# Aurora Forecast. vs Shade Tracker

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shade Tracker at none against Aurora Forecast.'s 4. Aurora Forecast.'s advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks) and chart position (#62 vs unranked). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Aurora Forecast. sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Shade Tracker asks for nothing beyond the download.

Aurora Forecast. ships an update weekly, Shade Tracker every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Aurora Forecast. | Shade Tracker |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (4.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aurora-forecast/id539875792/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **4.8K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 32.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Subscription | — |
| Best chart rank | **#62** | — |
| Size | 22 MB | 24 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **17.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [TINAC Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/539875795) | [Sermin Demirbas](https://appshunter.io/developer/1769060369) |

## What reviewers say

### Aurora Forecast.

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

**Currently charting:** #62 Top Grossing · Weather, #151 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


### Shade Tracker

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shade-tracker-sun-simulator/id6799623202)

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Aurora Forecast. free?

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

### Is Shade Tracker free?

Shade Tracker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Aurora Forecast. or Shade Tracker have ads?

Neither Aurora Forecast. nor Shade Tracker shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Aurora Forecast. or Shade Tracker?

Aurora Forecast. ships an update weekly, and Shade Tracker every 2 weeks. Most recently, Aurora Forecast. was updated on October 16, 2026 and Shade Tracker on October 8, 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.*