Starmap vs Classic Sky Map 2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Starmap
Explore the night sky with a comprehensive star atlas. Identify celestial objects, track comets and asteroids, and access detailed information on stars, constellations, and lunar features. Includes live solar physics data and a red night-vision mode for stargazing.
- Extensive star and object catalogues
- Live solar physics data
- Detailed lunar features
- Real-time comet and asteroid tracking
- Telescope and eyepiece simulation
- Red night-vision mode
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Point your phone at the sky and see what's there — stars, planets, constellations, the northern lights. Starmap works completely offline, anywhere, with no signal. Built by a professional astronomer and given freely. No ads. No subscriptions. No in-app purchases. No tracking of any kind. Everything is unlocked from the first launch. AURORA AND NORTHERN LIGHTS Live aurora forecasts from NOAA, with the Kp index, the three-day outlook and the auroral oval for both hemispheres. Know whether tonight is worth staying up for. OUT WITH THE FAMILY Hold the phone up and it names whatever you're looking at. An arrow guides you to any planet, star or constellation. Every catalogue is stored on the device, so it works in the mountains, at sea, or anywhere without a signal. THE SUN AND THE MOON Sunspots, flares and X-ray flux, live from NOAA. 9,900 named lunar features with their origins and etymologies. Rise, transit and set times for everything, which you can send to your calendar. FOR SERIOUS OBSERVERS 2.5 million stars stored offline, down to magnitude 15. The full Messier, NGC, IC and Caldwell catalogues, plus Sharpless, van den Bergh, Lynds, Barnard and Abell clusters. Live comets, asteroids and trans-Neptunian objects from the Minor Planet Center. Deep-sky records enriched on demand from SIMBAD, searchable by any catalogue identifier. AT THE EYEPIECE Define your telescope, eyepieces and camera, and see the true field of view you'll actually get, with Telrad rings and reticles. A full red night-vision mode for use in the dark. The whole sky in your pocket — free, because that is what it should be.
Classic Sky Map 2
Explore the cosmos with an intuitive and beautiful sky map. Easily identify stars, planets, and constellations by simply pointing your device at the sky. Track celestial events and understand astronomical movements with time-lapse features.
- Live sky tracking
- Interactive earth map
- Time-lapse sky simulation
- Beautiful constellation art
- Celestial object search
- Night vision mode
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Ever wonder why so many astronomy apps are so hard to use? We do. So we made Classic Sky Map simple and intuitive enough for anyone to enjoy. The user interface is beautiful and straightforward, the controls are easy to use and most settings are just a tap or two away. Classic Sky Map shows you thousands of the brightest stars, the Moon, planets, constellations, meteor showers and more. And it's painless. Free Features: - Live Tracking. Simply point your device toward the stars and the sky map aligns itself automatically, showing you the portion of the sky at which you are looking. If your device has a compass, Classic Sky Map uses it automatically. If not, you can tell Classic Sky Map where the North is, and it aligns the sky map accordingly. - Live Earth Map. Quickly jump from one city to another by tapping on a map that shows the Earth's day and night boundary in real-time. If you allow it, Classic Sky Map can detect your current location automatically. You can also create custom viewing locations in seconds. - Fast Forward and Rewind. Accelerate or reverse time to understand how stars and planets appear to move in the sky over a longer period of time. - Beautiful Constellation Images. We put a tremendous amount of work into creating beautiful constellation images inspired by antique engravings and aligning them precisely with the stars. - Sharing. Share snapshots of the sky map with your friends at the tap of a button. - Quick Help. Should you have any questions while using Classic Sky Map, a concise, illustrated user guide will help answer them quickly. Full Version Features (In-App Purchase): - Interactive Search. Simply type in a search field, pick an object from a list of matches, then point your device toward the sky. An arrow appears and guides you until you are pointing your device toward the object you selected. If the object is not yet visible in the sky, its next rise time is displayed. - Sky Events. Classic Sky Map shows a list of current sky events such as meteor showers, eclipses and more and helps you quickly locate them in the sky. - Night Vision. Classic Sky Map's night vision mode helps minimize loss of dark adaptation. And we went the extra mile to make it look great in cyan, orange or red. - Extra Information. Tooltips and an information panel show details about stars, planets, the Moon, meteor showers and more. - Personalization Options. Personalize your sky map by turning various guides and display options on or off. Have fun!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Classic Sky Map 2 at 4.7 against Starmap's 4.0. Classic Sky Map 2 also leads on ratings volume (9.8K vs 4). Starmap's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 16 months) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, review sentiment, 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. Starmap sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Classic Sky Map 2 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Classic Sky Map 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Classic Sky Map 2 has 9.8K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 77% and 76% positive.
Starmap ships an update every 2 weeks, Classic Sky Map 2 every 16 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Starmap | Classic Sky Map 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) | 4.7 (9.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.6% of reviews — better | 75.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 9.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 16 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 17.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 110 MB | 69 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fredd | X04 Studios Inc. |
Customer experience
Starmap
Classic Sky Map 2
Bugs and requests
Starmap
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Classic Sky Map 2
Reported bugs
3 issues- Compass bearing is inaccurate
- Active tracking no longer works
- App becomes unusable after certain updates
Requested features
4 requests- Add information on comets, meteor showers, and other space events
- Provide an option to only show visible stars
- Improve search functionality to find planets, moons, and other objects not currently in the sky
- Offer a live tracking mode that updates in real-time
In-app purchases
Starmap
- What Happens when Galaxies Collide?$0.99
- Wandering the Summer Sky$0.99
- Exploring the Crab Nebula$0.99
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- 10h8'22", 11°58'2"$0.99
- The Star That Should Not Exist$0.99
- Un océan d'étoiles$0.99
- Esculape$0.99
- Sur le dos du cheval ailé$0.99
- L'étoile qui ne devrait pas exister$0.99
- Vieillesse prématurée à Galaxie-Ville$0.99
Classic Sky Map 2
- Full Version$2.99
Questions
Is Starmap free?
Is Classic Sky Map 2 free?
Which has better reviews, Starmap or Classic Sky Map 2?
Do Starmap or Classic Sky Map 2 have ads?
Which is updated more often, Starmap or Classic Sky Map 2?
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