Comparison

Storm Shield vs Emergency

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

Head to head
About

Storm Shield

Receive precise, location-based severe weather alerts for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and more. Get voice and push notifications, view radar maps, and access forecasts. Optional premium features offer advanced radar imagery and lightning alerts.

Highlights
  • Location-based severe weather alerts
  • Voice and push notifications
  • Hi-Def radar map
  • Today screen widget
  • Apple Watch alerts
  • Current conditions and forecasts
  • Save additional locations
Currently charting
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Named by Time.com's @Techland as one of the best weather apps for your iPhone and Apple Watch. Severe weather alerts for your exact location. Storm Shield gives you storm-based alerts for tornado, hurricane, flood, thunderstorm, winter storms and other life-threatening weather events via voice and push notification. Storm-based alerts help reduce false alarms by alerting you to severe weather based on your exact location within a county. County-based alerts can result in false alarms, warning you when your location in the county is not within the threatened area. What people are saying: • Storm Shield "alerted our family of the Broken Arrow, OK tornado, faster than the TV and tornado sirens." - Robyn • "I was in Oklahoma City during the tornado... we were right in its path. Your app literally was a life saver." - dcalk12 Benefits: • Get voice alerts just like a NOAA weather radio via push notification anywhere in the United States. • With Apple Watch, get a tap on your wrist when alerts are issued for your locations. • Add Storm Shield's widget to your Today screen to get quick access to active alerts for the first location in your app. • Touch Storm Shield's app icon on your 3D-Touch enabled iPhone for widget access. • Hi-Def radar map is your home screen so you can quickly see what's going on at your locations. • Fully supports Dark Mode in iOS 13. • Long-tap on the map to get current conditions, hourly and daily forecasts. • Save additional locations to ensure family members stay safe. View NOAA severe weather alerts on the map to see where dangerous weather is happening: • Tap alerts to view info • Flood watches & warnings • Tornadoes & Thunderstorms • Hurricane & Tropical Storm forecast tracks • Winter storms • Marine & Coastal alerts • Radar & Clouds • Wind Speed • Snow Fall • Water Temperatures • Road Weather • Premium Weather (purchase required) • Lightning Alerts and notifications (purchase required) Enhance your app with auto-renewing monthly subscriptions: • Buy 'Premium Weather' to unlock these features and see predicted imagery for these map layers: 1) Future Radar 2) Future Clouds 3) Future Clouds & Radar together 4) Future Surface Temperature Land 5) Future Surface Temperature Water 6) Future Surface Temperature Land & Water together 7) Future Wind Speeds Map 8) Storm Tracks: See how fast storms are moving & where they're headed. • Buy 'Lightning' to unlock these 2 features: 1) Lightning strike push notifications up to 10 miles away. 2) See lightning on the map within 100 miles of a selected location. Note: • Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. • No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. • Privacy Policy: https://www.stormshieldapp.com/privacy_stormshield_wxs.html • Terms of Use: https://www.stormshieldapp.com/terms_stormshield_wxs.html • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Storm Shield is made possible by The E.W. Scripps Company & KNXV Phoenix, WCPO Cincinnati, WEWS Cleveland, WXYZ Detroit, WMAR Baltimore, WFTS Tampa, WPTV West Palm, KSHB Kansas City, KJRH Tulsa, RTV6 Indianapolis, KMGH Denver, KGTV San Diego, KERO Bakersfield, WKBW Buffalo, WTVF Nashville, KMTV Omaha, WSYM Lansing, WFTX Ft. Myers, WTMJ Milwaukee, WGBA Green Bay, KIVI Boise, KTNV Las Vegas, KGUN Tucson, WTXL Tallahassee, KXXV Waco, KRIS Corpus Christi. Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

Emergency

Prepare for and stay informed during disasters with official alerts, real-time weather maps, and hurricane tracking. Locate open shelters and services, and create personalized disaster preparedness plans.

