micro by THIX vs Celestia
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
micro by THIX
Simulate the creation and evolution of microorganisms. Explore natural selection, mutation, and inter-microbial conflict in a dynamic, educational sandbox. Experiment with environmental factors and genetic traits to discover new life forms.
- Create bacteria, viruses, and fungi
- Observe natural selection
- Learn microbiology interactively
- Edit genetic attributes
- Experiment with environmental factors
- Collect microbes in a library
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Create bacteria, viruses and fungi. Mix them up. Watch them reproduce, mutate, fight, and evolve. Features: - observe the phenomenon of natural selection - learn microbiology in an innovative way - editable genetic attributes - experiment with spotlight, heat or antiseptics - unlimited possibilities of genetic combinations - name your own microbes - collect microbes in your library
Celestia
Explore the universe in real-time 3D. Visit planets, moons, star clusters, and galaxies, viewing them from any point in space and time. Customize your experience with expandable content and detailed simulations.
- Real-time 3D space visualization
- Explore planets, moons, stars, galaxies
- Accurate solar system object positions
- Interactive planetarium mode
- Expandable content with add-ons
- Customizable celestial databases
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Celestia — real-time 3D visualization of space 3D Space Simulator | Celestia lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia simulates many different types of celestial objects. From planets and moons to star clusters and galaxies, you can visit every object in the expandable database and view it from any point in space and time. The position and movement of solar system objects is calculated accurately in real time at any rate desired. Interactive Planetarium | Celestia serves as a planetarium – for an observer on any celestial object. You can easily navigate to any world and land on its surface. When used as a planetarium, Celestia shows accurate positions of solar system objects in the sky. You can switch labels and other supporting features on and off with hotkeys, or zoom in and out on an object of interest, for example Jupiter’s system of moons. Expandable Content | Customize Celestia according to your needs. Celestia’s catalogues can be easily expanded. There are many different add-ons available containing new objects like comets or stars, high-resolution textures of Earth and other well mapped solar system bodies, as well as 3D models for asteroids and spacecraft on precise trajectories. Even fictional objects from well-known sci-fi franchises can be found. EULA(End User License Agreement): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Celestia at Free against micro by THIX's $1.99. Celestia also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 10 months) and rating (4.4 vs 4.1). micro by THIX's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 16.0). On 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
Celestia is free to download; micro by THIX costs $1.99 up front. Celestia sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. micro by THIX asks for nothing beyond the download.
Celestia holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Celestia has 337 ratings behind it against 28, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of micro by THIX's written reviews are positive against 79% of Celestia's.
micro by THIX ships an update every 10 months, Celestia fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | micro by THIX | Celestia |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (28 ratings) | 4.4 (337 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.1% of reviews | 78.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 28 | 337 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 88 MB | 550 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | THIX LLC | 林峰 李 |
Customer experience
micro by THIX
Celestia
Bugs and requests
micro by THIX
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Celestia
Reported bugs
3 issues- Milky Way and other galaxy textures not loading properly
- Crashes when using certain add-ons
- Issues with planet and moon orbits not being accurate
Requested features
5 requests- Add more exoplanets and distant star systems
- Implement terrain generation for planets
- Expand to include more galaxies and the overall universe structure
- Add support for black holes, pulsars, and other exotic objects
- Improve controls and camera movement
In-app purchases
micro by THIX
No in-app purchases
Celestia
- Celestia PLUS (Weekly)7 Days trial$0.997 Days
- Celestia PLUS (Monthly)$1.991 Month
- Celestia PLUS (Yearly)$19.991 Year
- Celestia PLUS (Lifetime)$79.99
