Comparison

Distant Suns 5 vs StarTracker HD

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Distant Suns 5

Explore the cosmos with a realistic and user-friendly astronomy app. Discover constellations, planets, and celestial events with detailed information and stunning visuals. Perfect for both casual stargazers and serious astronomers.

Highlights
  • Realistic night sky display
  • View from Earth or solar system
  • Over 18 million stars
  • Integrated NASA space events
  • Stories behind constellations
  • Night vision color mode
  • Hubble Space Telescope images
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Distant Suns: The night sky, reimagined. 2013 finalist in the Family category of TabTimes' best tablet app contest; "I am putting together some mobile astronomy apps for our local "Sky's the Limit" Observatory in Twentynine Palms, CA. I have been searching for something as good as, or better than, Distant Suns. Short answer: I have not found it yet. ...nothing portrays the night sky as well as Distant Suns. Distant Suns has been your personal guide to the cosmos since 1985. First on the desktop, now right in your hands. While others play games, you can travel to the stars. Award-winning Distant Suns has the reputation of both having one of the most realistic displays of the night sky, while being one of the easiest to use astronomy apps for casual sky watchers as well as serious astronomers. •Named in the "100 Essential Apps" by iLounge •Featured on NPR's MarketPlace Features include: •No Internet required. Just a sense of wonder. •View from the Earth or out in the solar system •Simply aim and gaze. •Over 18 million pinpoint stars scintillating like diamond dust in the palm of your hand (18 mil? Yup.) •Integrated with NASA's Night Sky Network space events in your area (US only at present) •What's Up? Gives a quick one snapshot overview of the evening's sky •Realistic ghostly band of the Milky Way •Stories behind each constellation •Viewpoint Lock keeps any object centered •Current weather patterns on the earth, updated daily •Change the look of the stars •Galaxies, nebula and star clusters •Hubble Space Telescope images •All 8 planets (or 9 for you purists) •GPS aware •Special color mode preserves your night vision. •Touch the sky to reveal hidden data for each object •Planetary data and information First Light is a proud member of Moms with Apps, a collaborative group of family-friendly developers with family-friendly apps. Twitter: @distantsuns Support: www.distantsuns.com

About

StarTracker HD

Explore the night sky with this augmented reality planetarium. Identify stars, constellations, planets, and deep sky objects by simply pointing your device at the sky. All data is available offline.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality Star Gazing
  • Identify 8000+ stars, planets, and constellations
  • Offline data access
  • Search and lock celestial objects
  • Time Machine feature
  • High-quality graphics
Features
Read full description

== Best StarGazing experience @60fps! == == Video: http://tiny.cc/starvideo == --- Top 1 Education app in 34 countries and Top 10 Education app in 79 countries when FREE! Thank you all my dear users, please leave a review or rating if you love this application! --- Hey, get outdoor with your friends and start star gazing! Let StarTracker guide you to explore the universe. Just hold up and point the device to the sky and have fun! You can see any stars, constellations and deep sky objects you are watching in reality. ======================== What our user said: "Best star gazing app I've ever used. Very well put together and great visuals!!! From end to end this app is a must-have for anyone interested in astronomy!!" "This app is a marvel of technology, art, and science. Super smooth operation, great graphics and a great merging of the devices capabilities. Having grown up using star charts and compasses, this app feels like science fiction come to life. Great job!" "Looking at the sky was never this incredible!" "If you download only one app, make sure it's this one!! This is one of the best apps I've ever seen, period! Its quality is unmatched among star gazing apps!" ======================== Features: • Augmented Reality Star Gazing with gyroscope! Just hold up the device. • Sun, Moon, planets and 8000+ stars visible to the naked eyes. • 88 Constellations & 100+ deep sky objects with magnificent graphics. • All data is offline! • Search and Lock the objects in Solar system, 12 Zodiac Constellations, 88 Constellations, Deep Sky Objects and Famous Stars. • 3D compass in AR mode, indicate position of objects your searched. • Location auto set by GPS, or set manually. • Time Machine. Time and date can be adjusted smoothly. • Capture a screenshot and share with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or save to Photos. • Smooth motion flow and quick response which is realized by cutting edge signal processing technique. • Superb high quality graphics with full screen anti-aliasing. Usage: • Bottom Right: Hide/Show Main Setting Menu, settings for name display, constellation, deep sky object, night mode, star amount and grid mode. • Top Right: Search Menu (Solar system, 12 Zodiac and 88 Constellations, Deep Sky Object and Famous Stars) • Top Left: Location Menu, choose location from a world map. Below is the Share button. • Top bar: Time Machine Menu, adjust any time/date. • Bottom Left: AR Compass indicator in AR track mode, pan the screen to enter un-track mode and click track button to back. Tips: • When search any object under un-track mode, it will be locked at the center of the screen, then user can adjust time/date to see changes of the related sky. • When under un-track mode, just lift up the screen and point it to the sky to enter AR track mode.

