# Aurora Forecast. vs Northern Lights Tracker°

The clearest difference is monetization model: Northern Lights Tracker° at freemium against Aurora Forecast.'s subscription. Northern Lights Tracker° also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.6). Aurora Forecast.'s advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (4.9K vs 125). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Aurora Forecast. sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Northern Lights Tracker° sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Aurora Forecast. against 4.5 for Northern Lights Tracker°. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Aurora Forecast. has 4.9K ratings behind it against 125, 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 17% of Northern Lights Tracker°'s.

Aurora Forecast. ships an update weekly, Northern Lights Tracker° every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Aurora Forecast. | Northern Lights Tracker° |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (4.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aurora-forecast/id539875792/reviews)** | [4.5 (125 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/northern-lights-tracker/id6747033747/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.9K** | 125 |
| Positive reviews | **32.0% of reviews** | 16.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Freemium** |
| Best chart rank | **#89** | — |
| Size | 22 MB | 38 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **14.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [TINAC Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/539875795) | [Harshit Tyagi](https://appshunter.io/developer/1776912818) |

## What reviewers say

### Aurora Forecast.

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aurora-forecast/id539875792)

**Currently charting:** #89 Top Grossing · Weather, #150 Top Free · Weather (US App Store)

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:** Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Alerts (Monthly) | $2.99 | per month |
| Aurora Ultimate Pro (Monthly) | $4.99 | per month |
| Aurora Alerts(Yearly) | $12.99 | per year |
| Aurora Ultimate Pro (Yearly) | $19.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🌟 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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

- Forecast data not updating
- App crashing on startup
- Incorrect location data
- Alerts not working as intended

**Requested features**

- 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


### Northern Lights Tracker°

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/northern-lights-tracker/id6747033747)

This app provides real-time aurora borealis forecasts and alerts based on your location. It helps travelers, photographers, and skywatchers track aurora visibility with live data, personalized notifications, and an easy-to-use interface.

**Highlights:** Live aurora forecasts, KP index and cloud cover, Personalized alerts, Global map view, Location-based accuracy, Clean interface

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Annual Plan | $24.99 | per year |
| Lifetime Plan | $19.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Aurora Forecast. free?

Aurora Forecast. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Northern Lights Tracker° free?

Northern Lights Tracker° is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Aurora Forecast. or Northern Lights Tracker°?

Aurora Forecast. is rated higher. Aurora Forecast. averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.9K ratings, while Northern Lights Tracker° averages 4.5 from 125 ratings.

### Do Aurora Forecast. or Northern Lights Tracker° have ads?

Neither Aurora Forecast. nor Northern Lights Tracker° shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Aurora Forecast. or Northern Lights Tracker°?

Aurora Forecast. ships an update weekly, and Northern Lights Tracker° every 3 months. Most recently, Aurora Forecast. was updated on October 22, 2026 and Northern Lights Tracker° on October 21, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*