Comparison

Blue Map vs QWeather

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

Head to head
About

Blue Map

Access global environmental data, including air and water quality, corporate emissions, and ecological information. Participate in environmental protection by reporting pollution, sharing data, and tracking your low-carbon actions. Visualize environmental conditions with interactive maps and receive AI-driven insights and health alerts.

Highlights
  • Real-time environmental quality data
  • Corporate emissions and performance tracking
  • Public pollution reporting and action
  • Interactive environmental maps
  • AI-powered data insights
  • Personalized health and environmental alerts
Features
Read full description

Blue Map: Your Mobile Portal for Environmental Transparency, Oversight, and Participation We aggregate corporate environmental data, emissions, air/water quality, and ecological info to build a platform where everyone can participate in protecting our planet. 【Data at Your Fingertips】 • Environmental Quality: Real-time air quality in 380 cities & water quality from 1,900+ stations. • Corporate Emissions: Track real-time discharges of 9,000+ air/water polluters. • Corporate Performance: Monitor 6.6M+ enterprises with 1.7M+ violation records. • Carbon Data: Access corporate and regional emissions data for low-carbon action. 【Public Participation】 • Micro-Reporting: Submit pollution leads and track progress, driving thousands of industrial firms to respond and reduce emissions. • One-Key Sharing: Instantly share data on social media, @ authorities to drive action. • Fingertip Environmentalism: Report issues, observe waste sorting, join eco-surveys, log low-carbon acts, and check product footprints with "Carbon-EZ-Check." 【Visual & Interactive Maps】 • 48-Hr Minute-Level Maps: Hourly forecasts for air quality, wind, rain, and typhoons. • Multi-Dimensional Maps: View air/water quality, emissions, corporate records, species distribution, and global solar data in layered visuals. 【AI & Health Features】 • AI Insights: Get plain-English explanations of complex environmental data. • Health Care: Receive alerts for masks, ventilation, air quality, pollen, and outdoor exercise, with personalized risk assessments. Blue Map makes the environment visible and turns your actions into a force for change. 【Honors】 The Blue Map App is developed by the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE), a Beijing-based non-profit. Since 2006, IPE has built open environmental data platforms to drive corporate green transformation and improve governance. Awards include: • 2012: Goldman Environmental Prize; 3rd China Soft Science Award. • 2014: Selected for Beijing's first "Green Environmental Protection Theme App." • 2016: Public Participation & Innovation Award (IFCE). • 2017: Founding Member & Vice Chair, Green Consumption and Supply Chain Alliance. • 2018: Vice Chair, China Green Supply Chain Alliance. • 2020: Founding Member, Green Finance Committee (MIIT). • Mar 2023: National award for COVID-19 community guideline research. • Jul 2023: Outstanding Partner, "Whole Value Chain Model for Plastic Pollution Governance" (All-China Environment Federation). • Mar 2024: Council Member, All-China Environment Federation (5-year term). • Jul 2024: Partner, "Swift Action" Tech Initiative (Chaoyang District). 【Contact】 • Website: https://www.ipe.org.cn • Weibo: http://weibo.com/u/5042247906 • Tel: 010-67189470 ext. 8001 【Thanks】 To everyone tracking pollution, monitoring haze, and sharing forecasts—thank you!

About

QWeather

Visualize global weather trends with detailed map layers and historical data. Receive smart, customized weather alerts for your locations. Access real-time forecasts, air quality, and more for millions of cities worldwide.

