DIY Solar System vs ASTC
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DIY Solar System
Explore the solar system with interactive activities and an augmented reality planet walk. Learn about space travel, design a moon base, and identify celestial objects. Developed by leading science institutions, this app makes learning about space engaging for families and educators.
- Interactive space activities
- Augmented reality planet walk
- Design a moon base
- Grow a space garden
- Control a Mars rover
- In or Out space game
- NASA imagery
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DIY Solar System makes it easy for families and educators to explore the solar system from anywhere, anytime! The app was developed by the Children’s Creativity Museum, Sciencenter, and Museum of Life and Science, in partnership with UC Berkeley’s The Lawrence Hall of Science. INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES DIY Solar System includes 11 easy-to-use activities to learn about space travel, living in space, and the unique objects that make up the planetary system we call home. Design a Moon base, grow your own space garden, or experience what it’s like to control a rover on Mars! Each activity includes step-by-step instructions that have been tested by educators, kids, and families. Activity materials are easily available and inexpensive—you may already have many of them in your home! AUGMENTED REALITY PLANET WALK Don’t have the time to travel several billion miles to reach Neptune? Try dropping a scale version of the solar system outside your home to start a walk that will show you planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids. At each stop, examine the space object up close using real images from NASA. Don’t forget to take a space selfie with your favorite planet! IN OR OUT GAME Quickly scan awe-inspiring images of space objects from NASA’s Earth and space observatories to decide if the objects are in or out of the solar system. While the solar system is vast, it only represents a tiny corner of the universe. After you have mastered your solar system knowledge, challenge yourself to a new round of objects in or out of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Funding Source This work was supported by NASA under award number 80NSSC21M0082. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these programs are those of the author and do not reflect the views of NASA. Compatibility Requires iOS 12.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone and iPad. Rated 4+.
ASTC
Enhance your conference experience by accessing schedules, speaker details, and exhibitor information. Take notes directly on presentation slides in real-time and share insights with attendees via in-app messaging, tweeting, or email.
- View conference schedule
- Access speaker and exhibitor details
- Take real-time notes on slides
- Draw directly on presentation slides
- In-app messaging with attendees
- Share information via tweet/email
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The ASTC Events mobile application allows you to view the schedule, presentations, exhibitors, and speaker details from the conference. Users can take notes adjacent to the presentation slides real time during presentations and draw and highly directly on the slides inside the app. Note-taking is also available in the posters and exhibitors pages as well. Additionally, users can share information with attendees and colleagues with the in app messaging feature, tweeting, and emailing.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: DIY Solar System at 100% against ASTC's 0%. DIY Solar System also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 12 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.5). ASTC's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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.
ASTC holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 30 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of DIY Solar System's written reviews are positive against 0% of ASTC's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
DIY Solar System ships an update every 2 months, ASTC every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on June 3, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DIY Solar System | ASTC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (16 ratings) | 4.7 (30 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 30 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 12 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 180 MB | 87 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Lawrence Hall of Science | ASSOCIATION OF SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY CENTERS, INC. |
Customer experience
DIY Solar System
ASTC
In-app purchases
DIY Solar System
No in-app purchases
ASTC
No in-app purchases









