Encyclopedia vs Pocket Planets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Encyclopedia
Explore the solar system with extensive articles and high-definition images. This app offers comprehensive information, engaging content, and a user-friendly interface, making it suitable for both children and adults interested in space.
- Thousands of articles and HD photos
- Comprehensive solar system information
- Engaging and easy-to-understand content
- Offline availability
- Badge collection for reading
- Intuitive user interface
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Explore 386 illustrated articles about planets, moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, astronomy, missions, discoveries, and the science of our solar system. Search article titles and full text, open clear article pages, and follow linked topics without losing your place. Reading progress and themed badges help you build a path through the collection. Explore the solar system from several angles: - Timeline view follows discoveries, missions, scientists, and changing ideas. - Graph view reveals relationships between worlds, spacecraft, people, and concepts. - Map view adds geographic context for observatories, discoveries, and missions where source material provides it. - References and image credits keep source attribution visible. Thirty articles are free to read. A one-time purchase unlocks the complete encyclopedia for offline reading, including maps, timelines, and graphs. Monthly or annual Premium includes the complete encyclopedia plus AI chat, with a seven-day free trial for eligible new subscribers. People who bought the original Full Version can restore permanent offline encyclopedia access; AI chat remains a separate Premium feature. AI chat answers grounded questions about the solar system and links back to relevant articles so you can continue reading and check the context. Article text is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. Every article includes source, revision-history, and image-credit links. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
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 rating: Pocket Planets at 4.6 against Encyclopedia's 3.8. Pocket Planets also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 62 months). Encyclopedia's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (83% vs 67%). On price, ratings volume 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. Encyclopedia sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pocket Planets asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pocket Planets holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 22 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Encyclopedia'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.
Encyclopedia ships an update every 62 months, Pocket Planets every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 3, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Encyclopedia | Pocket Planets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (14 ratings) | 4.6 (22 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.3% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 22 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 62 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 322 MB | 66 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Good Spider, LLC | Ad Lunam Kereskedelmi es Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag |
Customer experience
Encyclopedia
Pocket Planets
In-app purchases
Encyclopedia
- Full Version$2.99
Pocket Planets
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Encyclopedia free?
Is Pocket Planets free?
Which has better reviews, Encyclopedia or Pocket Planets?
Do Encyclopedia or Pocket Planets have ads?
Which is updated more often, Encyclopedia or Pocket Planets?
Other comparisons
