Comparison

EarthViewer vs GlobeViewer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

EarthViewer

Explore Earth's 4.5 billion-year history with this interactive time machine. See how continents, oceans, and climate have changed over eons, track landmarks and fossils, and visualize scientific data like temperature and biodiversity. Discover the dynamic evolution of our planet.

Highlights
  • Continental reconstructions over billions of years
  • Sea level and temperature maps
  • Track landmark and fossil movements
  • Visualize atmospheric composition and biodiversity
  • Explore geological eons, eras, and periods
  • Automated play modes and animations
Features
Read full description

What did Earth’s continents and oceans look like 250 million years ago, or even 1 billion years ago? What do we know about the climate back when our planet formed? How has sea level changed since the melting of the last ice age and what does the future hold? EarthViewer is like a time machine for exploring Earth’s deep history. Based on the latest scientific research, it lets you scroll through the last 4.5 billion years with your fingertips. Follow a favorite landmark, be it Greenland or New York City, as its position shifts through time, or watch a famous fossil like Tiktaalik make an incredible journey from its origin to its current location. Layer your view of shifting continents with data on atmospheric composition, temperature, biodiversity, day length, and solar luminosity, to get a more complete view of our dynamic planet. EarthViewer features include: • Continental reconstructions and accompanying data dating back billions of years • Sea level maps for the last 21,000 year and for 8,000 years into the future • Global temperature maps for the last 100+ years • Ability to manipulate the globe and zoom to any location • Locations of modern cities tracked back over 500 million years • In-depth features on major geological and biological events in Earth history • Clickable details on geologic eons, eras, and periods • Automated play modes • Animations between globe and flat map projections • Extensive reference list • Suggestions for classroom use The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is a non-profit medical research organization that ranks as one of the nation’s largest philanthropies. HHMI’s BioInteractive initiative opens a window on cutting-edge science through interactive web features, short films, virtual labs, and scientific animations. Since teachers play a pivotal role in launching the careers of future scientists and in helping the public understand the beauty and import of science, the BioInteractive team partners with the teaching community to create and distribute media that is engaging and relevant to the science curriculum.

About

GlobeViewer

Explore Earth with a high-resolution 3D globe and topography maps. View surface, underwater, and topographical details, with real-time event overlays. Access extensive geographical data for offline use.

Highlights
  • Interactive 3D globe
  • High-resolution topography maps
  • Surface and underwater views
  • Real-time event overlays
  • Offline data caching
  • Extensive place names and geographical features
Features
Read full description

GlobeViewer is a high resolution 3D terrestrial globe with topography and surface maps. This app enables a high-quality view of the surface of our blue planet. It is divided into two areas: the rotatable, global view as an interactive globe and a high-resolution 3D map representation of the Earth's topography. - Interactive 3D globe with surface, underwater and topography maps - High-resolution 3D topography map set of the entire Earth's surface - divided into 22,912 individual tiles. You can load 110 different regions onto the interactive globe, which then present the many individual tiles in a meaningful, connected way and reload them automatically. The app initially only contains the textures for the globe in low resolution. All required downloads are automatically loaded from our server. A total of around 105 GB of data is available. The data remains in the cache on your device for offline use, but can be deleted at any time in the main menu. Furthermore, all events recorded by the GDACS, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., are entered on the globe. The 3D topography map is based on the elevation data from the NASA Terra probe, which recorded 83° of the northern and southern hemispheres between 2000 and 2013 - this is the result of the ASTER3-DEM. With version 0.10.0, the map is enriched with around 7.5 million place names from geonames.org. This means that all the towns, mountains, lakes, deserts and many other geographical features entered there are shown on the map. From version 0.12.0, data from OpenStreetMaps (buildings, borders, streets...) is also available on the tiles - but only for the demos and the purchased maps. Use the tutorial in the app to get started quickly or read the manual to find out which functions are included in this app. Since the app is still under development, some functions may still change. We hope you enjoy using GlobeViewer!

Screenshots

EarthViewer4 screens
GlobeViewer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: EarthViewer at 83% against GlobeViewer's 33%. EarthViewer also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.4) and in-app purchases (none vs 11). On price, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. GlobeViewer sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. EarthViewer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

EarthViewer holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EarthViewer has 101 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of EarthViewer's written reviews are positive against 33% of GlobeViewer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EarthViewer ships an update every 2 months, GlobeViewer every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on July 10, 2026 and August 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
EarthViewer versus GlobeViewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarthViewerGlobeViewer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (101 ratings) — better3.4 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews83.1% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings101 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS9.3 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size108 MB236 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHoward Hughes Medical InstituteRAB-Software

Customer experience

EarthViewer

All ratings101 ratings
Positive86.1%
Neutral2.0%
Negative11.9%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive83.1%
Neutral5.6%
Negative11.3%

GlobeViewer

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

Bugs and requests

EarthViewer

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App cannot be closed normally - requires force quit or device restart
  • App freezes when switching from flat map to globe view
  • Australia appears in incorrect locations in ancient Earth viewer
  • Grid coordinates (latitude/longitude) not displaying
  • Globe transparency and image distortion on iPad
Show 7 more
  • Geological Events toggle switch not functioning
  • Incompatible with iOS 13 and newer versions
  • Timeline scrolling limited when entire era not visible
  • App won't open or close on some devices
  • Hadean Epoch atmosphere incorrectly shown as blue
  • Antarctica appearance inconsistent between Paleo and Ice Age views
  • Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum information inaccurate

Requested features

16 requests
  • Add Pangea Proxima/Pangea Ultima supercontinent visualization
  • Add Kenorland supercontinent (2500 Mya)
  • Include future Earth continental drift predictions (0-250 million years)
  • Add Pleistocene ice age details with smaller time increments
  • Include ground-level view of Earth with animals and landscapes
Show 11 more
  • Add 2D map projection option (Plate Carree, Mollweide)
  • Add period/stage names to timeline
  • Implement location services to show current user location
  • Add search functionality for extinct species
  • Increase zoom capability for detailed regional analysis
  • Add plate tectonics layer with labeled plates and spreading zones
  • Include other planets and solar system formation
  • Add French language support
  • Add smooth video-like morphing between time periods
  • Fixed rotation axis option for Earth
  • Multiple globe views from different vantage points

GlobeViewer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

EarthViewer

No in-app purchases

11 purchases

GlobeViewer

One-time11
  • 4K & Polar Regions$0.99
  • 4K & South America$2.99
  • 4K & Pacific$2.99
Show 8 more
  • 4K & Japan/Korea/Taiwan$2.99
  • 8K & North America$4.99
  • 8K & Australia$4.99
  • 8K & China$4.99
  • 8K & Russia$4.99
  • 8K & Europe$4.99
  • 8K Pass$8.99
  • Professional Version$14.99

Questions

Is EarthViewer free?
EarthViewer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GlobeViewer free?
GlobeViewer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, EarthViewer or GlobeViewer?
EarthViewer is rated higher. EarthViewer averages 4.4 out of 5 from 101 ratings, while GlobeViewer averages 3.4 from 5 ratings.
Do EarthViewer or GlobeViewer have ads?
GlobeViewer shows ads; EarthViewer does not.
Which is updated more often, EarthViewer or GlobeViewer?
EarthViewer ships an update every 2 months, and GlobeViewer every 6 weeks. Most recently, EarthViewer was updated on July 10, 2026 and GlobeViewer on August 14, 2026.

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