Comparison

Windrose Radar vs Aurora Expert

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

Head to head
About

Windrose Radar

Features
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Check rain radar, compare forecasts and plan time outdoors. Windrose brings everyday weather, optional alerts and specialist tools together on iPhone and iPad. EVERYDAY WEATHER — FREE • A 7-day forecast, 12 hours of detail and modeled current conditions. • Observed rain radar with a timeline you can scrub, where coverage is available. • Estimated rain timing and a one-hour rain chart in 15-minute forecast steps. • A standard 30-minute Focus Window suggestion, checked against a full hourly forecast block. • UV, sunrise, sunset and modeled air quality where available. • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, plus rain Live Activities. • Current location and two saved places, Home/Work shortcuts, backup export and private iCloud place sync. Official warnings remain free in Hong Kong, the United States and participating European and nearby countries. Check the affected area, issuing authority and valid times. Optional notifications depend on permission, connectivity and iOS background scheduling; emergency delivery is not guaranteed. European warning notifications cover red-level warnings; other supported warnings remain visible in the app. MORE DETAIL WITH WINDROSE PRO • Up to 16 forecast days, 48 hourly hours and a six-hour rain chart. • Custom Focus Window duration, rain, gust and temperature preferences. • Experimental future radar: motion estimates from available observed frames, up to three hours ahead, with decreasing reliability over time. • Infrared satellite cloud imagery where coverage is available. • An interactive pressure map with isobars, highs and lows, illustrative flow and supported tropical-cyclone tracks. Pressure readings are sampled or interpolated model estimates. • Marine forecasts for waves, swell, sea state, sea temperature, currents, wind and gusts where available. • Aviation reports and tools: METARs, TAFs, reporting airports, SIGMET information, modeled winds aloft and a density-altitude calculator. • Unlimited saved places and no ads. MAKE IT YOURS Choose your units and appearance, then reorder or hide dashboard cards. Forecast validity and download times are shown separately, with clear messages when data is missing, stale or unavailable. Coverage varies by location and product. Use official warnings and briefings for safety decisions. Marine and aviation tools provide awareness, not navigation or flight-planning authority. The app interface, widgets and Live Activities support 50 languages. Official narratives and place names may retain their supplied language. SUBSCRIPTIONS Pro is available monthly or annually. The App Store shows current prices, billing periods and any introductory offer you are eligible for before purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings at least 24 hours before renewal or trial end. Restore purchases in the app. Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://mwsupplylimited.github.io/windrose/privacy.html

About

Aurora Expert

Features
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Live data from NOAA’s new solar wind sentinel SOLAR-1: Aurora Expert tells you whether you can see the aurora tonight – at your place, with clouds, darkness and the moon. FREE • Tonight’s chance at your place, in five levels from “Very low” to “Very likely” – and every value says when it is from. • Why this verdict? Tap ⓘ: the factors behind the chance and the Kp it takes where you are. • Forecast for up to three nights: Kp, how far the aurora reaches, and the clouds when Apple Weather provides them. • Globe with a time scrubber: NOAA’s aurora oval twelve hours back and ahead, with the day and night side. For both hemispheres. • An alert for your home when the aurora activity there reaches the threshold and it is dark – with a test alert, so you know it arrives. • Red light and field mode for outside: compass and the key values, and your eyes stay adapted to the dark. • Live Activity and widgets for the Lock Screen and StandBy. • Journal with a season summary: for each place, from your own answers, how often you saw the aurora at each forecast level. • At Kp 7 or more, the storm cockpit is open for one night without Aurora Pro. AURORA PRO – ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION • Place alerts: alerts for every saved place within aurora range, your own threshold of 25, 50 or 75%, wake for strong activity. Save unlimited places. • Trip planner: the best spot for every night of your trip, with route and leave-by reminder. • Tonight from here: clearer places within a 30 to 90 minute drive. • Your best nights: season calendar and widget. • Storm cockpit: Deep Dive with solar wind, Kp history and raw data, substorm tracker, CME outlook and live tiles in field mode. • My nights: photos for your nights, a gallery and export as CSV or JSON. DATA Aurora activity (OVATION), Kp and storm warnings from NOAA SWPC, solar wind from NOAA SOLAR-1 / ACE at the Lagrange point L1, clouds from Apple Weather. No ads, no tracking.

Screenshots

Windrose Radar4 screens
Aurora Expert4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Aurora Expert at none against Windrose Radar's shown. On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support 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

Both are free to download. Windrose Radar sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Aurora Expert sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Windrose Radar ships an update every 3 days, Aurora Expert every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 5 level
Windrose Radar versus Aurora Expert: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWindrose RadarAurora Expert
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatthew WongMark Baumann

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Windrose Radar

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly3 Days trial$24.991 Year
1 purchases

Aurora Expert

One-time1
  • Aurora Export Pro Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is Windrose Radar free?
Windrose Radar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Aurora Expert free?
Aurora Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Windrose Radar or Aurora Expert have ads?
Windrose Radar shows ads; Aurora Expert does not.
Which is updated more often, Windrose Radar or Aurora Expert?
Windrose Radar ships an update every 3 days, and Aurora Expert every 6 days. Most recently, Windrose Radar was updated on October 31, 2026 and Aurora Expert on October 31, 2026.

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