479WX vs Before It Strikes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
479WX
This app provides a local weather grid for Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley, featuring live radar, active alerts, and community storm reports. It offers a map-first experience to track changing skies, watch live severe weather coverage, and share observations with others.
- Live interactive radar for local storm tracking
- Severe weather alerts, watches, and warnings
- Community storm reports with media
- Live severe weather coverage
- Map layers for weather context
- Focus on Northwest Arkansas and River Valley
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479WX is a local weather grid for Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley, built for the moments when the sky changes fast. Follow live radar, active alerts, community storm reports, and severe weather coverage in one map-first experience. See what is happening nearby, watch live coverage during active weather, and share what you are seeing with your community. Features: • Live interactive radar built for local storm tracking • Severe weather alerts, watches, and warnings on the map • Community storm reports with photos, videos, and location context • Live severe weather coverage when storms are active • Layers for radar, posts, alerts, and other local weather context • Designed around Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley 479WX is intended to help you stay weather-aware, but it should not be your only source for life-safety decisions. Always follow official warnings, emergency management guidance, and instructions from local authorities.
Before It Strikes
This app provides real-time severe weather alerts and lightning prediction. It offers a 30-minute safety countdown after lightning strikes and displays high-resolution 3D radar. Receive instant National Weather Service warnings for any saved location.
- Lightning safety countdown
- Official NWS alerts
- Hi-res 3D radar
- Storm Center overview
- Heads-up storm notifications
- Apple Watch integration
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Severe weather, before it happens. You shouldn't find out about a storm when the first bolt hits. Before It Strikes watches the sky for you — pushing official National Weather Service warnings the instant they're issued, tracking storms headed your way, and counting down exactly when it's safe to go back outside. Free. Nationwide. Built for anyone who has to make the call to head inside. -Lightning safety countdown When lightning strikes within 10 miles, a 30-minute timer starts — and resets with every nearby strike, just like the 30-30 rule the pros use. When it reaches zero, you're clear. It lives right on your Lock Screen and Apple Watch. -Official NWS alerts, instantly Tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash-flood warnings straight from the National Weather Service — for home, the lake house, the kids' school, anywhere you save. With a live expiration countdown, plain-English guidance, and every affected county. - Hi-res 3D radar Crisp, smooth radar you can tilt into 3D and zoom to your own street. 150+ live radar sites, nationwide — pan to any storm in the country. - Storm Center One screen that reads the sky: a 1–5 threat level, live lightning rate, the nearest strike, the next-6-hour outlook, and local storm reports as they land. - See it coming A heads-up when a storm is overhead or heading your way — with tornado, wind, and hail threats in plain words, before the first bolt. - On your wrist The all-clear countdown mirrors to your Apple Watch as a glowing ring — a glance tells you whether it's safe to go back out. - Follows you Save every place you care about, or let it track wherever you are. Loud when it counts, silent when it doesn't. No subscription. No paywall on safety. Every feature, free. A note on safety Official National Weather Service warnings are always the source of truth. Some features — such as lightning prediction and storm scoring — are experimental situational awareness and should never be used in place of official warnings or lightning-safety guidance. When in doubt, seek shelter.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: 479WX at 15.1 against Before It Strikes's 17.0. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for 479WX against 5.0 for Before It Strikes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 7 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
| Parameter | 479WX | Before It Strikes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Denton Sachs | Cody Negri |
Customer experience
479WX
Before It Strikes
In-app purchases
479WX
No in-app purchases
Before It Strikes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is 479WX free?
Is Before It Strikes free?
Which has better reviews, 479WX or Before It Strikes?
Do 479WX or Before It Strikes have ads?
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