Mars Info Lite vs Pocket Planets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mars Info Lite
Explore the surface of the Red Planet with an interactive 3D globe. Discover significant locations like volcanoes, craters, and mountains, and view detailed information about each. This version offers a curated selection of points of interest.
- Interactive 3D Mars globe
- Rotate, tilt, and zoom controls
- Pinpoint key locations
- View location details (name, type, size, coordinates)
- List of selectable locations
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Explore Mars using simple gestures to rotate a globe, tilt, zoom and select locations. Credits - Viking Orbiter MDIM 2.1 map of Mars - NASA NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio: GMM-3 MOLA (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter) Topography map GMM-3 Free-Air Mars Gravity map GMM-3 Bouguer Mars Gravity map GMM-3 Crustal Mars Thickness map Features: - Ability to pinpoint about 80 the most interesting areas on the map of Mars, including volcanos, craters, plains, mountains, spacecrafts. - Displaying some information about the location, such as its name, type, short description, size and coordinates. - Ability to select locations on the 3D globe and on the plain list. - Zoom, rotation, tilt of the globe. Lite version is limited to display 7 locations for each category, i.e. you will see 42 places vs 80 (currently) in a full version.
Pocket Planets
Explore our solar system with detailed information on planets, moons, and astronauts. Track who is currently in space and receive notifications for new launches. Access NASA images and compare celestial body characteristics.
- Detailed planet and moon data
- Astronaut information and missions
- Real-time space occupancy
- Launch notifications
- NASA image gallery
- Celestial body comparisons
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Pocket Planets gives you all the information you need about our solar system and human activity in space. Learn more about all 565 astronauts who been to space. What was their mission? How long had they been up there? See who is in space now! Get notified when somebody goes into space. Get up to date information about every planet and moon in the solar system. Including: - Physical characteristics: mass, radius, density, gravity, escape velocity - Orbital characteristics: real-time distance from the Sun and Earth, orbital period, orbital speed, eccentricity, apsis, periapsis, visualise orbit - Atmosphere: pressure, atmospheric composition - Images from Nasa - Moons: compare their size and distance
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Mars Info Lite at none against Pocket Planets's shown. Mars Info Lite also leads on review sentiment (96% vs 67%) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Pocket Planets's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Pocket Planets holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mars Info Lite has 200 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 96% of Mars Info Lite's written reviews are positive against 67% of Pocket Planets's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Mars Info Lite ships an update every 3 months, Pocket Planets every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mars Info Lite | Pocket Planets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (200 ratings) | 4.6 (22 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 96.0% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 200 — better | 22 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 210 MB | 66 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Viktor Goltvyanytsya | Ad Lunam Kereskedelmi es Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag |
Customer experience
Mars Info Lite
Pocket Planets
Bugs and requests
Mars Info Lite
Reported bugs
2 issues- Pinpoints shifted 90 degrees in longitude
- Crashes immediately on iPhone 4s
Requested features
4 requests- Implement geomorphology data
- Add ability to zoom out and see Mars alignment with other planets
- Add VR support
- Add apps for other planets
Pocket Planets
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Mars Info Lite
No in-app purchases
Pocket Planets
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mars Info Lite free?
Is Pocket Planets free?
Which has better reviews, Mars Info Lite or Pocket Planets?
Do Mars Info Lite or Pocket Planets have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mars Info Lite or Pocket Planets?
Other comparisons
