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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

First Alert 4 Weather vs WWBT First Alert Weather

First Alert 4 Weather 4.7★ · Free to download 55
Winner Tie
WWBT First Alert Weather 4.7★ · Free to download 58

Both First Alert 4 Weather and WWBT First Alert Weather struggle with intrusive ads and app stability issues, making it difficult to recommend one over the other, though WWBT has a slight edge in overall user satisfaction.

Full reviews: First Alert 4 Weather · WWBT First Alert Weather

First Alert 4 Weather and WWBT First Alert Weather are both free local weather apps that face similar challenges with excessive advertising, app crashes, and radar inaccuracies. While both offer valuable severe weather alerts, their reliability is often undermined by these technical and user experience issues.

Head to head

Features tieR3R11R13R20
First Alert 4 Weather Users appreciate First Alert 4 Weather for its relevant weather information, alerts, and radar maps R11R20. However, some users desire an allergy forecast R3, a radar screen showing the entire country , and better clarity on the 10-day forecast UI . There are also complaints about the app not covering news or weather outside of severe events R13.
WWBT First Alert Weather WWBT First Alert Weather is valued for its fast, up-to-date weather information, severe weather alerts, and general accuracy . Users have requested features like barometric pressure for migraine sufferers , dew point measurements , and a return to landscape view for iPad . Some users also report issues with traffic information not covering outer viewing areas .
Ease of Use tieR11R24R25R28
First Alert 4 Weather First Alert 4 Weather is described as easy to use and provides information at users' fingertips R11. However, recent updates have made the app less intuitive, with cluttered radar overlays R25, difficulty setting defaults for storm info R28, and the app resetting to the home screen after leaving and returning R24. Users also find the new overview map less visually clear .
WWBT First Alert Weather WWBT First Alert Weather is generally considered easy to navigate for essential weather information . However, recent updates have made the app's layout difficult to navigate , with a new map that is too busy and lacks street labels, making it hard to find locations . The app also doesn't always pick up where it left off .
Reliability tieR7R8R15R17
First Alert 4 Weather First Alert 4 Weather is praised for accurate forecasts and alerts R17. However, many users report significant reliability issues, including the app crashing frequently R15R22, radar freezing or going blank R18, videos not playing sound or loading R7R22, and the radar being inaccurate or showing incorrect conditions R37R40. Notifications are also buggy, sometimes giving lightning alerts even when turned off R8 or alerting for clear skies .
WWBT First Alert Weather WWBT First Alert Weather is generally considered reliable and accurate by many users . Despite this, numerous users report the app being buggy and unreliable, with the radar flashing or being wildly inaccurate R63. The app frequently freezes, crashes, or won't load R75R93. Notifications are also problematic, with some users receiving too many alerts or alerts for incorrect locations .
Price/Value tieR1R6R9R12
First Alert 4 Weather As a free app, First Alert 4 Weather provides valuable local weather information and severe weather alerts . However, the value is significantly diminished by the overwhelming number of ads, especially during critical severe weather coverage R1R6R9R12. Users feel the ads make the app almost worthless and hinder access to urgent information R51R53.
WWBT First Alert Weather WWBT First Alert Weather is a free app that offers timely weather updates and alerts . However, the user experience is heavily impacted by an excessive number of ads that appear on the home page, before videos, and even interrupt live coverage . Users find the ads longer than the weather reports and a major turn-off .
Pick First Alert 4 Weather if

you prioritize the KMOV 4Warn Team's specific meteorologists like Steve Templeton and need loud alerts for storms R8, despite the ad interruptions and occasional bugs.

Pick WWBT First Alert Weather if

you are in the Richmond/Central Virginia area and value accurate, concise weather information from NBC12 , and are willing to tolerate frequent ads and occasional radar glitches.

Evidence note: Both apps are free, and many negative reviews across both apps are related to the presence and intrusiveness of ads, which is a common friction point for free services. The lifetime ratings are very similar, suggesting comparable overall user satisfaction despite the issues.

