StarMap 3D vs Vivarium

Use your iPhone's compass and gyroscope to find planets, constellations, and more with crisp, colorful, high-definition Retina graphics that use every pixel of your iPhone! Hold the universe in your pocket! • Try StarMap 3D Plus for iPad support, more stars, thousands of Deep Sky Objects, and original constellation artwork. StarMap 3D is the portable star atlas for beginners or advanced astronomers. Use StarMap 3D to find the planets, stars, constellations, star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae visible to you based on your location and time. StarMap 3D will even use the compass to automatically align the map! • Retina Display Compatibility • Over 15,000 stars, with detailed information for each of them • 303 deep sky objects, with details such as distance from Earth, diameter, apparent size and orientation, and morphology • All 88 modern constellations, with lines based on the outlines from "The Stars: A New Way to See Them" by H.A. Rey • MacRobert and Classic constellation lines also available • Location-based-services (LBS) / Global Positioning System (GPS) support, or manually enter your longitude and latitude • Adjustable date and time of day • Also adjust time instantaneously and interactively with the Time Scroll feature • Compass support, if present • Planetarium Mode for seeing only objects visible to you, or browse the entire celestial sphere • 3D Mode for visualizing the universe in three dimensions

Vivarium transforms Conway's Game of Life into a living microscope slide. Watch as cells evolve, merge, and form complex organisms — all rendered in real-time with AAA-quality graphics powered by Apple's Metal GPU framework. STUNNING VISUALS • Per-pixel metaball rendering creates smooth, organic shapes — no blocky grids • 3D lighting with dual specular highlights and Fresnel rim effects • Subsurface scattering simulates light passing through cell membranes • Bloom, chromatic aberration, and film grain for an authentic microscope feel • Six handcrafted visual themes: Vivarium, Deep Ocean, Ember, Aurora, Neon Pulse, Monochrome INTERACTIVE SIMULATION • Pinch to zoom into the cellular world • Draw cells with your finger — smart draw/erase detects your intent • Place classic patterns: Glider, Pulsar, Gosper Glider Gun, and more • Adjustable simulation speed from 1 to 60 generations per second • Four grid sizes from 64×64 to 512×512 CLASSIC PATTERNS INCLUDED • Glider — the iconic traveler • Lightweight Spaceship — fast-moving vessel • Pulsar — mesmerizing period-3 oscillator • Gosper Glider Gun — infinite glider factory • R-Pentomino — chaos from five cells • And more: Acorn, Diehard, Pentadecathlon BUILT FOR APPLE • Native Metal compute shaders for buttery-smooth 60fps • Resolution-independent rendering — pixel-perfect on iPhone SE to iPad Pro • Supports all orientations and screen sizes • iOS 26 Liquid Glass interface design • Zero data collection, zero ads, zero tracking Vivarium is completely free. No in-app purchases, no subscriptions, no compromise.