Comparison

Weather Basic vs ChaseBuddy

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

Head to head
About

Weather Basic

Features
Read full description

Hello everyone! My goal was a quick, intuitive & easy to read interface for glancing at the forecast. Weather Basic exposes the basic components of the forecast to you in a presentable manner. Having no ads & being accessible were key to making it work for me. A few people were interested and tested for a while, so I decided to publish on the app store for more people to hopefully enjoy. Depending on download count and feedback, I can devote more of my time to app improvements, mostly to the quality of the forecast data. If you'd like to request a feature, you can reach out using the 'Report an Issue' button in the settings menu.

About

ChaseBuddy

Features
Read full description

ChaseBuddy brings advanced weather analysis together in one powerful mobile app for weather enthusiasts, storm spotters and storm chasers across Europe. Built from real field experience, ChaseBuddy is designed to give you a fast, practical and detailed view of the atmosphere without having to switch between multiple platforms. Radar, lightning, satellite imagery, storm tracking, model guidance, soundings and field tools are all brought together in one place. With ChaseBuddy, you can explore: European radar coverage View full European EUMETNET radar imagery with both base reflectivity and base velocity. Radar data can be displayed in both 2D and 3D, with advanced probing tools that let you inspect per-pixel values such as dBZ and m/s. In 3D mode, ChaseBuddy can also show the radar beam height so you can see how high above ground a radar echo is at a given distance from the radar. Live lightning and storm tracking Follow live lightning strikes and up to two hours of lightning history. ChaseBuddy includes clustering, storm tracking and extrapolation tools, along with detailed storm metrics such as bearing, speed, area, lightning count and trends in size and intensity. Detailed storm overview Browse a complete overview of active storms and sort or filter them by multiple parameters. Open detailed graphs to see how a storm has evolved over time, then jump directly to it on the map. Intercept and chase tools Assign a storm as a chase target and define an intercept location. ChaseBuddy will estimate when the storm will pass that point, how close it will come and where it is expected to be at its nearest approach. Satellite imagery Use a wide range of satellite products, including infrared, water vapor, airmass, convection, lifted index, high-resolution visible imagery, and Metop-B and Metop-C products. Satellite imagery can also follow the radar loop for easier comparison during evolving weather situations. Model guidance and synoptic analysis Overlay weather model data such as 10 m wind fields, mean sea level pressure, 500 mb geopotential heights, pressure at 2 PVU and NHC tropical guidance. Selected products, including 500 mb geopotential heights, can be viewed in both 2D and 3D. Soundings on demand Request a full Skew-T Log-P sounding for any location to support deeper convective and thermodynamic analysis in the field. Observations Access weather observations from METAR, SYNOP and buoy data, including temperature, dew point and dew point depression. Aurora tools Consult aurora forecast guidance and use range rings to estimate where to look, how high above the horizon the aurora may appear and whether visibility is realistic from your location. Map tools for the field Use built-in tools to draw distance lines, circles and polygons, with calculated metrics directly on the map. New timeline controls also let you slide through radar imagery more precisely. Sky photography locations Discover community-shared shooting locations for photographing the sky. Preview locations directly on your phone in Google Street View and navigate there instantly, including through Waze when installed. Customizable experience Adjust the app to your own preferences with flexible settings for radar playback, radar history, lightning display, satellite follow mode, graphical fidelity, 3D display options, intercept behavior and wind streamline styling. ChaseBuddy is built for the European weather community and aims to make advanced weather analysis in the field more accessible, more practical and more powerful.

Screenshots

Weather Basic4 screens
ChaseBuddy1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: ChaseBuddy at 3 against Weather Basic's 1. ChaseBuddy also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Weather Basic ships an update every 2 weeks, ChaseBuddy every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Weather Basic versus ChaseBuddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWeather BasicChaseBuddy
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNathaniel MurphyDzengiz Tafa

In-app purchases

None

Weather Basic

No in-app purchases

None

ChaseBuddy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Weather Basic free?
Weather Basic is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChaseBuddy free?
ChaseBuddy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Weather Basic or ChaseBuddy have ads?
Neither Weather Basic nor ChaseBuddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Weather Basic or ChaseBuddy?
Weather Basic ships an update every 2 weeks, and ChaseBuddy every 3 weeks. Most recently, Weather Basic was updated on October 30, 2026 and ChaseBuddy on November 5, 2026.

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