Screenshots

Distant Suns 54 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: StarTracker HD at none against Distant Suns 5's 1. StarTracker HD also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). Distant Suns 5's advantage is rating (4.3 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (76% vs 59%). On ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Distant Suns 5 costs $2.99 and StarTracker HD $3.99 up front. Distant Suns 5 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. StarTracker HD asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Distant Suns 5 holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 97 and 43 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Distant Suns 5's written reviews are positive against 59% of StarTracker HD's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and June 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Distant Suns 5 versus StarTracker HD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDistant Suns 5StarTracker HD
Price$2.99 — better$3.99
Rating4.3 (97 ratings) — better4.0 (43 ratings)
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews — better59.4% of reviews
Number of ratings97 — better43
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#189 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS14.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size815 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMike Smithwick身吉 潘

Customer experience

Distant Suns 5

All ratings97 ratings
Positive79.4%
Neutral4.1%
Negative16.5%
Written reviews328 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral5.2%
Negative18.6%

StarTracker HD

All ratings43 ratings
Positive74.4%
Neutral4.7%
Negative20.9%
Written reviews96 reviews
Positive59.4%
Neutral12.5%
Negative28.1%

User reviews

Distant Suns 5

From 97 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Excellent astronomy app
  • 🔭 Comprehensive features for stargazing
  • 🌍 Helpful for learning about the night sky
  • 🔍 Useful for planning observing sessions
  • 🌌 Stunning visuals and graphics

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs in recent updates
  • 🤔 Confusing or unintuitive interface changes
  • 📱 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • 🔍 Difficulty finding and selecting objects
  • 🔍 Missing or inaccurate information

StarTracker HD

From 43 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth, fluid graphics and responsive gyroscope tracking
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
  • 🌟 Beautiful HD visuals and stunning design
  • 📍 Accurate real-time sky positioning and planet/constellation identification
  • 🎓 Excellent educational tool for learning astronomy

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes on various devices
  • 🐛 Compass/gyroscope malfunction issues
  • 🐛 Screen display problems on larger tablets
  • ❌ Limited functionality and educational depth
  • ❌ Lack of object information and descriptions

Bugs and requests

Distant Suns 5

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when accessing preferences
  • Inability to sync with iCloud
  • Unresponsive or freezing app
  • Incorrect or outdated information displayed
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more detailed information on celestial objects
  • Improve compass and tracking functionality
  • Provide better support for astrophotography
  • Introduce a dark mode for night viewing
  • Add more customization options for the user interface

StarTracker HD

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App crashes on startup or during use
  • Compass direction incorrect (north pointing wrong direction)
  • Gyroscope not responding or locked
  • Share button causes crashes
  • Forward/share button greying out and causing screen loss
Show 10 more
  • Screen display only showing bottom right corner on iPad Pro 12.9
  • App spinning continuously without stopping
  • Screen orientation lock issues after iOS updates
  • Duplicate app installations appearing
  • iPad 2 compatibility issues despite gyroscope presence
  • Inaccurate celestial object positioning (e.g., M71 placement)
  • Sun position showing incorrectly during daytime
  • Ursa Minor not rotating properly over 24-hour period
  • Menu disappearing after using forward button
  • Half-screen display stuck after exploring tools

Requested features

13 requests
  • Add search functionality for celestial objects
  • Include ISS and satellite tracking
  • Display object information (distance, magnitude, color, brightness)
  • Add ecliptic line visibility option
  • Show coordinate information (RA, Dec, Alt, Azimuth)
Show 8 more
  • Tap-to-identify popup descriptions for objects
  • Add grid markings and horizon line with directional labels
  • Better zoom control with more detailed object information
  • Ability to manually rotate and correct star map
  • Offline functionality without WiFi requirement
  • Remove or disable astrology content
  • Project capability for classroom screens
  • iPhone version availability

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Distant Suns 5

One-time1
  • Hubble Guide Star Catalog$0.99
None

StarTracker HD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Distant Suns 5 free?
Distant Suns 5 costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is StarTracker HD free?
StarTracker HD costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Distant Suns 5 or StarTracker HD?
Distant Suns 5 is rated higher. Distant Suns 5 averages 4.3 out of 5 from 97 ratings, while StarTracker HD averages 4.0 from 43 ratings.
Do Distant Suns 5 or StarTracker HD have ads?
Neither Distant Suns 5 nor StarTracker HD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Distant Suns 5 or StarTracker HD?
Distant Suns 5 ships an update every 5 months, and StarTracker HD every 5 months. Most recently, Distant Suns 5 was updated on September 13, 2026 and StarTracker HD on June 9, 2026.

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