Comparison

Aurora Forecast. vs Light Pollution Map

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

Head to head
About

Aurora Forecast.

This app acts as an intelligent guide for aurora hunting, leveraging AI and local weather data to provide personalized "Go/No-Go" verdicts. It offers real-time updates, interactive maps, and customizable notifications to help you find the Northern Lights.

Highlights
  • AI Aurora Analyst with personalized Go/No-Go verdicts
  • Real-time Kp-index updates via widgets
  • Apple Watch complications for wrist tracking
  • Interactive aurora probability map
  • 3D globe with real-time aurora visualization
  • Customizable push notifications for storms
Features
Read full description

Aurora Forecast answers one question: can you see the aurora tonight, from where you are? It brings together NOAA space weather, the sky above you, and reports from people nearby who are watching it right now. — SEE IT AS IT HAPPENS — When people near you spot the aurora, their reports appear on the map and on the Home tab, showing how many have seen it within 100 km and how close the nearest one is. Seeing it yourself? Share it in one tap. No account needed, and every location is blurred to about 1 km before anyone else sees it. — KNOW BEFORE THE SKY GLOWS — • NOAA OVATION 30-minute aurora forecast on a map and a 3D globe • Aurora probability for your exact location • Kp index history, 3-day forecast and 27-day outlook • Live solar wind: speed, density and magnetic field (Bz) • Cloud cover, moon phase, sunrise and sunset • Live aurora webcams and real-time images of the Sun • Aurora hotspots: well-known viewing spots, including dark-sky parks • Aurora Guide, plus Stories & News from the world of the aurora — AURORA INTELLIGENCE (ULTIMATE) — One clear answer to "Should I go out now?", weighing the forecast, the clouds above you, the moonlight and reports from people nearby. On iPhones with Apple Intelligence it runs on your device; otherwise it uses our cloud AI. — ALERTS, WIDGETS AND APPLE WATCH — • Aurora alerts for your location (Pro) • Apple Watch complications (Pro) • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets (Ultimate) • Detailed cloud cover by altitude (Ultimate) — ON EVERY SCREEN — iPhone, iPad, and iPhone Duo open or folded, in 32 languages. — SUBSCRIPTIONS — The forecast, maps, live data, webcams and community reports are free. • Aurora Pro, monthly or yearly: aurora alerts and Apple Watch complications • Aurora Ultimate Pro, monthly or yearly: everything in Pro, plus Aurora Intelligence, widgets and detailed cloud cover Prices are shown in the app in your local currency. Payment will be charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscriptions in Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: https://www.tinacinc.com/AuroraForecast/privacy_policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.tinacinc.com/AuroraForecast/terms_of_conditions.html

About

Light Pollution Map

Discover optimal locations for stargazing and astrophotography with a detailed light pollution map. Get real-time alerts for celestial events like meteor showers and auroras, track the ISS, and access daily astronomy photos. Enhance your night sky observations with comprehensive tools and information.

Highlights
  • Interactive light pollution map
  • Aurora borealis live map and alerts
  • Meteor shower and super moon alerts
  • ISS tracker with live updates
  • Moon phases and information
  • Astronomy photo of the day
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Light Pollution Map allows you to easily locate dark sky locations where the sky will not be affected by light pollution, allowing the best observance, star gazing, and photography of the night sky! But it's not just a light pollution map. There's so much more, such as aurora borealis live viewing map, meteor shower alerts, super moon alerts, lunar eclipse alerts, moon phases and info, aurora and magnetic field information, international space station tracker, and a lot more! Light Pollution Map will help you master the night sky.. List of all features: • Highly accurate, customizable and interactive light pollution map to find dark sky viewing locations near you. • See live aurora borealis information such as KP value, magnetic field information, and more for the hardcore aurora chaser. • Live aurora borealis visibility map for northern and southern hemisphere, with additional timelapse options. • Aurora information widgets (today widget). • ISS Tracker with live updates about the international space station including the location, visibility, velocity, altitude, and more. • Night sky event calendar allows you to find dates for lunar eclipses, super moons, and meteor showers. • Live images of the Sun via NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. • Darkness countdown timer until the darkest period of night so you know when the night sky will be the darkest. Also let you know when it starts getting light outside. • Astronomy photo of the day directly from NASA! A new one every day to look at! • Local temperature indicator to know if you need to bring a sweater before you even step outside. • Local cloud coverage indicator to know if you will be able to see anything before you step outside. • Cloud cover overlay on the main map to find clear sky locations at night. • Settings to customize the app. • Moon information such as moon phase, moon rise, and moon set times, days of next full moon and new moon, etc. • Moon direction tool which allows you to find where the moon will be, at any time, any date, for any location. • Enable a horizon safe radius circle to avoid light pollution from nearby cities on the map. • Local Aurora Borealis (Northern/Southern Lights) alerts and push notifications. • Global Aurora Borealis Activity alerts and push notifications. • Meteor shower alerts and push notifications. • Super moon alerts and push notifications. • Lunar eclipse alerts and push notifications. • Save and load your favorite dark sky locations. • Navigate to your saved locations using the Apple Maps app. Some features above require an optional in-app purchase to upgrade to the pro version. Every purchase helps us to continue running and developing the app and is much appreciated. Note: Light Pollution Map loads data online. Internet connection or wifi is required, and we are not responsible for any data usage chargers from your provider. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Aurora Forecast.4 screens
Light Pollution Map4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Light Pollution Map at free with in-app purchases against Aurora Forecast.'s subscription. Aurora Forecast.'s advantage is review sentiment (32% vs 14%) and ratings volume (4.9K vs 239). On price, rating, 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. Aurora Forecast. sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Light Pollution Map sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Aurora Forecast. against 4.5 for Light Pollution Map. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Aurora Forecast. has 4.9K ratings behind it against 239, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 32% of Aurora Forecast.'s written reviews are positive against 14% of Light Pollution Map's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aurora Forecast. ships an update weekly, Light Pollution Map every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Aurora Forecast. versus Light Pollution Map: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAurora Forecast.Light Pollution Map
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (4.9K ratings) — better4.5 (239 ratings)
Positive reviews32.0% of reviews — better14.1% of reviews
Number of ratings4.9K — better239
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#67 — better#167
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB93 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTINAC Inc.Dunbar Technology, LLC

