# Cosmic Specks — the solar system, unsimplified

> Accurate solar system model revealing true scale, orbits, and celestial mechanics. (iPhone/iPad app by Kaolin Fire.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cosmic-specks/id6784808054 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Kaolin Fire](https://appshunter.io/developer/506161943)
- Category: Education, Reference
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 12 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-09-15
- Data updated: 2026-09-19
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cosmic-specks/id6784808054/reviews.md

## What is Cosmic Specks?

Space is almost all empty. That turns out to be the beautiful part.

Every picture of the solar system you've ever seen tells you small white lies. The planets are swollen so you can see them. The orbits are squashed flat and drawn as tidy circles. Everything is crowded together so it fits on the page. Cosmic Specks is the same solar system with the lies switched off, one at a time, so you can build an intuition for what was actually removed.

IT OPENS WITH THE ARGUMENT. A ninety-second tour names the five lies and switches each one off, live: the sizes, the flatness, the circles, the stillness, the diagram eclipses.

IT ISN'T FLAT. Turn on inclinations and the orbits fan out into the tilted planes they really occupy — Pluto's 17°, Mercury's 7°, the quiet disagreement the flat diagram hides.

EVERYTHING SPINS. Each body turns on its own axis, at its own rate, at its own lean: Venus backwards, Uranus on its side, the Moon locked forever facing home.

HALLEY'S COMET TAKES AN EPIC RUN. Seventy-six years, out past Neptune and back, on an orbit so long and lopsided it barely belongs on the same diagram.

SWIM THROUGH TIME. Watch conjunctions close, planets loop backwards through retrograde, Saturn's rings turn edge-on and all but vanish, Venus cross the face of the Sun.

JUMP TO A PRECISE ECLIPSE and see how tight the Moon's shadow really is — a couple of hundred kilometres of darkness, brushing over the Earth for a few minutes, landing on the real map where it really lands. On 2 August 2027 it crosses southern Spain and Egypt; jump there and watch.

And when you want the honest picture of size: one tap drops everything to true scale, where the planets become the specks they are, and the emptiness is the whole photograph.

HONEST BY CONSTRUCTION. Every solar-system app draws a picture; this one also shows you the picture's error. Bodies are enlarged so you can see them at all — and the exact factors are printed on screen the entire time you're looking (Sun ×24, bodies ≤×750). Positions are computed on your device from orbital elements, so the app also tells you when it stops being trustworthy: good near today, approximate centuries out, illustrative in the deep millennia. Even the maps admit their gaps: Miranda is half blank because humanity has only ever seen half of it.

WHAT IT DOESN'T DO. No account. No ads. No subscription. No analytics — App Privacy is "Data Not Collected". Nothing leaves your phone.

Free, with one optional purchase that opens 10,000 years in each direction.

## Key features

- Accurate planetary scale
- True orbital inclinations
- Realistic axial rotations
- Detailed comet paths
- Time-based simulations
- Precise eclipse visualization
- Data-driven accuracy indicators

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 20,000 Years | $2.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cosmic-specks/id6784808054/reviews.md

### 5/5 — I love solar system models!

*2026-09-15*

I love that you can see the scale, especially on the outdoor setting where you can move around it.

## Frequently asked questions about Cosmic Specks

### What makes Cosmic Specks different from other solar system apps?

Cosmic Specks removes common simplifications like exaggerated planet sizes and flat orbits. It aims to build intuition by showing the 'lies' often told in diagrams and revealing the true scale and mechanics of the solar system.

### Does Cosmic Specks have ads?

No, Cosmic Specks is ad-free. The developer explicitly states 'No ads' and 'Nothing leaves your phone,' prioritizing user privacy and an uninterrupted experience.

### What is the learning methodology of Cosmic Specks?

The app employs a hands-on, discovery-based learning approach. It allows users to toggle off common simplifications one by one, directly observing the impact on the solar system's representation and building an intuitive understanding.

### How does Cosmic Specks track user progress?

Cosmic Specks does not track user progress or collect any data. Its privacy policy states 'Data Not Collected,' meaning no analytics or personal information is gathered from users.

### Is Cosmic Specks suitable for younger learners?

With an age rating of 4+, Cosmic Specks is designed to be accessible. Its visual approach to complex astronomical concepts can be engaging for a wide range of ages, from children to adults.

### What devices does Cosmic Specks support?

Cosmic Specks is available on iPhone and iPad, offering a consistent experience across Apple's mobile and tablet platforms.

### How often is Cosmic Specks updated?

The app was last updated on 2026-09-16 to version 1.0.1. While this is the initial release, future updates will likely focus on refining features and potentially expanding content based on user feedback.

### What does the optional purchase in Cosmic Specks unlock?

The optional purchase in Cosmic Specks extends the simulation time to 10,000 years in both the past and future directions. This allows for a more comprehensive exploration of long-term celestial events.

## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 1.0.1 — 2026-09-16

A seventh lie, and the purchase that was missing.

• Lie 6 of 7: the Moon and Jupiter, all but touching. A sky chart draws them side by side. Swing the camera and watch two things two and a half thousand times apart come apart.
• The Moon's facts sheet now shows its next close pass by a bright planet, with a Jump to the moment.
• Earth's night side has its city lights.
• iPad turns sideways.
• The "20,000 Years" unlock is now available — it did not ship with 1.0.

Fixes: the tour no longer trips the unlock sheet mid-way on the free tier; the scale readout tells the truth in True size at every scale; the build watermark is gone from the corner; the build number lives at the top of Settings instead.

### 1.0 — 2026-09-15

No release notes.

## More apps by Kaolin Fire

- [Disasteroids](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/disasteroids/id597732296)
- [Saintify](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/saintify/id608804799)
- [BabyPaints](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/babypaints/id698390611)
- [Spot The Hustle](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spot-the-hustle/id880531375)
- [FractRoam](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fractroam/id1043441882)
- [Timeful](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/timeful/id1153735066)

All apps by Kaolin Fire: https://appshunter.io/developer/506161943

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*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 2026-09-19.*