 50%) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 9 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Earth holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Earth has 42 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Earth's written reviews are positive against 50% of Sea Level Check's.
Earth ships an update every 4 months, Sea Level Check every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Earth | Sea Level Check |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (42 ratings) — better | 4.0 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 73.7% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 42 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 12.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 181 MB | 58 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Heiko Sacher |
Customer experience
Earth
Sea Level Check
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
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- 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
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- 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)
Sea Level Check
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Earth
No in-app purchases
Sea Level Check
No in-app purchases









