Mars Info Lite vs ICESat
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.
ICESat
Track the path of a NASA satellite measuring Earth's elevation changes. See upcoming flybys over your chosen locations and learn about the mission's scientific objectives.
- Track satellite orbits
- View upcoming flybys
- Specify locations of interest
- Add overflights to favorites
- Learn about the mission
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Follow NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) as it orbits Earth and measures the height of our changing planet. See when the satellite will be flying near you or your favorite places in the future. ICESat-2, launched in 2018, uses green lasers to track elevation changes in polar ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice, but also measures trees, land, water, and more, providing a precise height map of our entire planet in unprecedented detail. The app makes it easier for users to see exactly when ICESat-2 will be passing over any location in the world. Users can choose a specific search location and radius to view future flybys of the satellite, with search results yielding data up to three months into the future. The app can be used to plan an observation of the satellite as it passes overhead, plan a citizen science field campaign, or for knowing when elevation data for a specific location will become available online through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Features: • Specify a location of interest (via map, latitude/longitude entry, or current location) to see when ICESat-2 will be flying by • View upcoming orbit flybys in a map or list format • Add overflights to favorites for easy reference in the future • Read more about the mission, related citizen science objectives, and where to access data returned by the satellite
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mars Info Lite at 96% against ICESat's 50%. Mars Info Lite also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (200 vs 3). ICESat's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Mars Info Lite holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mars Info Lite has 200 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 96% of Mars Info Lite's written reviews are positive against 50% of ICESat's.
| Parameter | Mars Info Lite | ICESat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (200 ratings) — better | 3.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 96.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 200 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 210 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Viktor Goltvyanytsya | NASA |
Customer experience
Mars Info Lite
ICESat
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
ICESat
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Mars Info Lite
No in-app purchases
ICESat
No in-app purchases
