SPACE by THIX vs Galaxy Map
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SPACE by THIX
Create and explore your own universe with realistic physics. Build celestial bodies, experiment with natural laws, and journey through the cosmos you design. Learn astronomy and astrophysics through interactive play.
- Create celestial bodies (planets, stars, black holes)
- Experiment with gravity and natural laws
- Simulate supernovae and planetary collisions
- Interactive real-time physics
- Explore created universes
- Learn astronomy and astrophysics
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* Best of 2016 – Apple * Create your own universe. Play with the law of nature. Visit the outer worlds. Build asteroids, nebula, comets, planets, moons, stars, pulsars and even blackholes at your fingertips. Experiment with gravity, supernova, planetary collision and so forth. Zoom in to ride comets. Zoom out to gaze at the galaxy of stars. S C I E N C E D R I V E N Learn Astronomy and Astrophysics for fun and creativity. All celestial bodies you create can move and interact in real-time and in accordance with the Newtonian astrophysics laws. C E L E S T I A L T O U C H Move planets with your fingers. Swipe to shoot a comet. Play with your own universe in an astronomical scale. SPACE puts gigantic celestial bodies under your fingertips. C O S M I C V O Y A G E Meditate in the indescribable beauty of space that you create, anywhere and anytime. Hold your device to view the universe in from any angle. Visit us: thix.co Like us: facebook.com/thixlab Follow us: twitter.com/thixlab Comments or Questions: support@thixlab.com
Galaxy Map
Explore the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies in an interactive 3D map. Discover nebulae, supernovae, and planets, with stunning visuals based on NASA data. Ideal for education and space enthusiasts.
- Interactive 3D galaxy map
- Explore nebulae and supernovae
- Fly through planetary atmospheres
- Land on planets
- Based on NASA data
- Available in 100+ languages
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The galaxy map is an interactive map of the Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda and their satellite galaxies. Explore the Orion Arm's nebulae and supernovae from the comfort of your spaceship. Fly through the atmosphere of Mars and many other planets and you can even land on them. Discover the galaxy in a stunning three dimensional map based on NASA's artistic impression of the Milky Way galactic structure. Photos are taken by NASA spacecraft and ground based telescopes like Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray, Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope. This interactive 3D map is excellent for teachers to use for instruction, and it is a great astronomy resource for students to explore the Milky Way galaxy and space as they learn more about the universe we live in. Available in over 100 languages! You can also From the outskirts of the galaxy, in the Norma-Outer spiral arm to the galactic center's supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, discover a galaxy full of amazing facts. Notable structures included: the Pillars of Creation, Helix Nebula, the Engraved Hourglass Nebula, the Pleiades, the Orion Arm (where the solar system and the Earth are located) with its Orion belt. Check out neighboring dwarf galaxies such as Sagittarius and the Canis Major Overdensity, stellar streams as well as internal galactic components such as a variety of nebulae, star clusters or supernovae. Explore space and get a little closer to our wonderful universe with this awesome astronomy app! The Galaxy Map requires internet access to retrieve information from the wiki.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Galaxy Map at Free against SPACE by THIX's $2.99. Galaxy Map also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.7) and review sentiment (80% vs 50%). SPACE by THIX's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and ads (none vs shown). On update cadence and device support 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
Galaxy Map is free to download; SPACE by THIX costs $2.99 up front. Galaxy Map sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. SPACE by THIX asks for nothing beyond the download.
Galaxy Map holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 169 and 600 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of SPACE by THIX's written reviews are positive against 80% of Galaxy Map's.
SPACE by THIX ships an update every 2 months, Galaxy Map every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SPACE by THIX | Galaxy Map |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.7 (169 ratings) | 4.6 (600 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.5% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 169 | 600 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 106 MB | 613 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | THIX LLC | Andrei Nistorescu |
Customer experience
SPACE by THIX
Galaxy Map
User reviews
SPACE by THIX
From 169 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🌟 Cool and fun to play with
- 🌌 Relaxing and immersive space experience
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics and visuals
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and glitchy behavior
- 🔍 Difficulty seeing and interacting with small objects
- 🤔 Lack of clear instructions or tutorials
- 🕹️ Frustrating controls and navigation
Galaxy Map
From 600 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🌌 Impressive 3D galaxy and nebula visualizations
- 🚀 Spaceship exploration feature with landing capability
- 📚 Educational content about space and astronomy
- 🎮 Fun and engaging gameplay mechanics
- ✨ No ads in free version
Room to improve
- 💰 Excessive paywall for most content
- 🐛 App crashes and fails to load
- 🎮 Poor control mechanics for flying and walking
- 🔍 Lack of zoom functionality or unclear controls
- 🌑 Black holes look too similar to each other
Bugs and requests
SPACE by THIX
Reported bugs
4 issues- Planets and objects behaving erratically or disappearing
- Frequent crashes or freezes, especially with many objects
- Inconsistent or unresponsive touch controls
- Incorrect physics or behavior of certain celestial bodies
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to customize and edit planets
- Implement time controls to speed up/slow down simulation
- Provide more celestial objects and phenomena to interact with
- Improve performance and reduce lag on complex scenes
- Include a tutorial or in-game guidance for new players
Galaxy Map
Reported bugs
9 issues- App crashes on startup
- Explore button shows nothing
- Pinch-to-zoom doesn't work
- App won't load on iPad
- Text displays as boxes in language settings
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- Mars moon orbital speed incorrect
- App kicks users out during exploration
- Loading issues and incomplete functionality
- Inconsistent performance across platforms
Requested features
18 requests- Search button to find galaxies and objects
- More diverse and realistic black hole designs
- AR feature to identify stars/planets in real sky
- More free content and objects
- Exoplanet additions (TRAPPIST-1e, J1407B)
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- Ability to click on stars within galaxies for details
- Generated planets around stars
- Sandbox/creation mode for user-generated content
- Animation for Milky Way and Andromeda
- More galaxy variety in the app
- Coordinates filter for objects
- Space-Engine style gameplay
- Flying through galaxies feature
- More female character customization options
- VIP version option
- Brown dwarfs addition
- Photosphere viewing mode
- More detailed star information
In-app purchases
SPACE by THIX
No in-app purchases
Galaxy Map
- Buy ship - Alien Destroyer$0.99
- Buy ship - Alien fighter$0.99
- Remove ads$1.99
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- Buy ship - Alien Destroyer$1.99
- Buy ship - Alien fighter$1.99
- 3D Visualization Pack$1.99
- Buy ship - Dragon Frigate$1.99
- Essentials bundle - SALE$2.99
- Remove ads$3.99
- 3D Visualization Pack$3.99
- Essentials bundle$4.99
- Ultimate bundle - SALE$7.99
- Ultimate bundle$12.99
Questions
Is SPACE by THIX free?
Is Galaxy Map free?
Which has better reviews, SPACE by THIX or Galaxy Map?
Do SPACE by THIX or Galaxy Map have ads?
Which is updated more often, SPACE by THIX or Galaxy Map?
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