You can marvel at the beauty of the space with the best stargazing apps by simply pointing your smartphone at the sky and watching the stars, constellations, planets and satellites right on the screen.
These apps have an augmented reality feature that allows them to automatically detect where you are and display a map of the sky above you so you can see all the celestial objects in detail. You don't need to be an astronomical genius or have a telescope to see the stars; with these applications everyone, even small children, can enjoy the view of the night sky.
Top 11 Stargazing Apps for iOS and Android
- SkyView Lite iOS | Android – No internet required
- Star Walk 2 Ads+ iOS | Android – Watching meteor showers
- Star Chart iOS | Android – Voice control
- SkySafari iOS | Android – Night vision option
- NASA iOS | Android – Watching NASA TV
- Solar Walk iOS | Android – Convenient viewing modes
- SkyWiki Android – Calendar mode
- Sky Map Android – Convenient scaling tool
- SkEye Android – Telescope connection
- Star & Planet Finder iOS – Accelerometer availability
- Night Sky iOS – Interesting quiz
This list is written to help you choose the best stargazing app to observe celestial bodies in an interesting way, find descriptions of stars and planets in picture libraries, and keep up with news of meteor showers and upcoming celestial events. All of these apps are suitable for iOS and Android, and some of them have voice control.
1. SkyView Lite - Our Choice
- Event notifications
- Save important moments
- Track the movement of stars
- No Wi-Fi and GPS required
- Not found
Verdict: SkyView app instantly identifies stars, constellations and satellites as you point your device at the sky. The application provides a huge database of information about the universe and even has the function of sending notifications about upcoming stellar events.
With Night Mode, you can save what you see in the sky by applying red or green filters, and this feature makes SkyView a worthy night photography app. Thanks to the "Sky Trails" function, users can track the movement of celestial bodies along their trajectory to see their exact location in the sky at any time and day.
You can also go “in the future” or “in the past” and see how the sky looks on different calendar days. Wi-Fi connection is not required to use the SkyView app to the fullest. You can take it on a hike where there is no GPS access!
2. Star Walk 2 Ads+
- Convenient UI
- Search for active satellites
- Defines maps and planets
- Regular news
- Ad-crammed
- Interface may lag
Verdict: Star Walk is one of the Milky Way apps, that has a beautiful interface and is very easy to use. The simple design of this stargazing application allows users to explore stars, comets and constellations by pointing their device toward the sky.
Searching for stars and planets, you’ll see a real-time sky map on your screen. To navigate, move the image on the screen by sliding your finger in any direction, zooming in or out, and extending the map. Users can quickly find any celestial body with a pointer indication stars and planets on the map.
3. Star Chart
- 3D model of the universe
- You can see the sky on the other side of the Earth
- Dynamic orientation
- A huge base of info
- Menu is locked
Verdict: The Star Chart app allows users to see the visible universe at their fingertips. With information such as distance, brightness, and object references, you will quickly find interesting facts about any celestial body.
Using GPS technology and a 3D Universe, Star Chart calculates in real time the current location of each star and planet visible from Earth and shows you where it is placed. To see what the night sky looks like on the other side of the Earth, simply point your device down.
It is considered to be one of the best star gazing apps for Android and iOS because of the Voice control feature, which means you can explore the solar system using various voice commands.
4. SkySafari
- Modeling the position of stars
- Rich graphics
- "Tonight's Best" recommendation system
- Eye-care mode at night
- Unstable compass
Verdict: The SkySafari app has everything you need for trouble-free stargazing. The application offers a user-friendly interface and voice control. SkySafari can simulate the night sky from any part of the Earth either you want to see how it looked many years ago or how it will look in the future.
With rich graphics, explorers can view galaxies, constellations, and other objects in stunning and vivid detail. We recommend you to check out “Tonight's Best” section that explains which objects will look particularly beautiful in the sky tonight. SkySafari belongs to the group of the best night vision apps because it has the "Night vision" option that provides clear vision even in the dark.
