Aurora Forecast. vs SpaceWeatherLive
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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Aurora Forecast is your intelligent personal aurora hunting guide — space weather science, Apple's native intelligence, and a live community of aurora watchers, all in your pocket. — COMMUNITY SIGHTINGS — See where the aurora is being spotted right now. Live sightings from people near you appear on the map, and "Seen near you" shows how many are watching the lights nearby, updated in real time. Spotted it yourself? Share it with one tap so others know it's happening now. Anonymous by design — no account, and your location is coarsened for privacy. — AI AURORA ANALYST (Apple Intelligence) — Aurora forecasting means decoding solar wind speed, interplanetary magnetic fields, and Kp indices. Now you don't have to. Our AI Aurora Analyst, powered by Apple Intelligence, processes all of that and delivers a clear, personalized "Go/No-Go" verdict based on your exact location and local weather. One glance answers the only question that matters: "Can I see it tonight?" — WIDGETS & APPLE WATCH COMPLICATIONS — Never miss a geomagnetic storm. Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets deliver real-time Kp-index updates at a glance. Apple Watch complications let you track activity right from your wrist — perfect for quick checks when you're already out in the field. — CORE FEATURES — • Live community sightings near you • NOAA OVATION Aurora Forecast Model • Real-time solar wind & geomagnetic activity data • Interactive aurora probability map • 3D globe with real-time aurora visualization • Live aurora webcams & Sun imagery • Multi-day Kp-index forecast charts • Customizable push notifications for geomagnetic storms • Dark sky location finder • Apple Watch app with complications • 30+ languages supported Whether you're a seasoned aurora chaser or hoping to see the Northern Lights for the first time, Aurora Forecast puts real-time space weather and a live community of aurora watchers in your pocket. — Subscription Details • Aurora Pro (Monthly): $2.99/month • Aurora Pro (Yearly): $12.99/year • Aurora Ultimate (Monthly): $4.99/month • Aurora Ultimate (Yearly): $24.99/year Payment will be charged to your Apple ID 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. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: https://www.tinacinc.com/AuroraForecast/privacy_policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.tinacinc.com/AuroraForecast/terms_of_conditions.html
SpaceWeatherLive
Track aurora and solar activity in real-time with detailed forecasts and historical data. Receive customizable push notifications for significant space weather events. Explore an extensive archive and learn from expert reports.
- Aurora and solar activity tracking
- Real-time forecasts
- Push notifications for space weather events
- Dark mode for night use
- Detailed graphs and reports
- Extensive historical data archive
- Beginner-friendly explanations
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SpaceWeatherLive is the ultimate app for those who dream of seeing the northern lights or want to know everything about the activity on our Sun. With this app you will be able to see and understand how active the aurora is right now and if there might be a good chance to spot the northern or southern lights in the coming days. You will never miss an aurora display again with this app in your pocket no matter where you go! Beginner friendly - While the SpaceWeatherLive app is filled with all the space weather information you can think of both for beginning and advanced space weather enthusiasts, every item has a pop up with additional information to help you along if something is unclear. Learn more as you go along! Everything in one app - Switch between the auroral activity and solar activity modes with just one click! Dark mode - Preserve your night vision with our special dark mode! Ideal for aurora chasing out in the field! Push notifications - Free push notifications informing you of significant space weather events like solar flares, geomagnetic storms, earth-facing coronal holes and much more! You can turn any notification on or off so if you don't want to receive any notifications at all or are only interested in specific notifications: we got you covered! Modern graphs - All the data that you are interested in are represented in sleek, responsive graphs. Dials don't cut it when you are out in the field, you want to know how the data looks like in the past and right now. Our graphs provide all the information you need in the blink of an eye! News - Not only do we provide a ton of different automated alerts, we even have a dedicated team of space weather enthusiasts who write detailed hand written reports during high solar or auroral activity! Extensive help section - Are you a beginner and does our app look a bit daunting when you first open it? Fear not, we have a dedicated help section with tons of articles and a FAQ section. Give it a read and soon you will be able