Frequently asked

Do these apps have too many ads?
Yes, both First Alert 4 Weather and WWBT First Alert Weather are frequently criticized by users for having an excessive number of ads that often interrupt critical weather information, especially during severe weather alerts R1R16R51R53.
Are the radar features reliable?
Users report mixed experiences with radar reliability for both apps; First Alert 4 Weather's radar is sometimes inaccurate, freezes, or shows incorrect conditions R18R37R40, while WWBT First Alert Weather's radar is also frequently described as glitchy, inaccurate, or flashing R63.
Do these apps crash frequently?
Yes, both apps have users reporting frequent crashes and stability issues; First Alert 4 Weather users mention the app breaking every few months, crashing randomly, or videos not loading R15R22, and WWBT First Alert Weather users also experience frequent crashes, freezing, or the app not staying open R75R93.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R3] First Alert 4 Weather 3/5 · US Allergy Forecast: It would be helpful to include an allergy forecast.
  2. [R11] First Alert 4 Weather 5/5 · US Info at my fingertips: This is a great app for relevant weather information at my fingertips.
  3. [R13] First Alert 4 Weather 2/5 · US Weather: Your station does not do a very good job of covering weather unless it is bad. It does not cover news in our area.
  4. [R20] First Alert 4 Weather 5/5 · US Great: Weather map
  5. [R24] First Alert 4 Weather 3/5 · US Good app but has some unfriendly behavior: The app content is good but if you leave the app and come back it resets (shows the ad, good back to app Home Screen) do I can’t just go back to where I was. That’s really annoying.
  6. [R25] First Alert 4 Weather 1/5 · US What happened?: This use to be my go to weather app, it’s pretty much unusable after the latest update. The overlays are a disaster. I just want to be able to see the radar with overlapping warnings, not a bunch of indicators for lighting. They only clutter the radar. It’s a hot mess.
  7. [R28] First Alert 4 Weather 1/5 · US terrible info-no info: app is again worthless. we used to be able set defaults on what to show. now you can’t set storm info, like: rain amount, storm info and direction. yes, it can be added, but each time the app is started, you must select that added profile, which at 3am, lights out, and not wanting to wake up my spouse, that can’t be changed without great difficulty. and you still can’t l
  8. [R7] First Alert 4 Weather 2/5 · US No sound: The commercial at the beginning has sound. The weather report doesn’t.
  9. [R8] First Alert 4 Weather 4/5 · US Extremely useful but some bugs: I do love that it gives me loud alerts to storms but unfortunately even though I turned off alerts to lightning so I could sleep it still gave me the alerts. Hopefully this bug is fixed quickly. .
  10. [R15] First Alert 4 Weather 3/5 · US App breaks every few months: It’s great for trying to keep track of the weather and everything, but every few months the app breaks. It crashes trying to open the daily tracker, the radar, and it won’t load even the temperature.
  11. [R17] First Alert 4 Weather 5/5 · US Good: Vary accurate 🌪️🌩️⛈️🌨️
  12. [R1] First Alert 4 Weather 2/5 · US Conflicting information, ad prioritized: Could literally be dangerous in bad weather that the advertising sponsor takes up the entire screen so long. (Duh, just have the ad at the top or bottom of the screen continuously.) And regular future radar and 24-hr radar conflict, even in the supposed current status.
  13. [R6] First Alert 4 Weather 3/5 · US Bogus: I can never see the video about the weather - there’s always an ad running instead of the storm warning I want/need to see.
  14. [R9] First Alert 4 Weather 3/5 · US Ok: When watching live for tornado warnings, it’s not helpful to bring up ads in the middle of watching to see where it’s at. Not happy
  15. [R12] First Alert 4 Weather 3/5 · US Live stream: It’s great to have a mobile app that live streams severe weather when you’re in the basement, but putting multiple ads on your live stream every 3-5 minutes is not a great idea. people need to know where and when a tornado is going to hit their town in that moment. And the ads also mess up the live stream causing it to go black, causing me to restart the app repeatedly. I know ads br
  16. [R16] First Alert 4 Weather 1/5 · US Don’t show ads during tornado coverage: Interrupting Steve and the team with ads in the middle of live coverage of tornadoes rolling through St Louis? Ridiculous, craven, and embarrassing.
  17. [R51] First Alert 4 Weather 1/5 · US Ads in the middle of tornado sirens: lol so glad I have to watch a 30 second ad to see some info about an ACTIVE TORNADO SIREN. This app is not intuitive- the live feed needs to be accessible - esp when you live in the Midwest and you’re panicking during a tornado siren
  18. [R53] First Alert 4 Weather 1/5 · US ADS. ADS. ADS.: Entirely too many ads to watch just to see a news or weather alert. I understand ad-sponsors but is it necessary to watch a 30-second ad for every 60-second video? It’s too much and a huge turn off. If I have to watch more than one ad to get my information, I will find another source.
  19. [R18] First Alert 4 Weather 3/5 · US Not reliable: Pages/Radar freezes and goes blank on my iPhone at critical times. The previous version never did this. And yes, my updates and iPhone are up to date.
  20. [R37] First Alert 4 Weather 2/5 · US Great Notifications, Horrible Radar: Radar is routinely wrong. Whether it is predictions of the path of weather or what the weather is actively doing, it is wrong more often than it is correct. There have been times it is actively pouring over us and when you check radar, there’s nothing showing up within 5-10 miles of us. That said, love the notifications of warnings and the ability to tune int
  21. [R40] First Alert 4 Weather 1/5 · US Glitchy at best: Used to love this app, radar feature hasn’t worked since I upgraded my iPhone. It will randomly show blue (snow) on the radar and it’s July.
  22. [R63] WWBT First Alert Weather 3/5 · US My Radar map is having issues…: This app has worked great until recently. Whenever I open the radar screen, if there is precipitation in the area, it “flashes” the image instead of displaying it on the map. Have I done something unintentionally to the setup?
  23. [R22] First Alert 4 Weather 2/5 · US Buggy: Crashes randomly, radar won’t show up sometimes, videos don’t load half the time, ads on the videos sometimes make the phone crash. I don’t have these problems with any other weather app.
  24. [R75] WWBT First Alert Weather 3/5 · US Way too many ads: Cashes often
  25. [R93] WWBT First Alert Weather 3/5 · US Frustrated: I am unable to open my 12 weather alert app which I rely on especially when I’m traveling.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store