Comparison

Aurora Alert Realtime vs Northern Lights Tracker

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

Head to head
About

Aurora Alert Realtime

Receive real-time alerts for visible Northern Lights with high-quality, automatically updated imagery. Access daily forecasts, detailed knowledge, and stunning photos to enhance your aurora viewing experience.

Highlights
  • Real-time aurora alerts
  • High-quality sky imagery
  • Automated image updates
  • Daily aurora and weather forecasts
  • 1, 3, and 27-day aurora forecasts
  • Northern Lights knowledge base
Features
Read full description

Aurora Alert Realtime is a fast and reliable Aurora Alert system. You will get alert when Northern Lights are visible. Own professional-level cameras and lenses ensure high-quality images which are processed with a highly developed algorithm. The images are updated automatically once a minute. You can see the entire sky both with the human eye and with night vision. Open up a whole new world of watching the night sky. A unique alert system gives a new alarm when the Northern Lights intensify. This way you always have the opportunity to see the best Northern Lights. Daily updated, illustrative Northern Light and Weather forecasts. Northern Lights forecast: 1-day, 3-day and 27-day forecasts. Weather forecast for several days. Northern Lights related knowledge and stunning Northern Lights photos.

About

Northern Lights Tracker

This app provides real-time predictions and forecasts for the aurora borealis using NOAA space weather data. It helps users find the best viewing locations and times, offering smart alerts and interactive maps for an optimal aurora hunting experience.

Highlights
  • Real-time aurora probability
  • NOAA-powered KP index
  • Interactive global aurora maps
  • Best viewing location recommendations
  • Space weather data monitoring
  • Smart aurora alerts
  • Apple Watch integration
Features
Read full description

Never miss the northern lights again. Northern Lights Tracker tells you whether tonight is worth going out, when to look and where to go. It turns live NOAA space weather data into one clear aurora chance for your exact location. Tonight at a Glance • Aurora chance for your location, updated live • A clear verdict, from "Go look now" to "Not tonight", with activity, solar wind, moon and cloud factors • Best viewing time and the best 2-hour window • Current Kp index and a 3-day Kp outlook • Search any place and save your favorite spots • Share tonight's forecast with friends Aurora Alerts Get notified when the aurora is likely where you are. Choose a chance alert, a Kp alert, a storm early warning up to 24 hours ahead, or a solar wind (Bz) alert with your own threshold. Chance and solar wind alerts wait until it is dark, and quiet hours keep your nights undisturbed. Storm and solar wind alerts can arrive as time-sensitive notifications, with your choice of sound or vibration. You decide how often the app checks: every 15, 30, 60 or 180 minutes. Lock Screen, Widgets and Apple Watch • Home Screen widgets with chance, Kp, peak time and a 12-hour chart • Lock Screen widgets • Live Activity: follow tonight's chance on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • Apple Watch app with your chance and Kp at a glance, plus watch face complications • Ask Siri for tonight's aurora chance without opening the app Space Weather in Detail • Hour-by-hour aurora chance for the next 24 hours • Tonight's Sky: sunset, dark hours, sunrise and moon phase, including polar night and midnight sun • Cloud cover from Apple Weather • Solar wind: Bz, total field, speed and density, with charts for the last 3 hours • 27-day Kp outlook to plan trips weeks ahead Map and Best Places • Live map of the NOAA aurora oval. Long-press anywhere to check the chance there • 15 top aurora destinations ranked by tonight's chance, with distance from you: Tromsø, Svalbard, Rovaniemi, Inari, Sodankylä, Reykjavik, Kiruna, Abisko, Jokkmokk, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Yellowknife, Churchill, Murmansk and Nuuk • Open any spot in Apple Maps or Google Maps for directions Aurora AI Ask in your own words, like "Should I go out tonight?" Aurora AI answers from the live forecast, privately on your device. Requires Apple Intelligence on a supported device. More • Personalized setup: a short quiz tunes your alerts to the way you watch the sky • Forecast history • 11 aurora wallpapers • Works offline with your last forecast • Available in 46 languages Northern Lights Tracker Pro unlocks all alerts, detailed sky and space weather data, and unlimited use of every feature. Privacy: https://sites.google.com/view/aurora-forecast-tracker/main Terms: https://sites.google.com/view/aurora-forecast-tracker-terms/main

Screenshots

Aurora Alert Realtime4 screens
Northern Lights Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Northern Lights Tracker at 4.6 against Aurora Alert Realtime's 3.3. Northern Lights Tracker also leads on ratings volume (192 vs 6) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Aurora Alert Realtime's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 62%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Aurora Alert Realtime sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Northern Lights Tracker sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Northern Lights Tracker holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Northern Lights Tracker has 192 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Aurora Alert Realtime's written reviews are positive against 62% of Northern Lights Tracker's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aurora Alert Realtime ships an update every 2 months, Northern Lights Tracker every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Aurora Alert Realtime versus Northern Lights Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAurora Alert RealtimeNorthern Lights Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (6 ratings)4.6 (192 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews — better62.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6192 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKooditehdas OyMehmet Ali Demir

Customer experience

Aurora Alert Realtime

All ratings6 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%

Northern Lights Tracker

All ratings187 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.7%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive62.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative30.0%

Bugs and requests

Aurora Alert Realtime

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Northern Lights Tracker

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes out of nowhere
  • Phone part of app shows 0%
  • Enable Notifications continuously shuts itself OFF
  • Data seems outdated and freezes
  • App crashes in Norway

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add widgets
  • Correlate probability to times
  • Show probability over time (next 24 hours)
  • Allow setting threshold for 'good chance' notifications
  • Show readings for around the world

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Aurora Alert Realtime

One-time5
  • 1 day subscription$5.99
  • 2 days subscription$9.99
  • 3 days subscription$13.99
Show 2 more
  • 4 days subscription$17.99
  • 5 days subscription$21.99
5 purchases

Northern Lights Tracker

Subscriptions4
  • Weekly3 Days trial$3.997 Days
  • week$3.997 Days
  • month3 Days trial$5.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • year$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$49.99

Questions

Is Aurora Alert Realtime free?
Aurora Alert Realtime is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Northern Lights Tracker free?
Northern Lights Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aurora Alert Realtime or Northern Lights Tracker?
Northern Lights Tracker is rated higher. Aurora Alert Realtime averages 3.3 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Northern Lights Tracker averages 4.6 from 192 ratings.
Do Aurora Alert Realtime or Northern Lights Tracker have ads?
Neither Aurora Alert Realtime nor Northern Lights Tracker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Aurora Alert Realtime or Northern Lights Tracker?
Aurora Alert Realtime ships an update every 2 months, and Northern Lights Tracker every 3 weeks. Most recently, Aurora Alert Realtime was updated on November 7, 2026 and Northern Lights Tracker on November 8, 2026.

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