# Celestial by Navimatics > Celestial navigation app for iOS with sight reduction, fix calculation, and almanac. (iPhone/iPad app by Navimatics Corporation.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/celestial-by-navimatics/id392560235 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Navimatics Corporation](https://appshunter.io/developer/292269052) - Category: Navigation, Reference - Price: $19.99 - Rating: 3.33/5 from 3 App Store ratings · 14 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 7.0 · 14 MB - Languages: English, French - Released: 2010-09-21 - Data updated: 2026-06-10 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/celestial-by-navimatics/id392560235/reviews.md ## What is Celestial by Navimatics? Celestial is a complete package for celestial navigation on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. It can perform celestial sight reductions, calculate fixes, present them visually, manage sights on multiple trips and assist in sight planning. It also includes a complete Almanac of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars. All this for the price of the Nautical Almanac for a single year! In detail: - Supports quick sight reduction. Enter all sight values to quickly calculate an intercept or to double-check your own manual sight reduction. - Includes a comprehensive trip manager that allows you to manage sights taken during a trip. Keep your sights with you forever! - Multiple sights can be grouped and averaged together and a fix can be calculated. Lines of Position (LOP's) and fixes can be plotted on a virtual plotting sheet. - Running fixes are supported! - Includes a star finder and times of rise/set phenomena. Plan your sights and be on deck when it is time. - Includes the complete Almanac of the Sun, Moon, planets, 57 navigational stars, Aries and Polaris for the years 1980-2099. - Context-sensitive screen help for every screen so you always know what the intended function of the software is. - Night mode preserves your night vision. All sight reduction algorithms are based on the algorithms described in the Nautical Almanac (Sight Reduction Procedures). Celestial object positions are predicted using software from the US Naval Observatory. Visit http://navimatics.com or search for "navimatics" in the AppStore for additional navigation products. ## Key features - Quick sight reduction - Comprehensive trip manager - Multiple sight averaging - Virtual plotting sheet - Running fixes support - Star finder and phenomena times - Complete almanac (1980-2099) - Night mode ## Recent user reviews (10 of 14) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/celestial-by-navimatics/id392560235/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Rory1942> *2024-12-15* For some reason I am unable to change the date when using the almanac or sight. This is a new development . ### 1/5 — Gyro Erro *2019-03-15* Can you make the app so you can calculate the gyro error on ships ### 2/5 — Disappointed *2014-07-19, version 1.3.12318* Is anyone writing these 5-star reviews even using this app? I have purchased almost all of the celestial navigation apps on the app store (except StarPilot - too expensive, especially in light of its bad reviews) and Celestial is the LEAST feature rich of them all. First off, everything is done based on UTC time. Whenever you make another sight you have to do the conversion from the current time in your head before you enter it. It does have the function to automatically produce the current UTC which helps when entering an actual sight since you can get the current UTC and update to the minutes and seconds of your sight. Way more difficult when entering data for previous data. Also, the rise and set times are only displayed in UTC and you have to do the conversion in your head. The rise and set times were a few minutes off from the times you may find on the internet, but that is probably not a big deal. More of a big deal is the accuracy of the sight reductions. I entered 2 sights of the Sun that I had previously made and reduced by hand. Since I had done this at my home and determined the correct fix to my location I know my results are correct. The Ha and Ho values produced by Celestial matched my hand calculations, but the Hc was way off. I assume this difference was due to Celestial not calculating from an assumed position (which must be done when your are doing a reduction via table lookup) so I can’t compare it directly to my results. The plot of the sights looked similar to mine but there is not enough detail on the plot to estimate the fix from. The fix it calculated for me was off by more than 20nm. There are no details of how this was calculated, so not idea of why. When entering a new sight, you start with no data and have to enter everything again. When doing multiple Sun sights (as most of us do), this is extra unnecessary work when the only thing that needs to change is the sextant altitude and time. In my case it led to an error since the limb defaults to “none” and I forgot to change it on the second sight I entered. It took time to go back and figure out my error. One of the major things Celestial is missing is the ability to make a running fix. Are we suppose to stop the boat and take down the sails every time we want to make a fix? Another major omission is the ability to compute an expected altitude that can be used to set your sextant to before making a sight. Not a big deal for the Sun and Moon, but a very big deal when you are trying to find a specific star or planet among all the others in the sky. Celestial provides an Almanac function that produces the hourly values of GHA and Dec for the objects that match the Nautical Almanac values pretty well. They give you confidence that the internal calculations are correct, but you can’t do much else with them. You could potentially use them along with the tables from an old almanac, but since no v or d values are given that correction could not be applied when using this method - making this useless. Overall functionality is very minimal - and in my trial the fix was simply wrong. Everything is just displayed black and white which kills you night vision when trying to use it for twilight sights. The iPad version is just a scaled up iPhone version with the help information always displayed. Some of the other apps that are available give you a lot more for your money and produce the correct results. ### 1/5 — Very basic and not worth money *2012-12-20* Does the same calculations as some other free apps. It does have some good features like the trip feature for storing several sights etc. for the money I would expect the input fields to be more locked down with a selection field rather than entering manually an getting in the correct format the app requires. Also not entirely sure on all the results thus far but need to do more sights to clarify. Happy to pay for an app that is above the free stuff. But this should be about a third of the cost ### 