Customer experience

Aurora Forecast.

All ratings4,875 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral5.0%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews331 reviews
Positive32.0%
Neutral13.0%
Negative55.0%

Light Pollution Map

All ratings239 ratings
Positive88.3%
Neutral1.7%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews425 reviews
Positive14.1%
Neutral7.5%
Negative78.4%

User reviews

Aurora Forecast.

From 4.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Excellent app with nice graphs
  • 🌟 Accurate with current solar activity and short-term forecast
  • 🌟 Fantastic amount of information about the sun and aurora
  • 🌟 Alerts help plan for aurora viewing
  • 🌟 Comprehensive data and visuals

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes or freezes
  • ⚠️ Inaccurate forecasts and predictions
  • ⚠️ Notifications not working as expected
  • ⚠️ Difficult to interpret data and graphs
  • ⚠️ Biased towards Northern Hemisphere

Light Pollution Map

From 239 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clear detailed satellite views
  • 🚀 Works with barely any signal
  • 📊 Useful map with latest data
  • 🌌 Helps with astrophotography

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes on opening the map
  • 🐛 Crashes after locating user's position
  • 🔍 No legend for map colors
  • 💰 Tries to get users to upgrade to premium

Bugs and requests

Aurora Forecast.

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Forecast data not updating
  • App crashing on startup
  • Incorrect location data
  • Alerts not working as intended

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for Southern Hemisphere aurora
  • Improve location-based forecasting and alerts
  • Provide more user-friendly explanations of data and graphs
  • Allow customization of notification settings
  • Expand coverage to include more regions

Light Pollution Map

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when opening light pollution map
  • App crashes after locating user's position
  • Cloud coverage feature not working as expected

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add Bortle rating information
  • Improve cloud coverage feature
  • Fix crashing issues

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Aurora Forecast.

Subscriptions4
  • Alerts (Monthly)3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Aurora Ultimate Pro (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • Aurora Alerts(Yearly)7 Days trial$12.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Aurora Ultimate Pro (Yearly)3 Days trial$19.991 Year
6 purchases

Light Pollution Map

Subscriptions4
  • Pro Version$9.991 Year
  • Pro Version$14.991 Year
  • Pro Version$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Pro Version$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Pro Version Upgrade Discounted$8.99
  • Pro Version Upgrade$9.99

Questions

Is Aurora Forecast. free?
Aurora Forecast. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Light Pollution Map free?
Light Pollution Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aurora Forecast. or Light Pollution Map?
Aurora Forecast. is rated higher. Aurora Forecast. averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.9K ratings, while Light Pollution Map averages 4.5 from 239 ratings.
Do Aurora Forecast. or Light Pollution Map have ads?
Neither Aurora Forecast. nor Light Pollution Map shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Aurora Forecast. or Light Pollution Map?
Aurora Forecast. ships an update weekly, and Light Pollution Map every 3 weeks. Most recently, Aurora Forecast. was updated on October 20, 2026 and Light Pollution Map on October 19, 2026.
Which is more popular, Aurora Forecast. or Light Pollution Map?
Aurora Forecast. currently peaks at #67 in the App Store charts, and Light Pollution Map at #167. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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