Comparison

SynScan Pro vs AstroVitals

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

Head to head
About

SynScan Pro

Control motorized telescope mounts for celestial observation and astrophotography. Features include precise slewing, alignment, GOTO, and tracking of stars, planets, and deep-sky objects. Supports advanced functions like polar alignment and camera triggering.

Highlights
  • Control telescope mount (slew, align, GOTO, track)
  • Point and Track celestial objects
  • Gamepad navigation support
  • Catalog of celestial objects
  • Third-party app integration (ASCOM, SkySafari)
  • Polar alignment (with or without polar scope)
  • Camera shutter release control
Features
Read full description

Use the SynScan app to control Sky-Watcher telescope mounts via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth LE. Mounts without built-in Wi-Fi can be supported via a SynScan Wi-Fi adapter. This is the Pro version of the SynScan app and contains features suited for expert users using equatorial mounts. Features - Control telescope mount to slew, align, GOTO and track. - Point And Track: track celestial objects (including the Sun and planets) without aligning. - Support gamepad navigation. - Browse a catalog of stars, comets, and deep sky objects. Or, save your own objects. - Provide access to mount for use by third-party apps, including ASCOM clients, SkySafari, Luminos, Stellarium Mobile Plus, Stellarium Desktop or customer-developed apps. Also set up mount alignment for Luminos, Skysafari. - Support access to the mount and the SynScan app from any platform that supports TCP/UDP connections. - Provide emulator mount for testing and practicing. - Track fast-moving earth satellites by working with the PreviSat app on Windows PC or the Lumios app on iOS devices. - Perform polar alignment with or without a polar scope. - Control shutter release (SNAP) port to trigger an attached camera. (Requires mount with SNAP port and adapter cable that matches camera.) - Use ASCOM to perform autoguiding on mounts that do not have autoguider (ST-4) port. - Other mount controls: auto home, PPEC, park.

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

SynScan Pro4 screens
AstroVitals4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: AstroVitals at 3.7 against SynScan Pro's 2.7. AstroVitals also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and review sentiment (50% vs 22%). SynScan Pro's advantage is ratings volume (56 vs 3) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AstroVitals holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SynScan Pro has 56 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 22% of SynScan Pro's written reviews are positive against 50% of AstroVitals's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SynScan Pro ships an update every 2 months, AstroVitals every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
SynScan Pro versus AstroVitals: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSynScan ProAstroVitals
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.7 (56 ratings)3.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.5% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings56 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAstropower Technology Co. Ltd.MAXIMILIAN BOTEV

Customer experience

SynScan Pro

All ratings51 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral13.7%
Negative52.9%
Written reviews93 reviews
Positive21.5%
Neutral20.4%
Negative58.1%

AstroVitals

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

SynScan Pro

No in-app purchases

None

AstroVitals

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SynScan Pro free?
SynScan Pro is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AstroVitals free?
AstroVitals is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SynScan Pro or AstroVitals?
AstroVitals is rated higher. SynScan Pro averages 2.7 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while AstroVitals averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do SynScan Pro or AstroVitals have ads?
Neither SynScan Pro nor AstroVitals shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SynScan Pro or AstroVitals?
SynScan Pro ships an update every 2 months, and AstroVitals every 3 weeks. Most recently, SynScan Pro was updated on October 24, 2026 and AstroVitals on October 24, 2026.

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