# Earthlapse — Interactive views of Earth

> Interactive ISS views of Earth with live data and ambient soundtracks. (iPhone/iPad app by Jetson Creative LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/earthlapse/id522003167 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Jetson Creative LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/295445438)
- Category: Education, Entertainment
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.10/5 from 25 App Store ratings · 127 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 8.0 · 539 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2012-05-18
- Data updated: 2026-08-19
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/earthlapse/id522003167/reviews.md

## What is Earthlapse?

Turn your iPad or iPhone into a window aboard the International Space Station. Experience stunning views of Earth captured by NASA astronauts. Touch the views and control the planet with your finger. A truly amazing one-of-a-kind experience. 

The app comes complete with seven beautiful interactive views of earth as well as access to the HDEV live view showing Earth live from the Space Station. In addition the app includes 8 relaxing ambient space soundtracks, a clock, and worldwide weather from Weather Underground.

Please note that the ISS HDEV live feed is often off-line or otherwise unavailable. Even when on-line, the live view often shows black as the ISS is regularly on the dark side of Earth.

Support for AirPlay on the iPad (4th gen, 3rd gen, and iPad 2), iPhone 5, and iPhone 4S. See display options in app for instructions on how to enable.

Images courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center.

Created by the makers of Magic Window. For more beautiful views check out Magic Window on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Apple TV. Earthlapse TV is also available on Apple TV (sold separately.)

## Key features

- Interactive Earth views from ISS
- Live HDEV feed from Space Station
- Ambient space soundtracks
- Worldwide weather integration
- Clock display
- AirPlay support

## What do users think of Earthlapse?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🌍 Stunning visual quality and beautiful Earth views from space
- 🎵 Excellent ambient space music that enhances experience
- 😌 Calming and relaxing atmosphere for stress relief
- 📺 Works well with AirPlay and TV display
- 🎨 Elegant design and well-coded interface
- ⏰ Functions as useful screensaver and clock display
- 🚀 Smooth performance without bugs or crashes
- 🌌 Unique perspective on Earth from ISS viewpoint
- 💎 Great value, especially when free
- 🎓 Educational tool for science students

**Cons**

- 💾 Massive file size (500-609MB) consumes excessive storage
- 🐢 Very slow download times
- 🔄 Limited content with repetitive looping videos
- 📹 Low image quality and blurriness on some devices
- ❌ No real-time live feed from space station
- 🎮 Lacks interactivity and user controls
- 🔌 No AirPlay support for live view feature
- 🎵 Cannot customize background music
- 📊 No educational information or learning content
- 💰 Requires separate paid purchase for Apple TV version

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Weather forecast showing blank space
- App not working properly on iPad and iPhone
- Live view feature not functioning
- Blurred image quality on Apple TV
- Frame rate issues causing poor performance
- Compatibility issues with older iOS versions
- Incompatible with original iPad devices

**Most requested features**

- Add more video content and scenes
- Implement real-time or live streaming from ISS
- Reduce file size through better compression
- Add Chromecast support
- Allow custom music selection
- Include 24-hour time format option
- Add space station position overlay on live view
- Enable AirPlay for live view feature
- Create longer loops showing full orbital views
- Add interactive elements like robotic arm control
- Include sunrise/sunset and weather event views
- Provide educational information about locations
- Make app universal across all Apple devices
- Add zoom functionality
- Include different viewing angles and perspectives

## Recent user reviews (10 of 127)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/earthlapse/id522003167/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Awesome images

*2026-05-03*

Awesome images and background music. Relaxing and intriguing. Play to find a relaxing series of images of the earth from the SST.

### 1/5 — Good app when working

*2024-10-03, version 3.1415*

The weather is showing forecast it’s blank space station it’s not right working . Please fix’s Earthlapse and I will give you a five star rating.iPad os and iOS iPhone too. Thank you

### 1/5 — This is hilarious

*2023-07-12*

The earth is flat this is all cgi crap lol

### 1/5 — MASSIVE download

*2022-06-28*

This app is a major storage hog. Took forever to download and takes up way too much space on my phone. Only a few of the videos are any good too. Why doesn’t it stream like every other app does? Not worth it - deleted

### 5/5 — Outstanding atmospheric visuals

*2021-01-28*

I’m a fan of both all things space and atmospheric ambient so this app really satisfies. I’ll often just park it on my phone and let it run on my desk while I’m working. Very seamless and reliable. I wish that they would add more clips but great as is. Nice work, Devs!

### 5/5 — I just wanted to change my 5 start to 5 star+

*2019-08-24*

I was written by Jenson Creative LLC about my concerns about the APP and for the first time I actually had someone write me personally about my concerns instead of like other most other apps seem to do with their auto responses to customers. It was very much appreciated and Thank You for letting me know basically what I was afraid was going on but that assurance that you all have been doing to the best you could with what you’ve got and sometimes circumstances are just very hard to over come. Thank You again for the quick feedback and I of course would help out if possible. I feel it should be education given out to people as well.

