Comparison

PWSView vs Backyard Weather

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

Head to head
About

PWSView

Access real-time weather data from your personal weather station on your iPhone and iPad. Monitor multiple stations, track daily extremes, and customize your display with flexible units and widgets.

Highlights
  • Real-time weather data
  • Multiple station support
  • Daily high/low tracking
  • Imperial and Metric units
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • iCloud sync
  • Apple Watch support
Features
Read full description

PWSViewer brings your personal weather station data directly to your iPhone and iPad. Designed specifically for Ecowitt weather stations, this app provides real-time access to detailed weather information from your home or multiple locations. Key Features: • Real-time Weather Data - View current conditions including temperature, humidity, wind speed/gust/direction, rainfall, UV, dew point, and barometric pressure • Multiple Station Support - Monitor up to two weather stations from one convenient app • Daily High/Low Tracking - Keep track of temperature extremes for the day • Flexible Unit System - Switch between Imperial (°F, in, mph) and Metric (°C, mm, km/h) units • Companion Widgets - Access key weather information right from your home screen • Lock Screen Widgets - Access key weather information right from your lock screen • iCloud Sync - Sync across multiple devices • Customizable Display - Toggle condition emojis and choose between traditional or piezoelectric rain gauges • Apple Watch Support How It Works: 1. Add your weather station MAC address, Application and API credentials in settings 2. Configure display preferences and units 3. View detailed real-time weather data on your device 4. Access key information through the companion widget Note: Requires an Ecowitt personal weather station with internet connectivity, valid API key and Application key. API and Application keys can be obtained through your Ecowitt.net account under your profile. Download now to take full control of your personal weather data!

About

Backyard Weather

Monitor personal weather stations, aviation weather, and coastal conditions. View current readings, historical charts for up to 11 metrics, and customize units. Offers widgets and a watch app for convenient access to weather data.

Highlights
  • Personal weather station monitoring
  • Aviation weather (METAR)
  • Coastal conditions (NOAA tides)
  • Current conditions and historical charts
  • Customizable units and display
  • Widgets and watch app support
Features
Read full description

**Personal Weather Station & Aviation Weather** Connect a PWS via Weather Underground, monitor aviation weather from any METAR airport, or track tides and coastal conditions from NOAA CO-OPS stations. **Three station types** • PWS — personal weather stations via Weather Underground • METAR — airport observations, updated every few minutes at most US airports • NOAA — tide gauges and coastal stations **Current conditions** Live readings with charts underneath, plus the record high, record low and average for today's date from your station's full archive. Up to 12 metrics depending on station type: temperature, feels like, humidity, wind, dew point, pressure, precipitation, UV, solar radiation, visibility, water temperature, and water level/tide. **Rich history charts** 1-day and 7-day charts you can drag to read exact values, times and wind direction. US airport stations fill in between the hourly reports, so today's line is a curve rather than 24 steps. **Alerts** Get notified when your station crosses a value you choose — a freeze, a gust, an inch of rain — or when it stops reporting altogether. Pressure drops, temperature swings and wind shifts are built in as ready-made rules. **Customisable units & display** 12- or 24-hour time, metric or imperial, and precision options for every number. **Color themes** Nine palettes for your charts and calendars. Preview any of them across every metric before you decide. **Widgets (Supporter)** Graph widgets for any metric over 1 or 7 days, a single-metric widget for one big number, a year-at-a-glance calendar, long-range history charts, a records widget, and Lock Screen complications. **Watch app (Supporter)** Temperature, feels like, humidity, wind, pressure and precipitation as watch complications, with every current metric and its graph in the app itself. **History & Records (Supporter)** Daily detail for any year your station has recorded — airports often reach back decades — plus all-time records, a record high and low for every calendar day, and yearly trends that overlay up to ten years on one chart. Free includes current conditions, 1-day and 7-day charts, one month of history, one alert per station, and three colour themes. Note: a Weather Underground API key is required for PWS stations. METAR and NOAA stations are free and need no API key. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

PWSView4 screens
Backyard Weather4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Backyard Weather at Free against PWSView's $0.99. PWSView's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On update cadence, 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

Backyard Weather is free to download; PWSView costs $0.99 up front. Backyard Weather sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $14.99 per year. PWSView asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PWSView ships an update every 2 weeks, Backyard Weather every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PWSView versus Backyard Weather: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPWSViewBackyard Weather
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.017.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB21 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperCurtis NettervilleSamuel Albrecht

Customer experience

PWSView

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Backyard Weather

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

PWSView

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Backyard Weather

Subscriptions1
  • Backyard Weather Pro1 Month trial$14.991 Year

Questions

Is PWSView free?
PWSView costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backyard Weather free?
Backyard Weather is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PWSView or Backyard Weather have ads?
Neither PWSView nor Backyard Weather shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PWSView or Backyard Weather?
PWSView ships an update every 2 weeks, and Backyard Weather every 3 weeks. Most recently, PWSView was updated on September 23, 2026 and Backyard Weather on September 30, 2026.

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