Lightning Tracker vs Flow AQ | Air Quality
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lightning Tracker
Track real-time lightning strikes and receive nearby alerts with a live storm map. Customize alert radii and view detailed strike information, including history and radar overlays. Offers both free and subscription options for enhanced features.
- Live lightning strike map
- Customizable alert radii
- Push notifications for strikes
- 7-day strike history
- Storm replay functionality
- Weather radar overlay
- Ground mode for strike filtering
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Lightning Alerts is a live lightning tracker and storm map with nearby alerts, for iPhone and iPad. Lightning data powered by Vaisala Xweather. Choose an alert radius from 5 to 50 km, or 3 to 30 miles, separately for My Location and one Saved Place. Alerts come as push notifications, also when the app is closed. My Location alerts use your position from the last time the app was open; a Saved Place stays fixed. The app does not track your location continuously in the background, and the live map updates only while the app is open. Free with ads: the live map, strike details and filters, radar, alerts for both places, and the 7-day strike history summary. One storm replay is free every 30 days. Continuing live map updates may require watching a short ad after the included refreshes are used. Pro is an optional monthly subscription that removes ads, adds storm Live Activities on the iPhone Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, keeps live map updates running without watching an ad, even for big areas, and unlocks every storm replay in strike history. Open the map without creating an app account. Check recent strike activity before travel, golf, hiking, boating, surfing, fishing, open-water activities, or everyday weather planning. The map can show both ground-reaching and intracloud strikes. Ground mode helps filter cloud flashes so busy storms are easier to read. What you can see: - Live map of recent strike activity - Nearby alerts for your location or a saved place - No app account required to open the map - Ground-reaching and intracloud strike types - Ground mode to reduce cloud-flash noise - Closest-strike distance, age, direction, and street context - Strike strength, polarity, and detailed strike type - Polarity filter: show only positive or only negative ground and cloud strikes - Strength filter and Find > Strongest in view - Find > Strike history: the last 7 days around your location or saved place, with storm replays - Camera aim: where to point your camera and how far to tilt it for red sprites above a distant storm - Weather radar with strikes on the same map - Save one place you care about - Clear controls for alerts, ads, privacy, and analytics Use Lightning Alerts before you head outside, while storms are nearby, or when you want a clearer view of activity around a place. Choose the strike filter, inspect the closest strike, and use notifications to return to the live map when activity changes. Photographers and sprite chasers can show only positive ground strikes, which are less common and often stronger. Tap a strike to see its distance and direction. Lightning Alerts is a weather awareness tool, not an emergency warning system. Always follow official weather alerts, local rules, and venue safety guidance. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Flow AQ | Air Quality
Understand current and future air quality with sophisticated forecasts and real-time data. Plan your day confidently with personalized alerts for air quality hazards.
- 4-day air quality forecasts
- Hour-by-hour predictions
- Real-time air quality insights
- Personalized air quality alerts
- Physics-Based AI forecasting
- Simple, easy-to-understand design
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Flow AQ – Smart Air Quality Forecasts & Insights, Designed Around Your Day Flow AQ helps you understand the air you breathe — now and days ahead — so you can plan your life with confidence. Using a unique Physics-Based AI forecasting system, Flow AQ delivers the world’s most sophisticated air quality forecasts and real-time conditions across the U.S. and Canada in a beautifully simple app. Air Quality Simplified. Key Features 4-Day Air Quality Forecasts • Plan outdoor activities ahead of time • Hour-by-hour forecasts show when air quality will worsen — and when it will improve • Advanced modeling captures wildfire smoke, dust, smog, and wintertime inversions Real-Time Air Quality Conditions • Live air quality insights powered by over 20,000 sensors • Make informed decisions when current conditions matter Personalized Air Quality Alerts • Get notified when current or forecasted air quality hazards affect your area • Stay proactive about the air you breathe and daily activities Beautifully Simple Design • You don’t need to be an expert in atmospheric science to use the most sophisticated model around, Flow AQ is easy to use • Simply view real-time conditions, see the forecast, and set up custom alerts • Powerful science, made easy to understand Powered by Physics-Based AI Flow AQ combines high-resolution atmospheric simulations with machine learning, the same class of tools used in scientific research, to deliver more accurate and reliable air quality forecasts. Flow AQ is powered by Trace Air Quality’s Air Quality Analytics (AQA) Engine. Learn more about our forecasting technology: https://www.traceaq.com/aqaenginewhitepaper Privacy & Data Use Flow AQ collects your name, email address, coarse location, app performance data, and anonymized crash reports to deliver forecasts and alerts. Full privacy policy: https://www.flowaq.com/privacy-policy Data Sources & Attributions The current air quality conditions displayed within Flow AQ are an aggregation of available sensor networks. Some observations are sourced from the U.S. EPA AirNow Data Exchange. These data are preliminary. We credit the EPA AirNow program and their partners, which may be found at the following address: https://www.airnow.gov/partners/ This layer is further powered, in part, by PurpleAir (https://map.purpleair.com/). Underlying air quality data utilized by Trace AQ / Flow AQ is sourced from PurpleAir, a network of consumer sensors. Sensors are owned and managed by consumers; therefore, PurpleAir does not guarantee data accuracy. All insights and claims are solely made by Flow AQ. Additional data is provided, in part, by AirGradient via OpenAQ (https://openaq.org/).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Flow AQ | Air Quality at 100% against Lightning Tracker's 50%. Flow AQ | Air Quality also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (35 vs 2). Lightning Tracker's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). 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
Both are free to download. Lightning Tracker sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Flow AQ | Air Quality asks for nothing beyond the download.
Lightning Tracker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Flow AQ | Air Quality has 35 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Lightning Tracker's written reviews are positive against 100% of Flow AQ | Air Quality's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Lightning Tracker ships an update every 3 days, Flow AQ | Air Quality fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lightning Tracker | Flow AQ | Air Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.7 (35 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 35 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lightning Alerts Oy | Trace Air Quality Inc |
Customer experience
Lightning Tracker
Flow AQ | Air Quality
In-app purchases
Lightning Tracker
- Ad-free monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
Flow AQ | Air Quality
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Lightning Tracker free?
Is Flow AQ | Air Quality free?
Which has better reviews, Lightning Tracker or Flow AQ | Air Quality?
Do Lightning Tracker or Flow AQ | Air Quality have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lightning Tracker or Flow AQ | Air Quality?
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