4/5 — Excellent App *2012-08-21, version 1.2.12177* This app is an excellent value. I have been practicing celestial navigation for over 20 years and have programed calculators to provide almanac data and reduce sights. This app does everything you need. The Sky View feature is very nice and greatly facilitates sight planning. Touching the screen in the Sky View mode provides accurate HC and azimuth values for each body. The plotting function, however, needs improvement; the LOPs are on a small screen with a fixed scale spanning 120 NM. You can't see the area of intersection well enough to estimate the precision of the fix or identify which sights might be outliers and better deleted. Some kind of "pinch to expand" feature would be a big improvement and warrant five stars for the improved app. The app does not have some of the nice bells and whistles like sight averaging, star ID from observed altitude and azimuth, or great circle sailing. If you want all that and more you should buy StarPilot, but it is more than twice the price. This app will serve your needs, provide plenty of practice and lots of fun, and, along with a sextant, enable a safe return from the longest voyage in the event space aliens zap all the GPS satellites. Actually, in that case you would need a chronometer too. ### 5/5 — Celestial navigation.app *2012-02-10* Having used this app to check and support my manual attempts whilst using the marine tables, (Nautical almanac and N.P. 401) I can say it is really quite brilliant and very simple. I even get it right sometimes! Thank you. G.R.Eldridge. ### 2/5 — Languages *2011-04-12* How can I change the language ? There are virtually no settings options in the "settings"! It might be a good app, but I want it in French.. Please help.. Thanks ### 4/5 — BridgeMan *2010-11-21, version 0* Very usefull apps, fast and easy to use. It helps saving time for calculations, especially to officers like me working on tankers doing celestial navigation in long voyages. There's one more lacking in this program, must have a compass correctors or determining compass error. Hoping to have this updates guys to make this apps complete... I recommend this to a friend.... ### 5/5 — Great App! *2010-11-07, version 0* I have been practicing celestial navigation since 1968 and have recently looking for a good application for my iPhone and iPad (even old horses sometimes learn new tricks). Celestial by Navimatics is well thought out and a snap to use after just a little practice; I look forward to using it on my next passage. I've run a bunch of star sights and sun line through the program and they all check out. There are a few tweaks and additions that will make the application even better and their customer service is absolutely the best I have encountered. I will be looking into other programs by Navimatics. ### 3/5 — Basic *2010-11-03, version 0* Pretty much basic. Should make controls more user friendly and add GPS input for time, LAT & LONG as an option. Lacks sight planner and basic navigational mathematics like rhumb line and great circle sailing. No option for imperial/metric input. ## Frequently asked questions about Celestial by Navimatics ### What is Celestial by Navimatics? Celestial by Navimatics is a comprehensive application for celestial navigation on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. It offers tools for sight reductions, calculating fixes, managing navigation data, and includes a complete almanac. ### How much does Celestial by Navimatics cost? Celestial by Navimatics is a paid application, priced at $19.99. This one-time purchase provides access to all its features and almanac data. ### What devices is Celestial by Navimatics compatible with? Celestial by Navimatics is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices. It is designed to run on Apple's mobile operating system. ### Does Celestial by Navimatics have ads? No, Celestial by Navimatics does not contain advertisements. As a paid application, it offers an uninterrupted user experience focused on navigation. ### How often is Celestial by Navimatics updated? The latest version of Celestial by Navimatics is 1.5.15183, last updated on July 9, 2015. While the app has not been updated recently, its core functionality remains robust for celestial navigation. ### What is the age rating for Celestial by Navimatics? Celestial by Navimatics has an age rating of 4+. This indicates it is suitable for users of all ages, with no mature content restrictions. ### Can I manage multiple trips with Celestial by Navimatics? Yes, Celestial by Navimatics includes a comprehensive trip manager that allows you to manage sights taken during multiple voyages. You can keep your navigation data organized and accessible for each trip. ### Does Celestial by Navimatics support running fixes? Yes, Celestial by Navimatics supports running fixes. This advanced navigation technique allows for calculating your position based on sights taken over time while underway. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.5.15183 — 2015-07-09 This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. - Modern iOS 7/8 UI - Night mode - Includes support for the latest leap second on 2015-06-30 - Misc other fixes and improvements ### 1.3.12318 — 2012-11-20 iOS 6 and iPhone 5 support ### 1.2.12177 — 2012-07-06 - Retina display improvements. - Now supports the leap second added at midnight between June 30 and July 1, 2012. ### 1.1.11006 — 2011-01-11 - Added French localization. - Added in-app settings screen. - Miscellaneous other usability improvements. ### 1.0.2 — 2010-10-18 - Added "Now" button on all date/time entry screens. - Some minor cosmetic changes. - Fixed a problem caused by low memory conditions. ## Apps similar to Celestial by Navimatics | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Compass Guide:Navigation App](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/compass-guidenavigation-app/id1631831937) | 4.4 (93) | Free | Navigation | | [GPS2IP Lite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gps2ip-lite/id1562823492) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Navigation | | [tcSpeeds](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tcspeeds/id1441225371) | 4.9 (9) | Free | Navigation | | [SailSpeed](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sailspeed/id1352797892) | 3.8 (4) | Free | Navigation | | [Compass Eye Bearing Compass](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/compass-eye-bearing-compass/id472314819) | 4.6 (5) | $4.99 | Navigation | | [CourseSpeed](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/coursespeed/id1358742605) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Navigation | ## More apps by Navimatics Corporation - [Charts & Tides](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/charts-and-tides/id757086914) All apps by Navimatics Corporation: https://appshunter.io/developer/292269052 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*