Highlights
  • Disaster preparedness guides
  • Personalized planning checklists
  • Official National Weather Service alerts
  • Real-time weather maps
  • Hurricane tracking
  • Locate open shelters and services
Currently charting
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The free American Red Cross Emergency app helps you protect yourself and your loved ones before, during and after a disaster. Use the app to: Get ready before a disaster with disaster guides and personalized planning checklists. Stay informed during a disaster with official National Weather Service alerts, real-time weather maps and hurricane tracking updates. Find help during and after a disaster by locating open Red Cross shelters and services near you. GET WEATHER ALERTS Receive official alerts from the National Weather Service for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and other hazards. Get alerts for your current location. Add places where loved ones live, work or go to school. Choose the types of alerts you want for each location. VIEW WEATHER MAPS AND TRACK STORMS Use weather radar and maps to see changing conditions. Track hurricanes and tropical storms to follow their paths. FIND SHELTERS AND SERVICES Find open Red Cross shelters and service sites during and after a disaster. See details about each site and get directions. GET READY FOR DISASTERS Prepare with step-by-step guides and personalized planning checklists. FREE AND ACCESSIBLE The Emergency app is free and available in English and Spanish. The app is designed with accessibility in mind. It supports your device’s built-in accessibility features, including VoiceOver and larger text. You can use the app in portrait or landscape mode and navigate with an external keyboard. Download the American Red Cross Emergency app and start getting ready today.

Screenshots

Storm Shield4 screens
Emergency4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Emergency at none against Storm Shield's 7. Emergency also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (46% vs 38%). Storm Shield's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks) and ratings volume (114K vs 7.9K). On price and rating 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. Storm Shield sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Emergency asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Storm Shield against 4.8 for Emergency. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Storm Shield has 114K ratings behind it against 7.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 38% of Storm Shield's written reviews are positive against 46% of Emergency's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Storm Shield ships an update weekly, Emergency every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Storm Shield versus Emergency: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStorm ShieldEmergency
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (114K ratings)4.8 (7.9K ratings) — better
Positive reviews37.8% of reviews45.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings114K — better7.9K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#19 — better#68
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB180 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperMosaic S.r.l.American Red Cross

Customer experience

Storm Shield

All ratings110,836 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral2.6%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews278 reviews
Positive37.8%
Neutral9.7%
Negative52.5%

Emergency

All ratings7,946 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews270 reviews
Positive45.9%
Neutral13.7%
Negative40.4%

User reviews

Storm Shield

From 114K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fastest weather alerts
  • 📡 Accurate radar and forecasts
  • 🔔 Customizable alerts and notifications
  • 💻 Simple and easy to use interface
  • 🗺️ Tracking multiple locations

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription model for advanced features
  • 🔇 Loud and disruptive alerts
  • 🕰️ Delayed alerts compared to other apps
  • 🔍 Difficulty customizing alert locations
  • 🔋 High battery consumption

Emergency

From 7.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy user interface
  • 👍 Accessible to the blind
  • 🚀 Sends immediate notifications
  • 👍 Keeps users informed about hazards
  • 👍 Provides emergency preparedness information

Room to improve

  • 🔇 Notifications too loud even with volume down
  • 🔁 Repeated notifications for the same event
  • 🗺️ Inaccurate location tracking and alerts
  • 🔍 Inability to customize alert radius
  • 🔌 Alerts not working during power outages

Bugs and requests

Storm Shield

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inconsistent alert delivery
  • Radar map not always showing correct location
  • Subscription features not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to read alert details in notifications
  • Option to silence alerts during certain times
  • More customization for alert types and locations
  • Horizontal radar view with manual scrolling
  • Integration with smart home devices for alerts

Emergency

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashing or freezing
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • Issues with adding or updating locations

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add option to mute alerts after initial notification
  • Provide more customization options for alert settings
  • Integrate with smart home devices and wearables
  • Add ability to share alerts and safety status with contacts
  • Improve map functionality and location-based features

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Storm Shield

Subscriptions7
  • Weekly Subscription$1.997 Days
  • Weekly with Free Trial7 Days trial$1.997 Days
  • Premium Weather$10.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Lightning Strikes$10.991 Month
  • 30-Day Limited Offer Upgrade1 Month trial$11.491 Month
  • Yearly with Free Trial7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription$29.991 Year
None

Emergency

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Storm Shield free?
Storm Shield is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Emergency free?
Emergency is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Storm Shield or Emergency?
Emergency is rated higher. Storm Shield averages 4.8 out of 5 from 114K ratings, while Emergency averages 4.8 from 7.9K ratings.
Do Storm Shield or Emergency have ads?
Storm Shield shows ads; Emergency does not.
Which is updated more often, Storm Shield or Emergency?
Storm Shield ships an update weekly, and Emergency every 5 weeks. Most recently, Storm Shield was updated on November 11, 2026 and Emergency on November 11, 2026.
Which is more popular, Storm Shield or Emergency?
Storm Shield currently peaks at #19 in the App Store charts, and Emergency at #68. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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