to make your very own aurora forecasts! Huge space weather archive - Ever looked back at your old aurora pictures and wonder what space weather was like on that specific date? We got you covered! Take a dive in our space weather archive that is filled to the brim with geomagnetic and solar data from the year 1996 until yesterday. Dig around and discover large sunspot regions, extreme geomagnetic storms and exciting data from the past! Free for all - Best of all... Our app is completely free of charge! We do have ads but those can be removed by purchasing a subscription which in turn supports us to keep our services online! PRICE AND TERMS: Although the app is free, it does contain advertising at the bottom of the screen which helps us to keep our services online. Don't want the ads? No problem, with a simple in-app purchase you can remove them! A monthly subscription is $0.99, half-yearly subscription $5.49 and yearly subscription $9.99. These prices apply to United States residents. Prices may vary in other countries respecting your local currency exchange rate. Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account. At the end of the term, unless auto-renewables subscriptions are disabled, your subscription will automatically renew in your iTunes account. You will be charged for the regular price of your subscription within 24 hours prior to the end of the current term. You can turn off automatic renewal in your iTunes account settings at any time, but you must do so at least 24 hours before the end of the current term. Refunds will not be provided for the unused portion of any term. Terms and conditions: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/app/terms-and-conditions Privacy policy: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/app/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Aurora Forecast. at 4.6 against SpaceWeatherLive's 4.0. Aurora Forecast. also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months). SpaceWeatherLive's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and review sentiment (53% vs 32%). On price, in-app purchases, chart position and device support 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. Aurora Forecast. sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and SpaceWeatherLive sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Aurora Forecast. holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Aurora Forecast. has 4.8K ratings behind it against 189, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 32% of Aurora Forecast.'s written reviews are positive against 53% of SpaceWeatherLive's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Aurora Forecast. ships an update weekly, SpaceWeatherLive every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Aurora Forecast. | SpaceWeatherLive |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (4.8K ratings) — better | 4.0 (189 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.8% of reviews | 53.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4.8K — better | 189 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #103 — better | #191 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TINAC Inc. | Parsec vzw |
Customer experience
Aurora Forecast.
SpaceWeatherLive
User reviews
Aurora Forecast.
From 4.8K App Store ratingsWhat 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
SpaceWeatherLive
From 189 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent space weather information
- 🔍 Detailed and informative data
- 📚 Helpful tutorials and explanations
- 🌍 Useful for aurora chasers and enthusiasts
- 🤖 Comprehensive data from various sources
Room to improve
- 🔍 Overwhelming amount of information
- 🔔 Too many notifications/alerts
- 💰 Ads becoming too intrusive
- 🔌 Notifications not always working
- 🤔 Confusing navigation at times
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
SpaceWeatherLive
Reported bugs
4 issues- Video links not working
- Alerts disappearing after opening the app
- Inconsistent performance after updates
- Notification count not clearing properly
Requested features
5 requests- Customizable notification settings
- Dark mode option
- Location-based alerts
- Ability to track solar activity trends
- Integration with other weather/astronomy apps
In-app purchases
Aurora Forecast.
- Alerts (Monthly)3 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Aurora Ultimate Pro (Monthly)$4.991 Month
- Aurora Alerts(Yearly)7 Days trial$12.991 Year
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- Aurora Ultimate Pro (Yearly)3 Days trial$19.991 Year
SpaceWeatherLive
- Ad-free - monthly package$0.991 Month
- Ad-free - half-yearly package$5.496 Months
- Ad-free - yearly package$9.991 Year
Questions
Is Aurora Forecast. free?
Is SpaceWeatherLive free?
Which has better reviews, Aurora Forecast. or SpaceWeatherLive?
Do Aurora Forecast. or SpaceWeatherLive have ads?
Which is updated more often, Aurora Forecast. or SpaceWeatherLive?
Which is more popular, Aurora Forecast. or SpaceWeatherLive?
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