Verdict
The prettiest of these by some distance, and the one most people already own. Costs less than a coffee and looks like a planetarium.
Best for
Anyone who wants stargazing to feel like an occasion rather than a lookup.
Dealbreaker
Five of the last two hundred reviews call it hard to find your way around, and others say the notifications cannot be turned off once they start.
The facts.
Pulled from the App Store, not written by hand.
Price
$2.99 once
In-app purchases
Unknown
Ads
Unknown
Platforms
iPhone, iPad
Rating
4.7★ (67,163)
Version
2.21.1
Last updated
Aug 10, 2026
Released
Aug 21, 2014
Attributes
Native appOne-time purchaseNo subscription
Category
Education, Reference
What reviews consistently say.
Themes grouped from 200 App Store reviews. Source feed ›
Praised for
Ease of use and design10 reviews
Notifications and reminders5 reviews
Import and export3 reviews
Value for money3 reviews
Complained about
Confusing interface5 reviews
Too expensive3 reviews
Notifications and reminders2 reviews
Crashes and stability2 reviews
Where this comes from
10 of 200 recent reviews raised: Ease of use and design (positive)App Store reviews ›
5 of 200 recent reviews raised: Notifications and reminders (positive)App Store reviews ›
2 of 200 recent reviews raised: Notifications and reminders (negative)App Store reviews ›
5 of 200 recent reviews raised: Confusing interface (negative)App Store reviews ›
3 of 200 recent reviews raised: Too expensive (negative)App Store reviews ›
2 of 200 recent reviews raised: Crashes and stability (negative)App Store reviews ›
Where we recommend it
Stargazing apps you buy once ›Sky maps and planetarium apps that charge once instead of monthly, each with its catch.
Alternatives with the same rule.
Every app here is a single purchase. None of them can start charging you monthly for what you already bought. Also with a catch.
$3.99 once · 4.8★ (10,249) · Updated Aug 9, 2020
Verdict. Point it at the sky and it tells you what you are looking at. That is the whole app, and no other one here does it with so little in the way.
Best for. Someone standing in a garden who wants to know what that bright thing is, tonight, without a tutorial.
Dealbreaker. Identifying is all it does. There is no observing planner, no telescope control and nothing like the depth of catalogue the bigger apps carry — outgrow it and you are buying twice.
$6.99 once · 4.7★ (17,869) · Updated Sep 1, 2026
Verdict. The serious one. A real catalogue, proper observing tools, and the app amateur astronomers actually point their telescopes with.
Best for. Someone who owns a telescope and plans a night before going outside.
Dealbreaker. Buying it once is not the end of it — twelve of the last two hundred reviews are from people who found a newer version waiting behind another payment, and several say the one they bought stopped being supported.
$2.99 once · 4.7★ (7,296) · Updated Dec 28, 2023
Verdict. Not a sky map at all — a three-dimensional model of the solar system you can fly around and wind forwards through time.
Best for. Explaining orbits to a child, or to yourself, rather than finding anything overhead.
Dealbreaker. It will not help you identify what is above you tonight, and reviewers report parts of it sitting behind a further subscription despite the purchase.