# Dark Sky Meter — user reviews > 57 indexed App Store user reviews of Dark Sky Meter by DDQ, rated 3.80/5 from 6 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dark-sky-meter/id602989060/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dark-sky-meter/id602989060.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 2 · 4★ 3 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 1 ## Newest reviews (16 of 57) ### 2/5 — All times UTC *2026-01-19, version 3.5* I live in Australia, app does not show local time for events ### 3/5 — Abweichungen zum Original SQM Meter *2025-12-14* Die Messungen mit dem iPhone und dieser App weichen erheblich von denen mit dem Original Messgerät ab. Bei mir am Ort zeigt das Originalgerät 18.90 an und die App 19.65. Das ist min. eine ganze Blende Unterschied. ### 2/5 — Doesn’t work in dark skies *2025-09-23, version 3.5* App keeps saying “too dark for device”? ### 4/5 — Camera Options *2025-04-06, version 3.5* Nice useful app, will use it more often to refine data. It would be good if we could choose to optionally make use of front facing camera, these are much better in recent years. Would need to blank screen while taking measurements. Perhaps take dark and light measurements automatically? ### 4/5 — Too Dark reading *2024-07-02, version 3.3* I’m not sure it’s working on my new iPhone. It kept giving me an error code that it was TOO DARK! It was one of the clearest dark sky nights last night and I really wanted to log it into the data. ### 4/5 — Handy app but *2024-05-25, version 3.3* One glaring issue. Not everyone uses UTC regularly. The mobile devices that the app is installed on uses local time. This app need to have the ability to do so also for where it uses time display. It is easier to just look and see local time and not have to worry about time offsets and doing the math. ### 2/5 — Not accurate and cannot calibrate *2024-03-11, version 3.3* On an iPhone 15 pro the SQM measurement is about 2 magnitudes away from an instrument. That is over 6 x out. The calibration function referred to does not seem to exist anymore. Great idea but needs some updating ### 4/5 — Easy app with minor UI oddities *2023-11-21, version 3.3* This app is very easy to use. * Cover the lens, press 1 * Wait for it to buzz * Point at sky, press 2. * Select cloud cover and hit Submit. Main criticisms would be that there is no longer a list of observations (per the screenshots), and when you view an observation in the map view it only shows dates and values - it doesn’t include data like cloud cover, which would affect the measurement. I also can’t find a calibration function to add an offset where a commercial SQM is available. Maybe that’s been removed? All in all, a decent app for “quick and dirty” measurements. ### 3/5 — Great idea! *2023-07-14, version 3.1.2* Having a dark sky meter on your phone is just brilliant. When I first tried this on iPhone 13, it was close to what I expected and what lightpollutionmap.info said for my dark sky site. With iPhone 14, however, I can’t seem to trust it. It either tells me my Bortle 4 sky is too dark for the device, or I get a reading that is significantly darker than reality. Perhaps a little more tweaking is needed. Other than that, the app is easy to use and doesn’t crash on me. I wish you only had to take the dark frame once per session, but if you’re taking a lot of readings I suppose the sensor temp can climb. ### 3/5 — Crashes on iPhone 13 Pro Max *2023-01-15, version 3.1.0* Unable to send you data as I cannot find how to contact the developer other than here. The App crashes on an iPhone 13 Pro Max when you tap on the Cloud button. ### 3/5 — Saving measures not found *2022-03-03* It would be nicd if one could store one‘s own measurements for documentation. Anyway nice app. ### 4/5 — Very useful *2019-12-01, version 3.0.6* Great App. Very useful. I particularly like the Cloud forecast which seems to be quite accurate so far. Would be 5 stars if there was some information about the Seeing and Transparency scales. I can only assume they are out of 10 as I’m getting predictions I’ll to £ so far. The only Seeing scale I could find online gives scores out of 5 so if can’t be using that one. ### 1/5 — App gives unreliable readings, website is poor *2019-06-01, version 3.0.5* I had used this at home in Bortle class 6 area and the readings seemed reasonable. Then I took it to a dark site, listed as one of the darkest areas in the continental US. I got multiple failures from the app, and finally it gave me a reading of bright suburban sky. At this point I gave up. I do not believe this app is trustworthy ### 1/5 — Schade, dafür sind selbst 2€ Zuviel. *2019-05-02* Nur die eigenen Ergebnisse werden in der App angezeigt, alle Ergebnisse nur im Web!! Und die sind umsonst. Ungenaue Messergebnisse. App Nur in Englisch. Kein iPad Support. ### 1/5 — Startet nicht *2019-03-07* Die app startet nach dem heutigen update nicht mehr. **Developer response:** Das soll jetzt wieder funktionieren, wenn nicht helfe ich gerne. ### 2/5 — Geht so *2018-08-20* Wetterdaten funktionieren nicht **Developer response:** Funktioniert ab jetzt wieder ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Does not