EarthViewer vs Soil Explorer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
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 review sentiment: EarthViewer at 83% against Soil Explorer's 0%. EarthViewer also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 11 months) and rating (4.4 vs 4.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
EarthViewer holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EarthViewer has 101 ratings behind it against 9, 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 0% of Soil Explorer's.
EarthViewer ships an update every 2 months, Soil Explorer every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on July 10, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | EarthViewer | Soil Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (101 ratings) — better | 4.1 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.1% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 101 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 14.7 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 108 MB | 172 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Howard Hughes Medical Institute | Purdue University |
Customer experience
EarthViewer
Soil Explorer
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
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- 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
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- 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
Soil Explorer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
EarthViewer
No in-app purchases
Soil Explorer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is EarthViewer free?
Is Soil Explorer free?
Which has better reviews, EarthViewer or Soil Explorer?
Do EarthViewer or Soil Explorer have ads?
Which is updated more often, EarthViewer or Soil Explorer?
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