Comparison

Astro Tools vs AstroVitals

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

Head to head
About

Astro Tools

Features
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Every astronomy tool, in a single app. Astro Tools brings together the astronomy tools from Polar Scope Align Pro and Xasteria, while adding new tools including an Augmented Reality Sky Planner, Astro Camera, Plate Solver and a Digital Finderscope. It is a complete toolkit for amateur astronomers: plan the night, find targets, aim a telescope, check the weather, follow satellites, calculate an imaging setup and explore the sky - all from one app. PLAN THE NIGHT SKY Use any date, time and location to plan ahead. Browse Moon phases by month, with Moon and Sun rise, set and altitude graphs plus twilight times. Compare astronomy-focused forecasts for cloud layers, seeing, transparency, wind and precipitation, or use the Multi forecast to combine 7Timer’s astronomy data with MET Norway or Apple Weather forecasts. Check aurora forecasts, light pollution, animated satellite cloud maps, and the visibility of the ISS and other bright satellites. WIDGETS Keep essential observing information on your Home Screen. Widgets provide astronomy weather forecasts, aurora conditions and upcoming satellite passes. FIND AND OBSERVE Explore more than 22,000 deep-sky objects, stars and Solar System targets. Search, filter and create observing lists, then see object details and altitude charts. Turn a manual telescope into a Push-To system: attach your phone, select a target and follow live arrows. Sync on a known star or use star-hopping for improved accuracy. Digital Finderscope provides a live, zoomable sky map that follows your phone and guides you to a selected target. SEE THE SKY IN AUGMENTED REALITY AR Sky Planner overlays a star chart on your live camera view. Move through time to see where targets will be above the horizon or behind landmarks, whether you are planning an observing session or a nightscape photograph. CAPTURE, EDIT AND PLATE-SOLVE ASTROPHOTOS Astro Camera offers manual controls for photos and time-lapses, Star Trail mode with optional fading, and Deep Stack / Long Exposure mode to align and stack images taken with a tripod or tracker. Star Assist measures a selected star live to help you focus, while an optional sky overlay helps frame your shot. Photo Editor opens JPEG, TIFF, RAW and FITS images, or an Astro Camera stack. Develop RAW photos, adjust exposure, curves, colour and detail, crop and export. Plate Solver identifies stars in a photo to find its sky coordinates, field of view and orientation. Overlay constellation lines and object labels on the image. ALIGN, MEASURE AND CONTROL Polar-align a star tracker or equatorial mount without a polar scope, even in daylight. Start with the compass or calibrate using the camera on the Sun, Moon or stars. Use Laser / Hop Align when the pole star is obstructed, measure level and tilt, inspect GPS and sensor data, or control compatible WiFi mounts (iOptron, Pegasus Nyx and more). FOR OBSERVERS AND IMAGERS More than 30 calculators cover observing and astrophotography, with shared inputs and remembered values for quick comparisons. Find and simulate solar eclipses for your exact location, and use tools for field of view, magnification, exposure, focal length, image scale and more. Whether you observe with binoculars, a manual telescope, a GoTo mount or an imaging rig, Astro Tools keeps the information and practical tools you need close at hand. Many tools are completely free, for the rest there is a single Pro subscription with a free trial. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

AstroVitals

Monitor your telescope's vital signs remotely from your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. View guiding, focus, image quality, and sequence progress on a glanceable dashboard. Receive smart alerts and optionally control your imaging session.

Highlights
  • Live guiding graphs and stability scores
  • Autofocus V-curve visualization
  • Full sequence tree with progress
  • 3D mount position and target altitude
  • Apple Watch app and complications
  • Home and lock screen widgets
  • Smart alerts for image quality and guiding
Features
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Your telescope is imaging all night. AstroVitals puts its vital signs on your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch — so you can check on the session from the couch, the tent, or your wrist at 3 AM. AstroVitals connects to N.I.N.A. (Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy) over your local network through the Advanced API plugin, and turns the numbers into a dark, glanceable night-vision dashboard. GUIDING AT A GLANCE • Flowing RA/Dec guide graph, just like your guiding software • Live total RMS plus session best, worst and stability score • Peak-error and pixel-scale readouts, adjustable time window FOCUS & IMAGE QUALITY • Watch autofocus V-curves build point by point, live • Best-focus position and HFR marked when the run completes • HFR and star-count trends across every sub of the session YOUR WHOLE SEQUENCE • The full Advanced Sequencer tree — instructions, triggers, loop conditions • The running step highlighted with live progress (87/250 exposures…) • Values shown inline: exposure length, filter, wait-until times and more THE STATS DASHBOARD • A live 3D model of your mount showing exactly where it points, with meridian-flip warning colors and flat-panel cover state • Target altitude path with transit time and astronomical darkness • Camera cooling, ambient temperature, power draw and input voltage • Rearrangeable tiles — drag them into your preferred layout ON YOUR WRIST • The full dashboard as a native Apple Watch app • Watch-face complications: meridian-flip countdown and subs done • iPhone home-screen and lock-screen widgets with a live flip timer SIMPLE SETUP • Auto-discovers your NINA machine on the local network • Demo mode simulates a full session — try every screen without a telescope SMART ALERTS & CONFIRMED CONTROL • Optional alerts for worsening or recovering image quality, lost guiding and meridian-flip progress while AstroVitals is active • Start, pause and stop the running sequence when Allow Control is enabled • A configurable panic plan can stop activity, park or home the mount, close a detected flat-panel cover and disable selected power outputs • Siri opens the review-and-slide confirmation screen; it never sends a command by itself Requires N.I.N.A. with the free Advanced API plugin (v2) on the same network. AstroVitals starts in Read-only mode. Control requires explicit opt-in and confirmation, and remains on the user's local network. No accounts, no analytics, no data leaves your network.

Screenshots

Astro Tools4 screens
AstroVitals4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: AstroVitals at none against Astro Tools's 3. Astro Tools's advantage is iOS requirement (15 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Astro Tools sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. AstroVitals asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Astro Tools ships an update every 2 weeks, AstroVitals every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Astro Tools versus AstroVitals: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAstro ToolsAstroVitals
PriceFreeFree
Rating—3.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDimitrios KechagiasMAXIMILIAN BOTEV

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Astro Tools

Subscriptions3
  • Astro Tools Pro Monthly3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Astro Tools Pro 6 Months3 Days trial$2.996 Months
  • Astro Tools Pro Annual3 Days trial$4.991 Year
None

AstroVitals

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Astro Tools free?
Astro Tools is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AstroVitals free?
AstroVitals is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Astro Tools or AstroVitals have ads?
Neither Astro Tools nor AstroVitals shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Astro Tools or AstroVitals?
Astro Tools ships an update every 2 weeks, and AstroVitals every 3 weeks. Most recently, Astro Tools was updated on October 29, 2026 and AstroVitals on October 24, 2026.

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