SkyAtlas vs QUARCS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SkyAtlas
Explore the night sky with a digital atlas and control your telescope mount. Plan astrophotography compositions with simulated camera fields of view and track celestial objects in real-time. Features one-click GoTo and mode switching for an enhanced stargazing experience.
- Digital sky atlas exploration
- Telescope mount control (ZWO ASI)
- Simulated camera field of view
- Real-time telescope pointing display
- One-click GoTo functionality
- Object tracking
- EQ and AltAz mode switching
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SkyAtlas is the control app for ZWO AM series mounts, with Bluetooth support for ZWO EAF. Use your phone to control the mount and focuser with ease. The built-in star map includes thousands of stars and deep-sky objects. "Best Tonight" recommends the best targets in your current sky. Tap GoTo, and the mount automatically tracks your chosen object. Preview your telescope's aim and frame shots right on your screen—what you see is where it points. Switch between equatorial and alt-az modes with one tap. SkyAtlas, explore the night sky, simplified.
QUARCS
This open-source software kit enables remote astrophotography capture via Wi-Fi and computer. It offers comprehensive control over telescope mounts, cameras, autoguiding, and electric focusers, integrating with Stellarium for sky mapping.
- Remote capture via Wi-Fi
- Computer remote capture via LAN
- Mount control
- Camera control
- Autoguiding
- Electric focuser control
- Stellarium skymap integration
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Q.U.A.R.C.S (QHYCCD Universal Astrophotographic Remote Capture System) is an open-source software kit that supports the full function of mobile remote capture via WIFI and computer remote capture via LAN. It includes the mount control, camera control, autoguiding, electric focuser control, and Stellarium skymap function.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: QUARCS at 3.0 against SkyAtlas's 2.4. SkyAtlas's advantage is review sentiment (40% vs 0%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
QUARCS holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 2.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SkyAtlas has 17 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 40% of SkyAtlas's written reviews are positive against 0% of QUARCS's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SkyAtlas ships an update monthly, QUARCS every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on August 25, 2026 and August 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SkyAtlas | QUARCS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.4 (17 ratings) | 3.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 17 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 911 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SuZhou ZWO Co., Ltd | Light Speed Vision(Beijing) Co., Ltd |
Customer experience
SkyAtlas
QUARCS
In-app purchases
SkyAtlas
No in-app purchases
QUARCS
No in-app purchases
