Comparison

UTC Orbit vs LSTclock

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

UTC Orbit

This utility converts between human-readable dates and a YYDDD.FFFFFF format essential for spacecraft orbital element calculations. It also features a UTC alarm clock based on the day of the year and a large digit UTC display.

Highlights
  • UTC time conversion
  • YYDDD.FFFFFF format display
  • UTC alarm clock
  • Day of Year alarm setting
  • Large digit UTC clock display
  • Background alarm notifications
Features
Read full description

UTC Orbit; is a time conversion utility for use with Earth orbital elements calculations for spacecraft. The application also contains a UTC alarm clock that is based on "Day of Year". UTC stands for "Universal Time Coordinated", but is also known as Zulu Time or GMT Time. The application allows the user to select any epoch time in the future or past via pick wheels and that time is then displayed as YYDDD.FFFFFF where YY=Two digit year, where DDD=day of the year (000 - 366), and where .FFFFFF is the decimal fraction of the day. This is the standard format for manipulation of spacecraft tracking TLE's (Two Line Element sets). The app also works in reverse where the user types in the epoch time and the pick wheels will spin to the human readable date. The alarm is set via the pick wheels and operates in the background for sound and screen notification as well as the foreground if application is running. The user must "allow notifications" for the background to function. A useful feature of the app is that if you rotate the iPhone you then have a large digit UTC clock. iPad large digit clock is selected by touching the button "UTC screen". Note that this locks the screen rotation on all devices and to return to the calculation screen you must touch "Back to main screen".

About

LSTclock

This utility app displays local sidereal time for registered locations on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. It can also calculate sidereal time and Julian Date for any date and time, and sync locations between devices.

Highlights
  • Local sidereal time display
  • Julian Date calculation
  • Supports multiple registered locations
  • Location sync between iPhone and Apple Watch
  • Date and time specific calculations
Features
Read full description

LSTclock is an iOS/iPadOS/watchOS app that displays the local sidereal time (LST) at registered location(s). On iOS/iPadOS, it can also calculate LST and Julian Date for any date and time. The list of locations can be synced between iPhone and paired Apple Watch(es).

Screenshots

UTC Orbit2 screens
LSTclock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: UTC Orbit at 100% against LSTclock's 55%. UTC Orbit also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.8). LSTclock's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (10 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

UTC Orbit holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LSTclock has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of UTC Orbit's written reviews are positive against 55% of LSTclock's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UTC Orbit ships an update every 8 months, LSTclock every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
UTC Orbit versus LSTclock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUTC OrbitLSTclock
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better3.8 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better54.5% of reviews
Number of ratings210 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDave MasseyTsuyoshi Sawada

Customer experience

UTC Orbit

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

LSTclock

All ratings10 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative30.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral18.2%
Negative27.3%

In-app purchases

None

UTC Orbit

No in-app purchases

None

LSTclock

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UTC Orbit free?
UTC Orbit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LSTclock free?
LSTclock is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, UTC Orbit or LSTclock?
UTC Orbit is rated higher. UTC Orbit averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while LSTclock averages 3.8 from 10 ratings.
Do UTC Orbit or LSTclock have ads?
Neither UTC Orbit nor LSTclock shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UTC Orbit or LSTclock?
UTC Orbit ships an update every 8 months, and LSTclock every 2 months. Most recently, UTC Orbit was updated on September 15, 2026 and LSTclock on September 26, 2026.

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