5. NASA
- Viewing the Earth online
- A large collection of photos
- 3D models of planets
- Information for NASA visitors
- Not all links in the app are active
- Bad connection with servers
Verdict: NASA can be called the best stargazing app because it contains the latest images, videos, news and mission information straight from space experts. Watching live NASA TV, you can always be aware of the latest information on NASA space missions.
With a 2D and 3D map satellite tracking display, you can look at the Earth model online from the International Space Station and other orbiting satellites. There are more than 17,000 images available for browsing through, and their number is growing every day. Rate the images you like, and then check which of them are included in the list of the most popular space photos.
6. Solar Walk
- Is suitable even for kids
- Large selection of objects for observation
- "Planetarium" infocenter
- Teaching videos
- Inconvenient menu
- Poor image quality
Verdict: Solar Walk can be treated as an impressive wealth of information about astronomy and space, presented in a stunning 3D model of our solar system that can be easily rotated and scaled. Solar Walk is especially good for children as it complements its 3D space model with video clips explaining various celestial concepts.
Those using this stargazing app can observe the planets of our solar system in real time, see satellites in space, dwarf planets, and asteroids. Detailed information about all celestial bodies is presented in the "Planetarium" menu.
7. SkyWiki
- Astronomy News section
- Virtual periscope
- Possibility to choose different dates
- Optimized UI
- The compass function doesn’t work well
- No map of the planets
Verdict: SkyWiki App is a universal research center that studies the Universe. The application allows you to travel in time, moving forward or backward along the timeline to observe the sky at the moment of interest.
Set this stargazing app to calendar mode and you will never miss a single important celestial event. Scroll through the calendar for important upcoming events such as moon phases, eclipses, equinox/solstices.
The Periscope gives you a visual image of how the Sun and Moon rise and set, or how they move at any given point of the day from your current location. Along with the Sun and Moon, you can also watch the rising and setting of the planets.
8. Sky Map
- Clear image
- Work with layers
- Automatic map movement
- Search feature
- Poor GPS calibration
- Isn’t compatible with all devices
Verdict: Sky Map started out as a special project for Google and then it was made public. If you don't know where to start, point your camera at the sky and the app will show something cool.
The application can identify stars, planets, nebulae and more. When you move your phone, the map moves with you, showing you which part of the Universe, you are looking at. Such an intuitive operation makes it one of the best star gazing app for Android.
9. SkEye
- Browsing Messier and NGC catalogs
- Telescope assistance function
- Detailed demonstration of the solar system
- Night vision mode
- Delay in response to input
- Doesn’t find object automatically
Verdict: SkEye is a planetarium that can also be used as a PUSHTO travel guide for telescopes. You can treat it like a regular stargazing application, or if you have a telescope, you can use it together to find distant objects you want to see.
With this app, you can observe meteor showers, bright comets and deep-sky objects in the Messier and NGC catalogs. The app describes the objects of the solar system, including all 8 planets and 4 Galilean Moons. The "Night mode" is designed to protect the researcher's eyesight.
10. Star & Planet Finder
- Lots of tools
- Augmented reality functions
- Constellation map
- Detailed info about planets
- Frequent crashes at startup
- Rare updates
Verdict: Star & Planet Finder helps you see stars, planets, constellations and satellites in the sky. Just select a planet from the list and move the device according to the pointer display to see the needed planet.
The application has an augmented reality function, which guides you to the selected star. Compass, GPS, accelerometer, camera and clock are useful tools for exploring the universe at a given time. The moon phase display helps you track changes on the surface of this Earth satellite in a more convenient way.
11. Night Sky
- Offers weather data
- Sunrise/sunset effects
- 60+ million start
- High-res textures
- Most functions are available only in the Premium version
- A large number of objects on the screen at the same time
Verdict: Night Sky allows users to quickly identify stars, constellations, satellites and planets, as well as weather conditions for the coming night. On top of that, Night Sky has a community that offers the best stargazing locations around the world.
This stargazing app can show more than 60 million stars, has 8x high resolution for light spectrum textures, sunrise/sunset effects and a new daylight mode.
The intuitive interface has quick search functions, smart night mode, light pollution indicator and beautiful functional tiles. With a single click, you can “open” the inner structure of the planets of the solar system.
