Ocean Watch vs The Wave Clock
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ocean Watch
Access tide predictions for over 3,300 stations across the US and Caribbean. Visualize tide data with stunning graphics and an interactive almanac. Plan your activities with offline access to predictions and custom notes.
- 3,300+ tide stations
- Stunning graphics and visualizations
- Offline tide predictions
- Interactive almanac
- Integrated station map
- Custom notes and images
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• Over 3,300 stations on every coast of the US and beyond. (Note: limited support for stations beyond the US and Caribbean) • Stunning images, graphics and innovative visualizations to make sense of the information you care most about. • Tide predictions anywhere anytime. Sophisticated prediction algorithms and decades of data, all included so you don’t need a data connection. • Interactive Almanac so you can see the future and make your plans. • Integrated Station Map to get the big picture. • Updated design across Watch / iPhone / iPad and Mac • Best-in-class widgets and complications • Make it personal with custom notes and images.
The Wave Clock
This app provides real-time oceanographic data for coastal locations. View wave heights, periods, and tide information at a glance through an intuitive analog interface. Customize updates for your favorite spots.
- Customizable coastal location updates
- Intuitive analog interface
- Wave heights and period display
- Tide heights and trend
- Real-time oceanographic data
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Allowing us to view the ocean to us in a brand new way is the Wave Clock! The wave Clock is a simple intuitive clock to see everything we need for our favorite spots on the coast at a glance. The Wave Clock offers: •Customization to give constant updates for your coastal location of interest out of many hundreds of locations •Intuitive analog interface •Wave heights and period •Tide heights and trend The Wave Clock queries real-time oceanographic databases customized to the location of your interest and displays the information in an intuitive analog interface. The Wave Clock app can show you at glance or sit on your desk to give you an accurate view of just what’s happening out there. Just set it up for your location so that you don’t have to search to see what’s happening when it matters … NOW!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Ocean Watch at 4.8 against The Wave Clock's 4.0. Ocean Watch also leads on ratings volume (2.5K vs 5) and review sentiment (73% vs 57%). The Wave Clock's advantage is monetization model (free vs paid) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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.
Ocean Watch holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ocean Watch has 2.5K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Ocean Watch's written reviews are positive against 57% of The Wave Clock's.
Ocean Watch ships an update every 8 months, The Wave Clock every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ocean Watch | The Wave Clock |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (2.5K ratings) — better | 4.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 73.3% of reviews — better | 57.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.5K — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 6 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 281 MB | 153 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blue Bright Labs LLC | Wave Cast, LLC |
Customer experience
Ocean Watch
The Wave Clock
Bugs and requests
Ocean Watch
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when trying to open tide station details
- Tide data sometimes stuck on wrong location
- Apple Watch app not syncing or updating correctly
- Issues with the app's widget not displaying accurate information
Requested features
5 requests- Add water temperature and wind speed data
- Improve Apple Watch complication to show more detailed tide information
- Expand coverage to more locations, especially in Canada and other countries
- Add ability to set tide alerts or notifications
- Improve stability and reliability to reduce crashes
The Wave Clock
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ocean Watch
No in-app purchases
The Wave Clock
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Ocean Watch free?
Is The Wave Clock free?
Which has better reviews, Ocean Watch or The Wave Clock?
Do Ocean Watch or The Wave Clock have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ocean Watch or The Wave Clock?
Other comparisons
