Backyard Apollo AR vs Space Race AR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Backyard Apollo AR
Experience a life-sized Apollo Saturn V rocket in augmented reality. Explore it from all angles, walk around it, and launch it with realistic sounds and visuals. Customize your rocket experience and share snapshots.
- Life-sized rocket model
- 360-degree viewing
- Augmented reality placement
- Realistic launch sequence
- Authentic mission sounds
- Customizable rocket experience
- Snapshot sharing
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Its the model rocket you’ve always wanted! See a life-sized Apollo Saturn V rocket up close from every angle walk under and around it, then blast it off! Authentic mission sounds using 3D positional audio — wear headphones for the coolest effect — combine with realistic high-detail graphics, physically-based rendering, and HDR audio recordings of real rocket launches to make the experience just like being there! You’ll be able to launch your rocket again and again, from anywhere you like. Just tap where you want your rocket to appear. It's that easy! Launch a tiny model on your desktop or a full-sized giant in a field! Backyard Apollo offers ways to customize your experience too, making it even more fun to launch your rockets and take snapshots for your friends. “3…2…1…Houston: we have liftoff”!
Space Race AR
Experience the history of space travel through augmented reality. This app brings an accompanying book to life with interactive videos and 3D models of spacecraft, viewable on compatible devices.
- Augmented reality space travel history
- Interactive archive videos
- 3D models of iconic space vehicles
- View spacecraft from all angles
- Links to purchase accompanying book
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Bring the history of space travel to life! Carlton's book Space Race tells the complete story of space travel, from the very first rockets to future missions to Mars and beyond. This app transforms the book into a unique digital experience, fuelled by the latest augmented reality technology: - Activate amazing archive videos of spaceflight that appear to play on the pages of the book. - Trigger 3D models of iconic space vehicles including the Appollo Moon Lander and the Curiosity rover, and view them from every angle with your device. How it works: Once you press the play button on the app’s opening screen, simply look at the interactive pages of your Space Race book through the app. Look out for pages with interactive boxes marked 'REPLAY HISTORY HERE!' and 'SEE IT IN 3D!'. If you don’t already have the book, tap the play button on the app's opening screen and wait for 20 seconds to get a link to a retail page outside the app where the book can be purchased. This free app is available to anyone with a compatible smartphone or tablet (iPhone 5 or above, iPad 2 or above, iPod Touch 5th Gen. or above - all running iOS 8.0 or above).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Backyard Apollo AR at 4.7 against Space Race AR's 4.0. Backyard Apollo AR also leads on ratings volume (1.5K vs 2). Space Race AR's advantage is iOS requirement (7.0 vs 15.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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.
Backyard Apollo AR holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backyard Apollo AR has 1.5K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Backyard Apollo AR ships an update every 7 months, Space Race AR every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Backyard Apollo AR | Space Race AR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.5K ratings) — better | 4.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 69.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 7.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 82 MB | 300 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wobbleworks LLC | Carlton Books Limited |
Customer experience
Backyard Apollo AR
Space Race AR
Bugs and requests
Backyard Apollo AR
Reported bugs
3 issues- Startup crashes and sensor reset loops
- Rocket launch sequence freezes
- Persistent audio issues after app closure
Requested features
3 requests- Add more rocket models and launch configurations
- Implement video recording capability
- Improve overall stability and performance
Space Race AR
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Backyard Apollo AR
No in-app purchases
Space Race AR
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Backyard Apollo AR free?
Is Space Race AR free?
Which has better reviews, Backyard Apollo AR or Space Race AR?
Do Backyard Apollo AR or Space Race AR have ads?
Which is updated more often, Backyard Apollo AR or Space Race AR?
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