**Developer response:** Hi, sorry you are unhappy. I assure you there’s a reasonable explanation for what you are observing. (1) Starting about four years ago, Apple stopped allowing developers to edit their app descriptions without updating their app. So if something changes or becomes inaccurate, the text can’t simply be edited. (2) In addition, Apple continues to increase the technical requirements on apps, such that submitting an update requires substantial work. (3) About two years ago, USTREAM, the company who hosted the live stream, was acquired by IBM. About a year later, IBM shut off the free API to access the live stream, and now wants to charge an hourly rate for access. (4) There is no affordable way for me to pay a per hour, per customer rate for the live stream when the app makes no profit. (5) Our only other choice is to remove the app from the store. Because the app is actively used in educational institutions around the world, we do not want to remove it. Aside from that, thousands of people are happy with it as is, and are comfortable switching to the NASA app when they want to see the livestream. As an indie developer I’m just one person with a tiny boat in a sea of giants like Apple and IBM. When they make certain decisions or apply certain requirements, there’s no mechanism to protest, I just have to get on board. Best regards and have a good day.

### 1/5 — Live view!!!

*2019-03-27*

Not working!!!!!!!

### 2/5 — It could have been great

*2018-05-01, version 3.1415*

But you can’t airplay the live view. I don’t get why but it’s the only thing I really wanted.

### 5/5 — Beautiful

*2017-12-03*

Good stuff

### 3/5 — Image quality

*2017-10-16, version 3.14*

Need to do an improvement on the poor quality, really blurry, not even close to being HD.

## Frequently asked questions about Earthlapse

### What does Earthlapse do?

Earthlapse turns your iPad or iPhone into a window aboard the International Space Station. It provides stunning, interactive views of Earth captured by NASA astronauts, along with live feeds, ambient soundtracks, a clock, and worldwide weather data.

### What are the key features of Earthlapse?

Key features include seven beautiful interactive Earth views, access to the HDEV live view from the Space Station, eight relaxing ambient space soundtracks, a clock, and worldwide weather information from Weather Underground. It also supports AirPlay for extended viewing options.

### Is Earthlapse free to use?

Yes, based on the provided information, Earthlapse is a free application. It does not appear to have any in-app purchases or advertisements.

### What devices is Earthlapse compatible with?

The app is available for iPad and iPhone. Specific support for AirPlay is mentioned for iPad (4th gen, 3rd gen, and iPad 2) and iPhone 5, and iPhone 4S. Display options within the app provide further instructions.

### What are some common use cases for Earthlapse?

Users can enjoy a unique educational experience by observing Earth from space, relax with ambient space music, stay informed about global weather, or simply use it as a beautiful and dynamic screensaver. It's ideal for space enthusiasts and those seeking visually engaging content.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 3.1415 — 2017-10-24

This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.

- Weather data now provided by DarkSky!
- Bug fixes for iOS 11
- Fixes crash when saving snapshots to your photo library (3.1415)
- Please let us know if you experience any issues

### 3.141 — 2017-10-23

- Weather data now provided by DarkSky!
- Bug fixes for iOS 11
- Please let us know if you experience any issues

### 3.14 — 2016-05-31

- Live view from ISS (when available)
- Updated style and new icon
- Compatibility fixes for iOS9
- Apple TV version available (sold separately)
- Various bug fixes & improvements

### 3.1 — 2014-09-16

- Check out Earthlapse TV on Apple TV! (Sold Separately)

### 3.0 — 2013-10-01

- Fully refreshed user interface for iOS7
- Critical bug fixes for iOS7
- New parallax/motion effect - default on iPhone, see "motion effect" in settings for iPad
- Improved AirPlay interface

## Apps similar to Earthlapse

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Mars Info Lite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mars-info-lite/id1093071808) | 4.4 (200) | Free | Education |
| [Space Station Research Xplorer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/space-station-research-xplorer/id934070569) | 5.0 (10) | Free | Education |
| [To the Moon and Beyond](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/to-the-moon-and-beyond/id1514784612) | 5.0 (3) | Free | Education |
| [Space Images](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/space-images/id347075764) | 4.6 (15) | Free | Education |
| [ISS Explorer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/iss-explorer/id1429876038) | 4.9 (16) | Free | Education |
| [WeatherSats AR](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/weathersats-ar/id6444034201) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Education |

## More apps by Jetson Creative LLC

- [Magic Window - Living Pictures](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/magic-window-living-pictures/id366754824)
- [Magic Fireplace](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/magic-fireplace/id1043729482)
- [Earthlapse 4K](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/earthlapse-4k/id1043732195)
- [Countryside 4K by Magic Window](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/countryside-4k-by-magic-window/id1045419835)
- [Cityscapes 4K by Magic Window](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cityscapes-4k-by-magic-window/id1045421147)

All apps by Jetson Creative LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/295445438

## Related topics

[demosphere](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/demosphere) · [astro headset](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/astro-headset) · [earthairtunnel](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/earthairtunnel)

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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 2026-08-19.*