Cloud Identifier vs Backyard Weather
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cloud Identifier
Instantly identify clouds with AI by taking a photo of the sky. Get detailed insights like cloud type, rarity, storm potential, and composition. Track your discoveries and explore a built-in cloud guide.
- Instant AI cloud identification
- Detailed cloud insights (type, rarity, storm potential)
- Personal cloud discovery tracking
- Built-in cloud encyclopedia
- Simple point-and-scan interface
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Identify clouds instantly with AI. Simply take a photo of the sky and get detailed, fascinating insights about the clouds above you. Each scan reveals rich information, including cloud type, rarity, storm potential, composition, mood, a poetic title, and a confidence score — helping you understand both the science and atmosphere of the sky. Keep track of your cloud discoveries with personal stats and saved scans. See which cloud types you encounter most and uncover rare formations you may never notice otherwise. Explore clouds in depth with a built-in cloud guide, designed like a mini encyclopedia. Learn how different clouds form, change, and signal weather patterns in a simple, visual, and enjoyable way. Designed for curiosity and ease of use, the app lets you point, scan, and understand the sky in seconds — no prior knowledge required at all. Terms of Use: By using this app, you agree to the Apple Standard End User License Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
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.
- 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
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**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
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Backyard Weather at every 3 weeks against Cloud Identifier's every 4 months. Backyard Weather also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Cloud Identifier sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days and Backyard Weather sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $14.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Cloud Identifier against 5.0 for Backyard Weather. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Cloud Identifier ships an update every 4 months, Backyard Weather every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 25, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cloud Identifier | Backyard Weather |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | 17.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Sheng Yong Loh | Samuel Albrecht |
Customer experience
Cloud Identifier
Backyard Weather
In-app purchases
Cloud Identifier
- Cloud Identifier - One Week Premium3 Days trial$3.997 Days
- Cloud Identifier - One Year Premium$29.991 Year
Backyard Weather
- Backyard Weather Pro1 Month trial$14.991 Year
Questions
Is Cloud Identifier free?
Is Backyard Weather free?
Which has better reviews, Cloud Identifier or Backyard Weather?
Do Cloud Identifier or Backyard Weather have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cloud Identifier or Backyard Weather?
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