work *2025-04-19, version 3.5* “The night sky was to dark” so I got no result ### 1/5 — Useless. *2024-10-27, version 3.5* Back home in the city this app rightly admonishes me for living in such a light polluted area….so I drive twelve hours to within 8 miles of Cape Wrath where it’s so dark the stars cast a shadow. Tonight it’s cloudy and the app reports it’s too dark to take a measurement. Waste of time using it. ### 1/5 — Options *2024-10-10, version 3.4* If you are looking for an app to tell you how dark areas are- it’s is VERY dependent on others and it’s doesn’t tell you your location. It asks YOU to take a photo to send to others. ### 1/5 — Would not buy *2023-08-13, version 3.1.2* App does not provide any reading other than “too dark for device” when I travel to dark site locations and the app constantly freezes when trying to use the conditions feature. ### 1/5 — Useless *2023-06-10, version 3.1.2* I suppose you have to be an experienced astronomer to understand the numbers, means nothing to me without a guide, not beginner or intermediate friendly, also it says press 1 after camera is ready, no numbers on screen at all, waste of money…… ### 1/5 — Dont bother *2023-06-02, version 3.1.2* Crashed twice right out of the gate. ### 1/5 — Is joke, no? Worth every penny of the free price, and no more. *2023-01-27, version 3.1.0* There are no instructions, and both the “developer website” and “support” links take you to an essentially content-less map full of dots. The first time I ran it it responded “Invalid, try again.” No explanation. The second time... “Too dark for device.” YOU HAD ONE JOB. ### 1/5 — Not measuring correctly w iPhone 11 Pro *2022-05-01, version 3.0.9* I used this app for years in my backyard with an iPhone 6 Plus, getting readings between 19.35 and 19.5 which seemed to agree with what was visible in the sky. Since getting an iPhone 11 Pro I get readings around 17.30. The light in my backyard did not change that much in a week. Update 12/28/21: After getting the update I was back to readings around 19.5. I received an actual SQM meter as a Christmas gift. It shows a reading of 18.44. So while the app is back to its old readings they appear to be on the optimistic side. I am deleting it at this point. ### 1/5 — Thought it was reliable but I was wrong *2020-02-22, version 3.0.6* I used to use this app reliably with my old iPhone 5s, and the results agreed well with a dedicated sky meter costing $300. But now, using an iPhone 11 Pro, the results are WAY OFF. I took both iPhones out, side by side, the 5s gave a reading of 19.45 (correct), while the iPhone 11 Pro gave a reading of 17.58 (WRONG!). Can’t trust this app anymore. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2019-10-02, version 3.0.5* In Tekapo dark sky reserve one of the dark places in the world and app registered the sky as brightly lit when there is virtually no artificial light. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great tool! *2024-01-07, version 3.3* I noticed sky conditions at my observing locations varied and I wanted to test this, and was looking for a tool. This app performs very nicely and I see the variability quantified according to a standard scale. Also developer very friendly and helpful. I’m going to use this to map out all my observing locations. Well done. ### 5/5 — Great alternative to meter *2023-07-29, version 3.1.2* Provides consistent results for locations between 18.00 and 21.00, I don’t bother with brighter skies and haven’t been to darker skies 21.00 yet. Thank you for this app 😁 ### 5/5 — Excellent app for assessing night sky quality *2019-01-07, version 2.9.5* This is an excellent app for monitoring night sky quality. It is not as accurate as a dedicated sky quality meter, but in my opinion not far behind at a fraction of the cost. Submitted readings are then visible on the on line Dark Sky map. By adding a personal tag in iPhone settings you are then able to distinguish your own submitted readings from any others taken at the same location. I have previously exchanged emails with Norbert about the app whose customer service was great. ### 5/5 — Please keep the app live.. *2018-02-16, version 2.9.4* Thank you Norbert(app developer)for keeping the app live..I hope you will find the funds for developing another great apps..again thanks..Daniel from Scotland ### 5/5 — DSM the smart application for darksky *2017-05-01* We want to promote the French Cévennes National Park as a international darksky reserve. We use DSM application to achieve the measures campaign. Very easy to use application with very good results ! Thanks ! ### 5/5 — Cool app *2016-01-31, version 2.1.2* Cool app, easy to use and really helpful! ### 5/5 — Amazing *2016-01-31, version 2.1.2* Amazing app, it's really helpful to measure the brightness of the sky. ### 5/5 — Good app *2016-01-31, version 2.1.2* I was in a need for an app like this one, works great. ### 5/5 — So cool *2016-01-31, version 2.1.2* This app helps you measure the night sky brightness with a press of a button. ### 5/5 — Works great *2016-01-31, version 2.1.2* Works great on my iphone 6, it helps me alot. --- *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 2026-09-02.*