Comparison

Light Pollution Map vs Stargaze Tonight

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

Head to head
About

Light Pollution Map

Discover optimal locations for stargazing and astrophotography with a detailed light pollution map. Get real-time alerts for celestial events like meteor showers and auroras, track the ISS, and access daily astronomy photos. Enhance your night sky observations with comprehensive tools and information.

Highlights
  • Interactive light pollution map
  • Aurora borealis live map and alerts
  • Meteor shower and super moon alerts
  • ISS tracker with live updates
  • Moon phases and information
  • Astronomy photo of the day
Features
Read full description

Light Pollution Map allows you to easily locate dark sky locations where the sky will not be affected by light pollution, allowing the best observance, star gazing, and photography of the night sky! But it's not just a light pollution map. There's so much more, such as aurora borealis live viewing map, meteor shower alerts, super moon alerts, lunar eclipse alerts, moon phases and info, aurora and magnetic field information, international space station tracker, and a lot more! Light Pollution Map will help you master the night sky.. List of all features: • Highly accurate, customizable and interactive light pollution map to find dark sky viewing locations near you. • See live aurora borealis information such as KP value, magnetic field information, and more for the hardcore aurora chaser. • Live aurora borealis visibility map for northern and southern hemisphere, with additional timelapse options. • Aurora information widgets (today widget). • ISS Tracker with live updates about the international space station including the location, visibility, velocity, altitude, and more. • Night sky event calendar allows you to find dates for lunar eclipses, super moons, and meteor showers. • Live images of the Sun via NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. • Darkness countdown timer until the darkest period of night so you know when the night sky will be the darkest. Also let you know when it starts getting light outside. • Astronomy photo of the day directly from NASA! A new one every day to look at! • Local temperature indicator to know if you need to bring a sweater before you even step outside. • Local cloud coverage indicator to know if you will be able to see anything before you step outside. • Cloud cover overlay on the main map to find clear sky locations at night. • Settings to customize the app. • Moon information such as moon phase, moon rise, and moon set times, days of next full moon and new moon, etc. • Moon direction tool which allows you to find where the moon will be, at any time, any date, for any location. • Enable a horizon safe radius circle to avoid light pollution from nearby cities on the map. • Local Aurora Borealis (Northern/Southern Lights) alerts and push notifications. • Global Aurora Borealis Activity alerts and push notifications. • Meteor shower alerts and push notifications. • Super moon alerts and push notifications. • Lunar eclipse alerts and push notifications. • Save and load your favorite dark sky locations. • Navigate to your saved locations using the Apple Maps app. Some features above require an optional in-app purchase to upgrade to the pro version. Every purchase helps us to continue running and developing the app and is much appreciated. Note: Light Pollution Map loads data online. Internet connection or wifi is required, and we are not responsible for any data usage chargers from your provider. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Stargaze Tonight

Features
Read full description

Can you go stargazing tonight? This app answers that one question. It combines cloud cover, moonlight and twilight into a single verdict for tonight: Good, Fair or Poor. This is not a star map. It is an observing conditions forecast. ■ Hour by hour It doesn't stop at "cloudy today". You see cloud cover hour by hour, so you know it clears at 11pm. That is what actually decides whether you go out. ■ Compare sites Save up to 5 observing sites and compare them side by side. "Overcast at home, clear 40 minutes away" becomes obvious. ■ Forecast range Today, tomorrow and the day after are always free. Days 4 to 7 unlock after watching one ad. ■ So what should you look at Tonight's Moon and planets, plus upcoming meteor showers and eclipses with their dates. You can find them on the sky chart, which has a red mode so it won't ruin your night vision outdoors. ■ Honestly · Every feature is free. Nothing is locked. · No account. No sign-up. · All astronomy is computed on your device. Location is used only to fetch weather. ■ Data sources · Weather: Apple Weather · Star data: HYG Database (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Constellation boundaries: IAU

Screenshots

Light Pollution Map4 screens
Stargaze Tonight4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stargaze Tonight at none against Light Pollution Map's 6. Stargaze Tonight also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Light Pollution Map's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#171 vs unranked). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. Light Pollution Map sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Stargaze Tonight asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Light Pollution Map ships an update every 3 weeks, Stargaze Tonight weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Light Pollution Map versus Stargaze Tonight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLight Pollution MapStargaze Tonight
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (251 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews14.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings251 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#171 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size93 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDunbar Technology, LLCJIHWAN SEOK

Bugs and requests

Light Pollution Map

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when opening light pollution map
  • App crashes after locating user's position
  • Cloud coverage feature not working as expected

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add Bortle rating information
  • Improve cloud coverage feature
  • Fix crashing issues

Stargaze Tonight

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Light Pollution Map

Subscriptions4
  • Pro Version$9.991 Year
  • Pro Version$14.991 Year
  • Pro Version$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Pro Version$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Pro Version Upgrade Discounted$8.99
  • Pro Version Upgrade$9.99
None

Stargaze Tonight

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Light Pollution Map free?
Light Pollution Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stargaze Tonight free?
Stargaze Tonight is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Light Pollution Map or Stargaze Tonight have ads?
Stargaze Tonight shows ads; Light Pollution Map does not.
Which is updated more often, Light Pollution Map or Stargaze Tonight?
Light Pollution Map ships an update every 3 weeks, and Stargaze Tonight weekly. Most recently, Light Pollution Map was updated on October 29, 2026 and Stargaze Tonight on October 25, 2026.

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