Moon Globe HD vs SDO Viewer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Moon Globe HD
Explore Earth's Moon in realistic 3D with this app. View detailed satellite imagery, observe real-time lighting changes, and identify lunar terrain and spacecraft. Switch to Telescope mode to see the Moon from your Earthly perspective.
- Real-time 3D lunar rendering
- Realistic lighting simulation
- Multitouch navigation
- Telescope mode
- Labeled terrain and spacecraft
- Dynamic sky compass
Read full descriptionHide full description
Hold the Moon in your hands. Moon Globe HD turns your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into a precision instrument for viewing Earth's Moon. Satellite imagery and topographic laser altimeter data are combined to render the Moon with realistic lighting in realtime 3D. Use the multitouch screen to manipulate the view. Spin above the surface, or switch to Telescope mode to see the Moon as it appears from your location on Earth. Adjust the display time and watch the sunlight shift over the lunar landscape. A "tag cloud" floats just above the surface, labeling terrain features and spacecraft; touch any label to find out more about that feature. Moon Globe also shows you where the Moon and Sun are in the sky with its dynamic sky compass. PLEASE NOTE: Regular Moon Globe is a smaller download and is free. This HD version has slightly, not extremely, better resolution.
SDO Viewer
Access and view the latest images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Receive push notifications when new images become available, keeping you updated on solar activity.
- Download SDO images
- Display latest solar images
- Push notifications for new images
- Courtesy of NASA/SDO science teams
Read full descriptionHide full description
SDO Viewer is a simple application for downloading and displaying the latest images taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). It includes push notifications so you can be notified by a badge on the application when new images are available. SDO Viewer, by the creator of SoHO Viewer. Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: SDO Viewer at Free against Moon Globe HD's $0.99. SDO Viewer also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). Moon Globe HD's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and review sentiment (91% vs 60%). On ads, 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
SDO Viewer is free to download; Moon Globe HD costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Moon Globe HD holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Moon Globe HD has 149 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Moon Globe HD's written reviews are positive against 60% of SDO Viewer's.
Moon Globe HD ships an update every 6 months, SDO Viewer every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Moon Globe HD | SDO Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (149 ratings) — better | 3.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.6% of reviews — better | 60.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 149 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 245 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Midnight Martian | Jerome Diaz |
Customer experience
Moon Globe HD
SDO Viewer
Bugs and requests
Moon Globe HD
Reported bugs
13 issues- App not updated in 8 years, compatibility concerns
- Support links lead to dead URLs
- Location services don't work accurately
- Terminator line appears fuzzy instead of sharp
- iPad version lacks smooth telescope view access
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Search feature causes app to exit telescope mode
- Feature search doesn't maintain feature visibility after search
- White text invisible on bright crater areas
- No zoom difference between free and HD versions (reported by some users)
- Unexpected app closure when sharing wiki pages to OneNote
- Aliasing/jagging artifacts along lunar horizon
- Label resolution degrades when zoomed in
- Latitude/longitude perspective feature not functioning
Requested features
21 requests- Mouse and trackpad support for Mac and iPad
- Zoom and scroll buttons for easier navigation
- Update with latest lunar landers and missions
- Topography, gravity, and magnetic field maps
- Moon phase names (full moon, new moon, etc.)
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- Grid overlay for scale reference
- Measurement tool similar to Google Earth
- Higher resolution imagery and greater zoom depth
- Lunar latitude and longitude coordinates display
- Libration information and ephemeris data
- Selenographic co-longitude of sun
- Secondary crater nomenclature
- Ranger spacecraft impact points
- Print and save functionality
- Earth glow simulation option
- Transparent labels to show terrain context
- Improved text contrast with black borders on white labels
- Observing list feature to keep selected features highlighted
- Manual coordinate entry for location
- High-resolution labels when zoomed in
- Automatic location feature improvements
SDO Viewer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Moon Globe HD
No in-app purchases
SDO Viewer
No in-app purchases
