Comparison

Tides Explorer vs Tideglass

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

Head to head
About

Tides Explorer

This app provides accurate tide, current, and weather predictions using official NOAA data for thousands of stations. Plan your water activities with clear charts, sun/moon information, and customizable widgets.

Highlights
  • Accurate tide and current predictions
  • Fast station search
  • Favorites for quick access
  • Interactive charts
  • Weather data at stations
  • Sun, moon, and twilight info
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
Features
Read full description

Tides Explorer — Accurate Tides, Currents, and Marine Weather Tides Explorer is a precision tide and current app for sailors, boaters, paddlers, and swimmers, built on official NOAA data covering over 6,000 stations across the United States and international waters. It helps you understand not just what the water will do, but when and why, using clear charts and reliable predictions you can plan around. Core Features Get accurate tide and current predictions straight from NOAA, with fast search by name or location and interactive charts for exploring and comparing stations. At supported stations, see real observed water levels laid over the prediction (Pro) — so you know what the water's actually doing, not just what it's supposed to do. Save your favorite spots for quick access (Pro), track real-time weather at supported stations — wind, air and water temperature, and barometric pressure (Pro) — and check sun, moon, and twilight times to help plan your time on the water. Plan Around What Matters to You Drag a custom reference line onto any favorite station's chart — on a current station, mark a safe velocity to catch slack water before transiting a pass — and see exactly when you're above or below it. Set alerts for high and low tides, current extremes, your reference line, or slack water itself (Pro), plus new Moon Over Water alerts for when moonrise or moonset lines up with the water near sunset or sunrise. Designed for Apple Platforms Tides Explorer includes Home and Lock Screen widgets and a full Apple Watch app with multiple complications, all optimized for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Built for the Water Ideal for sailing, boating, kayaking, swimming, fishing, and coastal exploration, Tides Explorer delivers dependable marine data without clutter, so you can plan confidently and focus on the water.

About

Tideglass

Features
Read full description

Tideglass is a free, offline tide instrument for iPhone and Apple Watch. Designed like a vintage marine chronometer in brass and navy — no ads, no accounts, no internet required. FEATURES ◆ ~8,000 tide stations worldwide, all bundled in the app ◆ Pannable 24-hour chart with a static centre cursor — swipe to scrub ±7 days, with a magnetic snap when you cross "now" ◆ 30-day histogram: every day's maximum high and minimum low as paired bars, with the spring/neap pulse plain to see ◆ 12-month envelope: a smoothed year-at-a-glance view of the highs and lows around your spot ◆ Top-5 tide rankings: see the biggest highs and deepest lows in any visible window ◆ Sunrise, sunset, moon phase, and your nearest station's name at a glance ◆ Mechanical-drum readout for time and water level, with selection haptics as you scrub ◆ Apple Watch standalone — runs without iPhone, same instrument feel on the wrist PRIVACY ◆ Location is read only on device to find your nearest tide station — nothing is transmitted, stored, or shared ◆ No accounts, no analytics, no ads, no tracking DATA Tide harmonics derived from the open OpenWaters database (NOAA + TICON-4). Predictions are sub-hour accurate at most reference stations. Subordinate stations rely on time and height offsets from a parent station. RECREATIONAL USE ONLY. Not for marine navigation. Always consult official hydrographic publications for safety-critical decisions.

Screenshots

Tides Explorer4 screens
Tideglass3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Tideglass at none against Tides Explorer's 1. Tideglass also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Tides Explorer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tideglass asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tides Explorer ships an update every 2 months, Tideglass every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Tides Explorer versus Tideglass: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTides ExplorerTideglass
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (26 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings26 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLonnie MillettIvan Shestakov

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Tides Explorer

One-time1
  • Lifetime purchase$3.00
None

Tideglass

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tides Explorer free?
Tides Explorer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tideglass free?
Tideglass is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Tides Explorer or Tideglass have ads?
Neither Tides Explorer nor Tideglass shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tides Explorer or Tideglass?
Tides Explorer ships an update every 2 months, and Tideglass every 8 days. Most recently, Tides Explorer was updated on November 3, 2026 and Tideglass on October 31, 2026.

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