Comparison

HoppAR vs Explore Mars with Rover

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

Head to head
About

HoppAR

Experience rocket launches and landings in augmented reality. Control thrust vectoring, perform engine test fires, and customize rockets with your own colors. Explore a variety of real spacecraft and space mission scenarios.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality rocket launches
  • Manual thrust vectoring control
  • Rocket engine test fires
  • Customizable rocket coloring
  • Variety of real spacecraft models
  • Entry, Descent, and Landing simulations
  • Indoor and Outdoor AR modes
Features
Read full description

Launch and land your favorite rockets in Augmented Reality from your courtyard! Perform rocket engine test fires directly on your table. Manually control the Thrust Vectoring and perform your first landing at home! Color your favorite rocket and see it in action in Augmented Reality You can choose between many different rocket prototypes and real spacecrafts. Here are a few of them: the beloved StarHopper, the giant Starship MK1, and the hover test of the Dragon 2. Watch the Crew Dragon Demo Mission 2 leave the launch pad and the Falcon 9 first stage land back! Enjoy the Buran Orbiter and Energia Rocket conquer the sky, and many more spacecrafts to come! Not only rockets: enjoy the Perseverance Landing and the Sky-Crane maneuver in the "Last Minute of Terror" of the Entry Descend and Landing sequence. Fire a Raptor engine on your desk at home! Select between Indoor and Outdoor mode depending on where you are and the scale of the Rocket you want to launch. Apply filters to mimic the colors of your favorite planet and change the environmental conditions choosing among many different options: Rain, Thunderstorm, Snow and more Take a picture or record your best launch, share them with your friends with the #HoppAR hashtag and get into the Rocket Launcher's Social Wall Auto-renewable Subscription: Support app Development and new Rockets Addition (renewed on an annual basis) You get all mission unlocked with no limits for the time the subscription is active Non-Consumable Purchase: Instead of subscribing you might buy a single mission that will be unlocked with no time limit Let's HoppAR! (Disclaimer: This is app is not affiliated with any space company or its partners or customers)

About

Explore Mars with Rover

Bring the wonders of Mars to your home screen with interactive widgets. Choose between two active rovers and select from various cameras to display daily images or the "Image of the Week."

Highlights
  • Home screen widgets
  • Select Curiosity or Perseverance rover
  • Choose from available rover cameras
  • Daily rover image widget
  • "Image of the Week" widget
Features
Read full description

Explore Mars with Rover lets you explore mars directly from your home screen with widgets. This app will let you choose which of the two active rovers you'd like to see on your home screen: - You can choose between Curiosity and Perseverance - You can choose a camera out of the dozen available on each rover Two types of widgets are currently supported: - Image of the week: a photo selected by the public vote and featured as "Image of the Week" of the Perseverance Rover - Daily Image from a Rover, which is configurable

Screenshots

HoppAR4 screens
Explore Mars with Rover4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: HoppAR at 4.8 against Explore Mars with Rover's 4.0. HoppAR also leads on ratings volume (579 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). Explore Mars with Rover's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 14) and review sentiment (100% vs 85%). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. HoppAR sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year. Explore Mars with Rover asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HoppAR holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HoppAR has 579 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of HoppAR's written reviews are positive against 100% of Explore Mars with Rover's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
HoppAR versus Explore Mars with Rover: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHoppARExplore Mars with Rover
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (579 ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews85.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings579 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size372 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJosef GrunigAli KARAGOZ

Customer experience

HoppAR

All ratings579 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral2.8%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive85.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative12.2%

Explore Mars with Rover

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

HoppAR

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Black screen on horizontal surface scanning
  • Camera not working on certain devices
  • App won't open or crashes on startup
  • Gray screen display issue
  • iPad AR compatibility problems
Show 2 more
  • App performance issues causing crashes
  • Sound/audio problems requiring fixes

Requested features

15 requests
  • Space Shuttle addition
  • Manual control for Falcon 9 and Dragon
  • Free access to premium rockets
  • Launch towers for all rockets
  • Soyuz rocket
Show 10 more
  • Sea Dragon rocket
  • Starship inclusion
  • First-person/cockpit camera view
  • Non-AR mode for gameplay
  • VR mode support
  • Ability to place objects in front of rockets
  • Increased rocket size to fill room
  • Enhanced smoke/rumble effects
  • Original countdown voices per rocket
  • More rocket variety overall

Explore Mars with Rover

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

14 purchases

HoppAR

Subscriptions1
  • HoppAR Supporter$7.991 Year
One-time13
  • FALCON HEAVY$0.99
  • STARSHIP Belly Flop$0.99
  • SUPER HEAVY$0.99
Show 10 more
  • DELTA IV HEAVY$0.99
  • PERSEVERANCE$0.99
  • DRONESHIP OCISLY$0.99
  • NEW SHEPARD$0.99
  • ARIANE 5$0.99
  • ARTEMIS I$0.99
  • SOYUZ$0.99
  • ELECTRON$0.99
  • SATURN V$1.99
  • Control Feature$2.99
None

Explore Mars with Rover

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HoppAR free?
HoppAR is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Explore Mars with Rover free?
Explore Mars with Rover is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HoppAR or Explore Mars with Rover?
HoppAR is rated higher. HoppAR averages 4.8 out of 5 from 579 ratings, while Explore Mars with Rover averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do HoppAR or Explore Mars with Rover have ads?
Neither HoppAR nor Explore Mars with Rover shows ads.

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