Pocket Universe vs Caesar Shift Plus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pocket Universe
Explore the night sky with this intuitive guide. Identify planets, constellations, and satellites by simply pointing your device. Discover celestial events, track celestial bodies, and learn about thousands of astronomical objects.
- Live sky view with object identification
- Time travel for celestial event prediction
- Explore mode for upcoming events and solar activity
- Search and browse celestial objects
- Detailed information on thousands of objects
- Home Screen widgets for Sun/Moon times and Moon phase
- Customizable viewing modes with night vision
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There's never been a better time to get into Astronomy! Start off easy with an app that will guide you around the night sky. "The app works beautifully, making astronomy a bit less mysterious—but no less remarkable", MacWorld "It’s truly an impressive marvel. 5 Mice out of 5", MacWorld. "..one of the prettiest and easiest to use. And at three bucks, it’s a steal", Cult of Mac. Apple App Store Staff Favorite Voted Best Educational iPhone Application by AppAdvice --- Pocket Universe 2 turns your iPhone or iPad into an intuitive guide to the night sky. Just point your device upward to instantly identify what’s overhead—planets, constellations, comets, satellites, and deep-sky wonders. Designed for clarity and ease of use, Pocket Universe 2 helps you learn the sky naturally, whether you’re stepping outside for a quick look or exploring in detail from your couch. Key features • Live sky view: Aim your device to identify stars, planets, the ISS, satellites, comets, and bright deep-sky objects in real time. • Time travel: Scrub hours or days forward and back, jump to sunrise, sunset, golden hour, moonrise, or moonset - and return to “now” instantly. • Explore mode: Discover what’s worth looking for tonight, with summaries of upcoming events, solar activity, Moon phases and maps, Jupiter and Saturn’s moons and rings, a full Solar System orrery, and dedicated ISS and satellite views. • Find anything fast: Search by name, browse curated “cool things” lists, or jump straight to planets and other Solar System bodies. • Rich object details: Learn about thousands of objects, including planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, and more. • Widgets: Add Sun and Moon times and Moon phase to your Home Screen or desktop. • Deep customization: Night vision mode, labels, grids, constellation lines, satellites, comets, and more. Save presets to switch instantly between your favorite viewing modes. Pocket Universe 2 is the sequel to Pocket Universe, one of the first astronomy apps on the App Store. It has been completely rewritten using modern frameworks and tools to deliver a faster, cleaner, and more immersive stargazing experience. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Caesar Shift Plus
Easily encrypt and decrypt messages using the classic Caesar cipher method. This tool allows you to substitute letters in a secret message with others a fixed number of positions away in the alphabet.
- Encrypt messages
- Decrypt messages
- Caesar cipher method
- Substitution cipher
- Simple interface
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A Caesar cipher is one of the simplest encryption methods. It is a substitution cipher that involves replacing each letter of the secret message with a different letter of the alphabet which is a fixed number of positions further in the alphabet. With this app you can decrypt and encrypt messages with Caesar method.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Pocket Universe at Free against Caesar Shift Plus's $0.99. Pocket Universe also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (260 vs 1). Caesar Shift Plus's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (100% vs 73%). On ads, monetization model 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
Pocket Universe is free to download; Caesar Shift Plus costs $0.99 up front. Pocket Universe sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Caesar Shift Plus asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pocket Universe holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Universe has 260 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 73% of Pocket Universe's written reviews are positive against 100% of Caesar Shift Plus's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Pocket Universe ships an update every 5 weeks, Caesar Shift Plus every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pocket Universe | Caesar Shift Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (260 ratings) — better | 4.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.5% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 260 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 120 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Kennedy | a Rausa |
Customer experience
Pocket Universe
Caesar Shift Plus
Bugs and requests
Pocket Universe
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes on launch
- Compass issues
- Inaccurate sky positioning
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
Requested features
8 requests- Ability to set time and date
- Improved motion tracking and compass calibration
- Larger text size options
- More detailed information on stars, galaxies, etc.
- Comet and asteroid tracking
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- Satellite tracking
- Southern hemisphere sky view
- Wikipedia integration for more objects
Caesar Shift Plus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pocket Universe
- Monthly subscription$0.991 Month
- Annual subscription$4.991 Year
- Pocket Universe Lifetime unlock$19.99
Caesar Shift Plus
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pocket Universe free?
Is Caesar Shift Plus free?
Which has better reviews, Pocket Universe or Caesar Shift Plus?
Do Pocket Universe or Caesar Shift Plus have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pocket Universe or Caesar Shift Plus?
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