Wildfire smoke season is here. See what’s in your air block by block, and get an alert the moment AQI crosses your threshold.
See the air you’re actually breathing.
Most apps give you one AQI number for your whole city. Paku shows you live readings from thousands of PurpleAir and AirGradient sensors, including the one down the street, so you know when it’s safe to open the windows, go for a run, or send the kids outside.
→ A map of real, live sensors
Every public PurpleAir and AirGradient sensor on a fast, beautiful map, indoors and out, with AQI, temperature, humidity, and how they’re trending. Official AirNow government stations are on the map too, and a Data Sources screen lets you choose which networks you see. Smart Select picks the most reliable sensor near you, not just the closest one.
→ Widgets for every screen
Put the nearest sensor, a favorite spot, or your own sensor on your Home Screen, Lock Screen, Apple Watch, or Mac desktop. Glance, then get on with your day.
→ Alerts that beat the smoke
Set a threshold on any sensor and Paku will notify you the moment it’s crossed, then again when the air clears. Nearby alerts can even follow you, watching the closest sensor as you move, entirely on your device. If you live with wildfire smoke or winter inversions, this feature is for you.
→ Live Activities
Keep the AQI and its trend in the Dynamic Island or on your Lock Screen while smoke moves through.
→ Your own sensors
Own a PurpleAir sensor? Add your private sensors and use them everywhere: on the map, in widgets, and with alerts.
→ Siri, Spotlight, and Shortcuts
Ask Siri for the air quality nearby, check it from Spotlight, or use the AQI in automations, like turning on the air purifier when the number starts climbing.
→ On every device, in sync
iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, with a live reading in your menu bar. Favorites and settings sync over iCloud.
→ Private by design
Your location never leaves your device. No account, no tracking, no data collection.
A few things reviewers have said:
“Does one job, does it very well, and keeps getting better... I wish all software was like this.”
“Seriously impressed by this app. It’s the perfect companion to my PurpleAir outdoor sensor.”
“Ten stars.”
Paku is made by one person, not a company. No growth team, no engagement tricks, just an app I use every day and keep making better. Alerts, Live Activities, private sensors, and a few of the fancier widgets are part of Paku Pro, a small subscription or one-time lifetime unlock that keeps everything running. The map, the standard widgets, and the rest are free.
Atmospheric chemist here, this is a pretty good app
Mike276437832
Good connectivity and the widget apps for the pro option are very nice. Interface is very user friendly and the updates are quite quick. The ~$1/month membership for an annual price seems very fair. I think my colleagues and I would really enjoy seeing an option to display both PM 1 and PM 2.5 data (especially as a widget option!). Purple air offers this publicly but AQI tends to be the preferred public option for good reason. I think as indoor air quality becomes more prevalent as an issue, things will get more nuanced. Usage of indoor air quality sensors have been increasing quite rapidly, the new IKEA ones are going to further this even more. In one of our recent papers, I think the number of indoor sensors doubled every two years. I would suggest looking to eventually incorporate a user friendly page on the app (or as a widget) that can incorporate multiple air sensors in one location (outdoor, kitchen, bedroom, etc). And possibly even other sensor companies. Very nice app! Great job on it.
Finally an app to view PurpleAir data!
@Magnuson
I love how Paku lets me avoid the clunky PurpleAir website. The app is wonderfully simple and looks good.However, the app is a little too simple. For example, the app never refreshes data. If I leave the app open and want to see the current air quality, I have to quit and relaunch the app. Ideally the app would refresh data automatically every 5-10 minutes. However, a manual refresh option is an absolute requirement for an app like this. Having to quit and relaunch the app just to refresh the data available is super obtuse and cumbersome.Another issue is that PurpleAir sensors grab lots more data than only the AQI. I find PurpleAir sensors even more useful for their temperature readings than their AQI readings. The sensor saturation is so high in the San Francisco Bay Area that they make it really easy to see what all the microclimates are like around the bay. I can then use this to plan my outdoor activities. It would be fantastic if Paku allowed us to view temperature data from PurpleAir sensors.All said, it's fantastic that Paku exists at all. I'd gladly pay $10 for this app as it exists today. Add auto-refresh and temperature data and I'd more than willingly pay $20. This app has huge value potential for my daily life. I hope to see it reach that potential one day.
Developer Response
Thanks for the great feedback! Since your review, the app has had all the features you've requested added. Hopefully you find it useful - I would really appreciate an updated rating if you have time!
Everything I want for air quality monitoring
Nickscave
Seriously impressed by this app. It’s the perfect companion to my PurpleAir outdoor sensor. With the addition today of subscription push alerts when air quality exceeds a defined level at a sensor, I’m struggling to think of any other features that I’m really missing. The quality of the app easily justifies the small subscription cost. I love the widgets on my Lock Screen too.The only missing feature that springs to mind is a list view of sensors rather than the map view. The map view is great for panning around my area but I have family and friends spread around the country and it would be nice to see air quality/temp/humidity for a list of locations at a glance.
Developer Response
Thank you so much for your wonderful review! A favorites list would be a great addition, I'll look into that. Update: you can now add sensors as favorites, and view your favorites in a list!
Good start, hoping for more
@Magnuson
Areas I’d like to see improvement:- Ability to choose a sensor and stay with that sensor. I own a PA sensor and only want to see data from that sensor. I don’t want to see data from other sensors as I move locations.- Get rid of the AQandU filter. I don’t like that filter nor trust the data it produces. If this app is going to force the use of a filter, it should be the EPA filter, not the AQandU filter.- Provide time-based averages. Seeing the current AQI is only a small part of the picture. Gaining an understanding of how the AQI value is trending is immensely valuable and often times more valuable than the current reading.
Developer Response
Thank you so much for your feedback! I’ve been heads down on getting map support out, but you can also turn off the AQAndU conversion in 1.1.0. All the other asks are on the roadmap too. Enjoy!Update: with 1.2.0 you can now choose a specific sensor for the widgets!
- AirGradient’s worldwide network of open-source monitors now appears anywhere PurpleAir sensors do — the map, search, favorites, alerts, widgets, Live Activities, and Siri — with the same details and charts.
- A new Data Sources screen in Settings allows you to manage which networks you want to use.
- Charts in sensor details now support scrubbing through history by touching and dragging.
- Nearby sensors are picked from within a 15 mile radius (up from 10), so widgets, Siri, alerts, and Live Activities show a reading more often.
- The Live Activities settings screen has a Start Live Activity button, and the map menu disables Start Live Activity when no sensors are nearby instead of failing after you tap it.
- The subtitle in sensor details now shows the data source icon.
- Several small bug fixes and performance improvements.
Version 7.1.0
The developer, Pitou Technologies, LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Identifiers
Usage Data
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. Learn More