Near vs Solstice
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Near
Explore near-Earth objects, potentially hazardous asteroids, and fireball events on an interactive worldwide map. Get detailed information on asteroid orbits, impact risk data, and track close approaches to Earth. Search NASA's asteroid database and visualize hazard percentages.
- Interactive Fireball Map with energy visualization
- Detailed asteroid and orbit information
- Impact Risk data and collision assessment
- Search NASA's asteroid database
- Track close approaches
- Visual distance indicators
- Hazard percentage calculation
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On average, Earth is visited by a small asteroid (5-20 meters in diameter) every month! Explore the Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs), and fireball events on worldwide map. - Interactive Fireball Map displaying reported meteor and bolide impact events with energy visualization - Detailed information about asteroids and their orbits - Impact Risk data section featuring Earth Impact Monitoring collision assessment data - Search through NASA's extensive asteroid database - Track close approaches to Earth and other celestial bodies - Visual distance indicators with dynamic color coding - Hazard percentage calculation based on the Palermo technical impact hazard scale - iPad optimization for a seamless experience across all devices Perfect for: - Astronomy enthusiasts - Space science students - Anyone curious about near-Earth objects and meteor events #AsteroidTracker #NearEarthObjects #SpaceScience #FireballTracking
Solstice
Track daily daylight changes in your location and see monthly projections. Explore daylight variations across different global locations and over time. Receive notifications and use widgets to stay informed about upcoming daylight.
- Daily daylight change comparison
- Monthly daylight projections
- Time Travel feature
- Multi-location comparison
- Daily notifications
- Widgets
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Solstice shows you how much more or less daylight there is in your location today compared to yesterday, as well as how much to expect each month as the year goes by. Use Time Travel to see how the daylight changes throughout the year, and compare it to multiple locations around the world. Enjoy daily notifications and widgets to look forward to brighter days.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Solstice at 85% against Near's 0%. Solstice also leads on price (Free vs $0.99) and rating (4.8 vs 3.0). Near's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.5). On update cadence, ads and chart position 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
Solstice is free to download; Near costs $0.99 up front. Solstice sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Near asks for nothing beyond the download.
Solstice holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Solstice has 80 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Near's written reviews are positive against 85% of Solstice's.
Near ships an update every 5 weeks, Solstice every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Near | Solstice |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.0 (1 ratings) | 4.8 (80 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 85.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 80 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #79 — better | #178 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Aleksandr Balyberdin | Dan Eden |
Customer experience
Near
Solstice
Bugs and requests
Near
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Solstice
Reported bugs
7 issues- App crashes when sliding bar
- App crashes when holding any location
- Square widget displays white square with grey bars only
- Widget options not showing
- Lock screen widget progress ring shows incorrect progress
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- Morning sunlight notification doesn't work
- Longest and shortest days are inverted
Requested features
10 requests- Add a month view
- Add equinox measurements and widgets
- Remember multiple locations
- Compare data for two places on the same screen
- Add automatic push notifications for sunset
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- Countdown of sunlight left in a day
- Track increases to sunset time and earliest/latest times
- Compare locations for sunlight differences
- Manually add and save locations
- Ability to use worldwide (if not already)
In-app purchases
Near
No in-app purchases
Solstice
- Small Tip$1.99
- Medium Tip$5.99
- Large Tip$11.99
