Best Air Quality Apps for iPhone (2026)

An honest comparison of the major iOS air-quality apps, updated for mid-2026. We make one of them (Smog Report) and will say so plainly — but the goal here is to help you pick the right tool for what you actually need, even when that's something else.

The short version: there is no single "best" air-quality app. The right one depends on where you live, whether you want regulatory data or citizen-sensor data, how much you care about privacy, and whether you want a focused tool or "AQI bolted onto a weather app."

Quick comparison

How we picked these (and what we left out)

We focused on apps that are actually available, actively maintained, and recommend-able to a normal iPhone owner in 2026. That means we skipped:

• BreezoMeter — acquired by Google in 2022, the standalone app was discontinued. Its data feed now powers Apple Weather and some Google products. You can't download it as a separate app anymore.
• Plume Labs — acquired by AccuWeather; the standalone Plume app was deprecated.
• Generic "AQI Air Quality" apps with no clearly disclosed data source. There are dozens; most are re-skins of public APIs with ads bolted on. We don't list any here that we wouldn't run on our own phones.

The apps, in detail

AirNow (U.S. EPA's own app)

Free. No account. No ads. Made by the federal agency that runs the monitor network everyone else gets their data from.

• What it's good at: Authoritative readings. If a doctor or insurance form asks for the AQI on a given day, this is the canonical source. Live and forecast AQI, EnviroFlash email alerts you can sign up for separately on airnow.gov.
• What's missing: No iOS widgets. No Live Activities. No Siri integration. The UI is utilitarian — fine for the "EPA mission" but not designed for daily glanceability on a 2026 iPhone.
• Best for: Anyone who wants the source data with zero middleman. We use it ourselves as a reference check.
• Download: App Store

Smog Report (this site)

Free. No account. We make this one. We'll keep the pitch short — most of the rest of this site is the long version.

• What it's good at: Live, reference-grade AQI across ~100 countries — EPA AirNow in the US, OpenAQ worldwide, and national agencies like Singapore's NEA — shown on the right local index for each place (DAQI, EAQI, AQHI, PSI, NAQI, CAI, AU AQI, or US EPA AQI). iOS-native polish: home-screen widgets, Lock Screen widgets, Live Activities, Siri voice queries, and Apple Watch complications. Your location never leaves the device except to look up the nearest monitor — it's never sent to any analytics or advertising service.
• What's missing: No PurpleAir / citizen-sensor data — by design, we surface regulatory reference monitors only, so coverage is thinner than IQAir's in places where only low-cost sensors exist. Forecasts are currently US-only. The app shows a small number of native ads (bottom of the main scroll and the About screen, never on watchOS/widgets/Live Activities) that you can remove permanently with a tip.
• Best for: Day-to-day iPhone use — anywhere reference monitors reach — when you want a focused, fast, privacy-respecting AQI tool that takes advantage of modern iOS and shows your country's own index.
• Download: App Store

IQAir AirVisual

Free with optional Pro at ~$4.99/month. Swiss company, focus is global coverage including dense data in Asia, South America, and Europe where EPA AirNow doesn't reach.

• What it's good at: Global. If you travel or live outside the U.S., AirVisual's coverage is genuinely best-in-class for a consumer app. Blends government monitors, IQAir's own commercial sensor network, and community sensors.
• What's missing: Requires an account for the free tier. Pro tier paywalls forecasts and historical data. Ads in the free tier. The blend of data sources means a given reading can be hard to trace back to a specific monitor.
• Best for: International travel, expats, or anyone who needs sub-national coverage in places where regulatory data is thin.
• Download: App Store

Paku (PurpleAir)

$2.99 one-time. Independent developer; Paku is the polished iOS interface to the PurpleAir citizen-sensor network.

• What it's good at: Hyperlocal reads. PurpleAir's network is dense in California, the PNW, and parts of the Mountain West — sensors are often a block apart. During a wildfire smoke event, that resolution beats the regulatory monitor that may be 20 miles away.
• What's missing: PurpleAir sensors over-report PM2.5 during smoke events without the EPA's correction algorithm applied (which the AirNow Fire & Smoke Map does apply). Paku exposes the correction toggle, but you have to know to flip it. Outside dense citizen-sensor regions the coverage is patchy.
• Best for: Wildfire smoke season in the West, or anyone who's into the citizen-sensor approach for its own sake.
• Read more: our AirNow vs. PurpleAir guide.
• Download: App Store

AccuWeather

Free with ads; Pro $0.99/mo removes them. A general weather app that includes an AQI tile.

• What it's good at: If you already use AccuWeather for forecasts, the AQI is right there alongside temperature. One fewer app to install.
• What's missing: AQI is not the focus — it's one card among many. The free tier is heavily ad-supported. Data source is AccuWeather's proprietary blend; not as transparent as AirNow.
• Best for: Casual checking when you don't want a dedicated AQI app.
• Download: App Store

Apple Weather (built in to iOS)

Free, built in. Since Apple acquired Dark Sky in 2020 and rolled BreezoMeter's data into Apple Weather in 2023, the stock app shows an AQI tile in most regions.

• What it's good at: Already installed. Zero friction. Looks native because it is.
• What's missing: Limited widgets specifically for AQI (the weather widget shows temp first, AQI buried). No Live Activities for AQI alerts. The BreezoMeter feed is a model, not a raw monitor — useful for a glance, less useful for precision decisions.
• Best for: Casual users who just want a number, not a dashboard.

If you want… use…

What we don't recommend

• Apps that require an account just to show you the AQI. Air quality is public-domain data. If an app gates it behind a sign-up, the product is your email, not the air reading.
• Apps that show the maximum readings from a wide region. Some apps boost engagement by showing the worst nearby number instead of the nearest one. That's not how AQI works.
• Apps with no disclosed data source. You should always be able to tell whether you're seeing EPA regulatory, citizen-sensor, or modeled data. Apps that hide this are usually scraping someone else's API and rebranding.

Methodology + disclosure

We're the maker of Smog Report and have a stake in you picking it. To keep this comparison honest:

• App descriptions reflect features as of mid-2026 — verified against the live App Store listings and developer docs.
• Outbound App Store links to competitors are rel="nofollow" so we don't inadvertently boost or hurt their search rank through this page.
• We don't take affiliate commissions on any of the apps listed here.
• If something here is out of date or wrong, please let us know and we'll fix it.

Related reading