Celestial Navigation vs EZ Celestial Navigation
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Celestial Navigation
This application assists with celestial navigation by performing sextant sight reduction calculations. It displays intermediate numbers for verification and can draw lines of position on a map. Features include a perpetual nautical almanac and a star finder to identify celestial bodies.
- Sextant sight reduction calculations
- Perpetual nautical almanac
- Line of position calculation and plotting
- Star Finder for celestial identification
- Save and manage sextant readings
- Display intermediate calculation numbers
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This app does all the calculations to reduce a sextant reading to a line of position on the map. All intermediate numbers are shown to check your manual calculations. • Perpetual nautical almanac • Calculation of the line of position (azimuth and distance) • Draws the line of position on the map. • Star Finder: just point your device to the sky to identify the navigational stars. • Save your readings, choose what to show on the map. A sextant is required to make full use of this app.
EZ Celestial Navigation
This app simplifies celestial navigation using a sextant, providing tools to calculate your position at sea. It offers automated calculations or manual table access, with features for observation archiving and compass checks. Ideal for learning and practicing traditional navigation methods.
- Automated sight reduction and LOP plotting
- Manual Nautical Almanac and Pub. 229 table access
- Observation archiving and restoration
- Compass check functionality
- Printable Nautical Almanac pages and reports
- Universal app for iOS and macOS
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Celestial navigation has never been easier! With ezAlmanacOne and a sextant you will be finding your fix like a pro in no time! ezAlmanacOne is an evolution of the iPad version of ezAlmanac with the modern user interface used in the Windows 10 version of ezAlmanac. All of the features of ezAlmanac plus new features including: - Universal app runs on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and the new MacBook with M1 processor. - Supports all device orientations. All screens support zoom and pan. - Make bearing observations to perform compass checks. - Archive saved observations and restore observation data from an archive. - Includes quick start guide, usage examples, and other documentation to learn celestial navigation. - Print/Output Nautical Almanac pages, observation reports, and other app documentation. ezAlmanacOne will help you perform celestial navigation exactly as it has been done for hundreds of years. It produces all Nautical Almanac (1960-2059) and Pub. 229 tables exactly as you are used to seeing them in the printed form. All tables can be accessed directly for manual usage if you choose to do so. Since they are produced by the software they support zooming and panning, and you can highlight in the tables to easily find the correct value to use. Most users, however, will prefer to let ezAlmanacOne do all of the work. Simply enter the basic sight parameters, make and enter your observations, and ezAlmanacOne will do the rest. It performs all of the steps to correct your observation, find GP of the object, do the sight reduction, and plot the LOP. No steps are skipped and all details are shown. Click where the LOPs cross in the plot and you have found your fix! Besides finding your fix, ezAlmanacOne is one of the best tools available to perform compass checks from a bearing observation of one of the navigational bodies. The compass check function supports checking up to 5 devices from a single bearing observation. ezAlmanacOne will also create a report of your compass check that can be saved as a PDF file or printed for the ships records. Celestial navigation instructors love ezAlmanacOne because it does celestial navigation exactly as they teach it. Values obtained from the Nautical Almanac and Pub. 229 are clearly identified with an icon of the book. When you press the book icon you are taken to the page that has that value with the row, column and value highlighted. Even when ezAlmanacOne is doing all the work, it can teach you how to do it manually using the books. For manual celestial navigation you can generate and print Nautical Almanac pages to use as a backup on a passage. You can even print the sight reduction forms and plotting sheets you will need. ezAlmanacOne performs all astronomical calculations using the NOVAS 3.1 software from the US Naval Observatory (USNO) and a JPL ephemeris that covers the years 1960 through 2059. It also implements WMM-2020, the latest World Magnetic Model software available from NOAA, to compute magnetic declination. Since all calculations are performed in the software, ezAlmanacOne is fully functional with no dependency on the internet.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Celestial Navigation at $1.99 against EZ Celestial Navigation's $29.99. Celestial Navigation also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). EZ Celestial Navigation's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.2) and review sentiment (100% vs 77%). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Celestial Navigation costs $1.99 and EZ Celestial Navigation $29.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
EZ Celestial Navigation holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 26 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Celestial Navigation's written reviews are positive against 100% of EZ Celestial Navigation's.
Celestial Navigation ships an update every 5 days, EZ Celestial Navigation monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Celestial Navigation | EZ Celestial Navigation |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $29.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (15 ratings) | 4.9 (26 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 | 26 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #83 — better | #108 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 153 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dr. Harald Merkel | EZ Celestial LLC |
Customer experience
Celestial Navigation
EZ Celestial Navigation
In-app purchases
Celestial Navigation
No in-app purchases
EZ Celestial Navigation
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Celestial Navigation free?
Is EZ Celestial Navigation free?
Which has better reviews, Celestial Navigation or EZ Celestial Navigation?
Do Celestial Navigation or EZ Celestial Navigation have ads?
Which is updated more often, Celestial Navigation or EZ Celestial Navigation?
Which is more popular, Celestial Navigation or EZ Celestial Navigation?
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