Wind & Runways vs Weather Live
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Wind & Runways
This app provides pilots with essential preflight information, including wind components, runway diagrams, and weather data for over 76,000 airports worldwide. It helps pilots assess conditions at both major and smaller, non-towered fields, and includes NOTAMs for operational awareness.
- Wind component calculations for runways
- Visual runway diagrams with surface type
- METAR, TAF, and NOTAM data integration
- Map view with radar and airspace layers
- Flight route creation and navigation log
- Support for over 76,000 airports worldwide
- Live observation age updates
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Wind & Runways helps pilots quickly understand how the current wind lines up with the runway. It brings together METARs, runway data, TAF-based wind trends, NOTAMs, airport details, radar coverage, airspace information, and route planning in a simple view built around the decisions pilots actually make. For pilots using Stratux, Wind & Runways can also connect directly to compatible Linux-based Stratux ADS-B hardware to provide live traffic information along with cockpit instruments including an artificial horizon and compass with an adjustable heading bug. For each airport, the app calculates headwind, tailwind, and crosswind components for every runway end using the latest available weather. A visual runway diagram makes it easy to see the wind direction at a glance, and the app can suggest the best runway based on the strongest headwind component. When the wind is calm or mostly direct crosswind, it says that clearly instead of forcing a recommendation. Runway diagrams show paved runways in gray and turf or grass runways in green, making surface type easy to spot. Helipads are displayed separately with an H symbol and wind indication. The map view helps you understand the bigger picture around your route or local flying area. You can view nearby METAR stations, see where current observations are available, check radar coverage, display rendered airspace, and turn on a TFR layer directly on the map. You can also create, edit, and save flight routes by adding airports, stations, or fixes, then view a basic navigation log with leg distances and route details. This makes it easier to compare conditions across airports, spot nearby reporting stations, identify active flight restrictions, and keep weather, airspace, and route-planning awareness in one place. Wind & Runways is not limited to airports with their own weather stations. I built it specifically so pilots could check conditions at the little grass strips, private fields, and non-towered airports around them — not just the larger airports with METARs. If an airport does not report its own weather, the app finds a nearby reporting station and clearly shows where the weather is coming from, including the distance to that station. Weather data comes from NOAA’s Aviation Weather Center. Airport cards show wind, gusts, altimeter, temperature, visibility, ceiling layers, present weather, and flight category. Observation age updates live so you can quickly tell how fresh the report is. The Wind tab uses TAF data to show how wind is expected to change over the next several hours, helping you plan for a later departure or arrival. Wind & Runways includes airport and runway information for more than 76,000 airports worldwide using the OurAirports database, including many smaller strips and private fields. Name, elevation, runway data, and surface information are available even for many airports that do not report their own weather. The NOTAMs tab pulls active FAA Notices to Air Missions so you can check for runway closures, TFRs, equipment outages, and other operational items without leaving the app. You can save favorite airports, reorder them, and sync them across devices with Apple or Google sign-in. You can also use the app without an account. Recently loaded METAR, TAF, and NOTAM data remains available offline, with stale data clearly marked. Unit preferences are supported for wind speed, temperature, altimeter, and elevation. Wind & Runways is built by a pilot, for pilots — with a fast, cockpit-friendly layout focused on runway wind, airport weather, traffic awareness, airspace, route planning, and the information you want close at hand before and during a flight. Free to download. Sign in to sync favorites, or use it anonymously.
Weather Live
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Weather Live brings real-time wind and weather from thousands of Windguru stations to your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch — wrapped in a living interface that animates to match the conditions outside. Whether you kitesurf, windsurf, sail, paraglide or just love the outdoors, Weather Live keeps the numbers that matter one glance away. LIVE CONDITIONS, BEAUTIFULLY ANIMATED • Real-time temperature, wind speed, gusts and direction • Backgrounds that come alive with the weather — heat haze, blowing wind, rain, snow and drifting clouds • A clean, modern design that puts your data first YOUR STATIONS, YOUR WAY • Add any Windguru station by name or ID • Browse every station on an interactive world map and add your favourites • Rename stations to whatever you'll recognise • Reorder your list and choose a featured station FORECASTS & HISTORY • Hourly forecast for the next 24 hours • 7-day outlook • 24-hour history charts for temperature, wind and direction WIDGETS & COMPLICATIONS • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets • Apple Watch complications in every style — circular, rectangular, inline and corner • Choose which station each one shows ON EVERY DEVICE • iPhone, iPad and Mac • Apple Watch app with live conditions and forecasts • Your stations and settings stay in sync MADE FOR YOU • Metric or imperial — °C/°F and knots, mph or km/h • Fast, lightweight and privacy-friendly: no account, no tracking Download Weather Live and never miss the perfect window again.
Screenshots
Verdict
Wind & Runways and Weather Live are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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.
| Parameter | Wind & Runways | Weather Live |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jeff Cardillo | Koray Birand |
In-app purchases
Wind & Runways
No in-app purchases
Weather Live
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Wind & Runways free?
Is Weather Live free?
Do Wind & Runways or Weather Live have ads?
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