Planets vs Planetary Compass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Planets
Explore the solar system with a 3D guide. Discover planets, moons, and celestial events with interactive sky views and visibility information. Perfect for budding astronomers.
- 3D solar system guide
- 2D sky view
- 3D planetarium sky view
- Planet visibility times
- Rotating 3D planet and moon globes
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3D guide to the solar system for aspiring astronomers Over 10 million downloads! • Sky 2D: locate planets with flat view of sky • Sky 3D: planetarium style view of the sky • Visibility: shows times when planets are visible • Globe: rotating 3D globe of planets and moon
Planetary Compass
Discover the location of planets in the night sky. This app helps you identify celestial bodies like Mars and Jupiter, indicating their position, altitude, and magnitude. It also informs you if a planet is visible without optical aid.
- Indicates Azimuth, Altitude, and Magnitude
- Helps locate planets by rotating phone
- Indicates naked-eye visibility
- Identifies planets like Mars and Jupiter
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Find out where the planets are in the sky with this simple app! What is that red spot in the sky? Is it Mars? Where is Jupiter? Is Saturn visible tonight? Answer these questions with Planetary Compass. Features: - It indicates the Azimuth, Altitude, and Magnitude of each planet. - It helps you find the planet in the sky while rotating your phone. - Tells you whether a planet is visible to the naked eye. ---------------------------------------- Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com Icons by Icons8
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Planets at 4.5 against Planetary Compass's 1.8. Planets also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (969 vs 4). Planetary Compass's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 90%). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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.
Planets holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Planets has 969 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 90% of Planets's written reviews are positive against 100% of Planetary Compass's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Planets ships an update every 4 months, Planetary Compass every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Planets | Planetary Compass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (969 ratings) — better | 1.8 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 969 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Q Continuum | Gaston Sobrevilla |
Customer experience
Planets
Planetary Compass
Bugs and requests
Planets
Reported bugs
4 issues- Moon phase information not accurate
- Compass/orientation not working correctly
- App crashes on certain devices or iOS versions
- Location/GPS not functioning properly
Requested features
5 requests- Add Pluto and other dwarf planets
- Include more detailed information on stars and constellations
- Provide notifications for celestial events
- Improve search and zoom capabilities
- Add night mode for better visibility in the dark
Planetary Compass
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Planets
No in-app purchases
Planetary Compass
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Planets free?
Is Planetary Compass free?
Which has better reviews, Planets or Planetary Compass?
Do Planets or Planetary Compass have ads?
Which is updated more often, Planets or Planetary Compass?
Other comparisons
