Soil Finder vs Soil Explorer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Soil Finder
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Soil Finder - Scotland (formerly SIFSS, Soil Indicators for Scottish Soils) is an app that allows you to find out what soil type is in your area, to explore the characteristics of around 600 different Scottish soils, to discover the differences in soil characteristics between cultivated and uncultivated soils and to examine a range of key indicators of soil quality. You can also use the app to view all of our published soil mapping, plus a selection of our thematic maps, including the Land Capability for Agriculture. SIFSS is the only app that gives you access to the Soil Survey of Scotland. SIFSS allows you to use your device's GPS or to use a place name or postcode, or just browse using the image map on your device to choose a location in Scotland to investigate information about soil. This information includes pH, soil carbon, N, P, K etc. directly from the James Hutton Institute database.
Soil Explorer
Discover detailed soil property and landscape maps for U.S. states and global soil distributions. Understand how map features relate to real-world observations. This educational tool uses data from USDA and USGS to illustrate complex soil-landscape relationships.
- Detailed soil property maps
- Landscape visualizations
- Global soil distribution maps
- Field observation correlation
- USDA NRCS data integration
- USGS data integration
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Explore detailed maps of soil properties and landscapes for various U.S. states, as well as small-scale maps of soil distributions for the world. Examine the details for a specific area, but also see the overview for a large area. Learn how features shown on the maps correspond to what you observe in the field. Soil Explorer utilizes detailed soil survey data from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and data and maps from the U. S. Geological Survey and other sources to produce informative, highly engaging maps. These maps are designed to show the complex interrelationships between soil properties and the landscapes in which soils occur.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Soil Finder at every 2 months against Soil Explorer's every 11 months. Soil Explorer's advantage is iOS requirement (14.7 vs 16.6). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Soil Finder ships an update every 2 months, Soil Explorer every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Soil Finder | Soil Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.1 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 9 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 14.7 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 122 MB | 172 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The James Hutton Institute | Purdue University |
In-app purchases
Soil Finder
No in-app purchases
Soil Explorer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Soil Finder free?
Is Soil Explorer free?
Do Soil Finder or Soil Explorer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Soil Finder or Soil Explorer?
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