WeatherMax+ vs Swellwire
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
WeatherMax+
Get precise, hyperlocal weather forecasts powered by the National Weather Service. Receive instant severe weather alerts, view detailed conditions, and plan your day with a beautiful, animated interface. Track multiple locations and access interactive radar maps.
- Hyperlocal grid-point forecasts
- Severe weather push alerts
- Animated weather backgrounds
- Minute-by-minute precipitation radar
- Interactive radar map
- Air quality and pollen index
- Multiple location support
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WeatherMax is back completely rebuilt from the ground up with a stunning new design and powerful features that put accurate, hyperlocal weather at your fingertips. WeatherMax+ delivers forecasts for your exact location, not just your city. Whether you're planning your morning commute or tracking an incoming storm, WeatherMax+ gives you the detail you need. Beautiful New Interface A fully redesigned dark interface with animated weather backgrounds, real-time particle effects, and glassmorphism cards that make checking the weather feel as good as it looks. Severe Weather Push Alerts — Always Free Get notified the moment a warning, watch, or advisory is issued for your location — tornado warnings, flash flood watches, freeze advisories, winter storms, and more. Delivered instantly, day or night, even when the app is closed, as Time Sensitive alerts that break through Focus and Do Not Disturb. Choose whether you're notified about everything, or only Severe and Extreme warnings. Hyperlocal Accuracy Forecasts for your precise coordinates. Not a regional average. Not a nearby station. Your exact location. Everything You Need • Current conditions with feels-like, humidity, wind & gusts • Hourly & 10-day forecast • Next-hour precipitation, minute by minute • Air quality index & pollen count • UV index & sun protection guidance • Sunrise & sunset times • Wind direction compass • Interactive radar map with future radar • Live map of active severe weather warnings • "What to Wear" daily recommendation • Apple Watch app Widgets Your Way Home Screen widgets show the next few hours and days at a glance, with the chance of rain and a 5-day forecast with high and low bars. They follow your °F/°C and mph/km/h settings. Ask Siri "WeatherMax will it rain today?", "WeatherMax weather" or "WeatherMax radar". No setup needed. Multiple Locations Save your favorite places and switch between them instantly — home, work, family, anywhere. Up to 3 free, unlimited with WeatherMax+. WEATHERMAX+ ESSENTIAL • Rain alerts — a push before it starts at your location • The full 2-hour future radar timeline (free includes the first 30 minutes) • Lightning on the map • Sky themes, including seasonal designs like Halloween • Lock Screen widgets, plus Details and Hourly chart widget styles • Apple Watch complications • Unlimited saved locations WEATHERMAX+ PRO • Everything in Essential • Pro map layers — storm outlooks, storm reports, wildfire, fire weather • Rain Countdown — a Live Activity on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Rearrange your dashboard and choose your Conditions metrics • Alternate app icons, including holiday designs Severe weather warnings are free for everyone, and always will be. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS WeatherMax+ Essential: $1.99/month or $14.99/year WeatherMax+ Pro: $3.99/month or $29.99/year Limited time: yearly plans start with 1 week free. New subscribers only, in select countries, through December 31, 2026. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID Account Settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when a subscription is purchased. Terms of Use: https://weathermax.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://weathermax.app/privacy Weather data from Apple Weather, the National Weather Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Open-Meteo.
Swellwire
Visualize global ocean conditions with a 3D globe. Get detailed forecasts for swell, wind, and weather at any coastline, from immediate conditions to two weeks ahead. Plan your next surf session or marine activity with comprehensive data.
- Interactive 3D globe with weather overlays
- Live wave height and energy data
- Detailed surf spot forecasts
- Buoy data integration
- Searchable surf spots and buoys
- Favorite spots sync across devices
- 16-day forecast extension (Premium)
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Swellwire turns the world ocean into a planner. Spin the globe, drop into any coast, and read the swell, wind, and weather in seconds—right now, tomorrow, or two weeks out. WHAT YOU GET • Interactive 3D globe with live wave-height, wave-energy, wind, and temperature overlays. Pan, pinch, and tap to explore any shoreline on the planet. • Surf spot forecasts: wave height, period, direction, wind, and a clean at-a-glance read before you commit to the drive. • Buoy data from major coastal networks, surfaced inline on the same map you're already using. • Search any surf spot or NOAA buoy by name and jump straight to its forecast. • Favorite spots sync across devices, so your home break, your travel list, and your weekend backup are all one tap away. • Wave-energy color legend lets you compare a heavy four-foot day against a soft five-foot day at a glance. FREE OR PREMIUM Free includes the full globe, every overlay, and a 7-day forecast for every spot. Premium extends every forecast to a full 16 days — long enough to see swell windows before they're obvious to everyone else. WHO IT'S FOR Surfers planning the next session, the next trip, or the next swell. Sailors, kiters, foilers, divers, and anyone whose day depends on what the ocean is actually doing. WHY A GLOBE INSTEAD OF A FLAT MAP Swell doesn't care about map projections. A storm in the South Indian Ocean lights up reefs in California a week later — on a globe you can see why. Watch a long-period swell wrap around continents in the wave-energy view and a forecast starts to read like a story. ACCOUNT AND PRIVACY Sign in with Google to sync favorites and unlock the 16-day upgrade. Swellwire never posts on your behalf, never sells your data, and never emails you unless you ask. QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK Email support@swellwire.com — we read every message. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Swellwire at 5.0 against WeatherMax+'s 4.5. WeatherMax+'s advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and ratings volume (6 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. WeatherMax+ sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Swellwire sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Swellwire holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 2 respectively.
| Parameter | WeatherMax+ | Swellwire |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chris Williams | Nevada Scientific Inc. |
Customer experience
WeatherMax+
Swellwire
In-app purchases
WeatherMax+
- WeatherMax+ Essential Monthly$1.991 Month
- WeatherMax+ Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
- WeatherMax+ Essential Yearly$14.991 Year
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- WeatherMax+ Pro Yearly$29.991 Year
Swellwire
- Swellwire Monthly$4.991 Month
- Swellwire Yearly$39.991 Year
Questions
Is WeatherMax+ free?
Is Swellwire free?
Which has better reviews, WeatherMax+ or Swellwire?
Do WeatherMax+ or Swellwire have ads?
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