Highlights
  • Visualized weather map layers
  • Historical weather data (Time Machine)
  • Smart custom weather reminders
  • Global city weather data
  • Real-time and long-term forecasts
  • Minute precipitation and air quality
  • Typhoons, tides, sunrise/sunset
Features
Read full description

* Visualized Weather App! * Visual Weather Feel the global weather condition trends on QWeather's beautiful weather map. Currently supported map layers include: temperature, pressure, humidity, cloud cover, aurora probability, wave height, sea surface temperature, CAPE, snow depth, dew point temperature, radar reflection, and many more, with more being added all the time. * Time Machine What was the temperature today last week? How many times did it rain last year? How many days are there heavy air pollution? Time machine takes you through weather data from the past. * Smart Reminders "Remind me if it rains in Beijing", a weather forecast set up exactly according to your setting, let you know for different weather in different cities, reducing useless notification. * Global data QWeather supports weather data query for millions of cities around the world. Even if you are drifting in the ocean one day, you can pull out your phone to check the sea surface temperature and wave flow direction :P * Various kinds of weather Real-time weather, up to 30-day forecasts and hour-by-hour forecasts, minute precipitation, weather warnings, real-time air quality and forecasts, historical weather, typhoons, tides, sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset, moon phases, etc... * All Platform Supports iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, macOS (sold separately) ----------------------- # You are a developer? Visit our develop website at https://dev.qweather.com/en/ ----------------------- # QWeather Pro Subscription Service QWeather Pro Subscription unlocks all features, access to more beautiful weather layers, fun app icons, and no ads. Subscriptions include: * QWeather Pro (yearly): $7.49/year * QWeather Pro (monthly): $0.99/month Please note: 1. Auto-renewal: When you subscribe to the QWeather Pro, your subscription will be automatically renewed and extended before each subscription expires. 2. Cancel at any time: You can cancel your subscription at any time by opening "App Store > Avatar > Subscriptions" and selecting "Cancel QWeather Pro subscription". If you cancel within 24 hours before the subscription expires, the App store will still bill you for the next subscription period. 3. Change the subscription term: You can choose to move from a monthly subscription to an annual subscription to enjoy more discounted offers. When you do so, you will pay for the new subscription period after the current subscription expires. ----------------------- # Terms of Service and Privacy We take your rights and privacy very seriously, please read the following terms carefully before you start using. Privacy Policy: https://staticpages.qweather.com/en/legal/privacy.html Terms of Service: https://staticpages.qweather.com/en/legal/app-tos.html ----------------------- # Your feedback and suggestions are valuable information for us, any questions and ideas, feel free to contact us at: support@qweather.com

Screenshots

Blue Map4 screens
QWeather4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Blue Map at 5.0 against QWeather's 4.1. Blue Map also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). QWeather's advantage is ratings volume (107 vs 2) and review sentiment (73% vs 64%). On price and update cadence 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. QWeather sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month. Blue Map asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Blue Map holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: QWeather has 107 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 64% of Blue Map's written reviews are positive against 73% of QWeather's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blue Map ships an update every 2 weeks, QWeather monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Blue Map versus QWeather: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlue MapQWeather
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.1 (107 ratings)
Positive reviews64.5% of reviews73.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2107 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS1512.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size127 MB301 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer北京市朝阳区公众环境研究中心Hefeng Internet Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Blue Map

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive64.5%
Neutral13.2%
Negative22.4%

QWeather

All ratings107 ratings
Positive74.8%
Neutral6.5%
Negative18.7%
Written reviews79 reviews
Positive73.4%
Neutral6.3%
Negative20.3%

In-app purchases

None

Blue Map

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

QWeather

Subscriptions4
  • QWeather Ads-FREE (Monthly)$0.491 Month
  • QWeather Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • QWeather Ads-Free (Annual)$4.491 Year
Show 1 more
  • QWeather Pro (Annual)$7.491 Year

Questions

Is Blue Map free?
Blue Map is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is QWeather free?
QWeather is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Blue Map or QWeather?
Blue Map is rated higher. Blue Map averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while QWeather averages 4.1 from 107 ratings.
Do Blue Map or QWeather have ads?
QWeather shows ads; Blue Map does not.
Which is updated more often, Blue Map or QWeather?
Blue Map ships an update every 2 weeks, and QWeather monthly. Most recently, Blue Map was updated on October 17, 2026 and QWeather on October 15, 2026.

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