Mars Globe HD vs Star Rover HD
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mars Globe HD
Explore the Red Planet with a detailed virtual globe. This app features a high-resolution satellite map, topographic lighting, and annotated surface features. Discover intriguing locations with an introduction and guided tour, or explore freely.
- High-resolution satellite map of Mars
- Advanced topographic lighting
- Annotated surface features (1500+)
- Introduction and guided tour
- Free exploration mode
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Take a tour of the mysterious Red Planet. This virtual globe combines a high-resolution satellite map with laser altimeter data and advanced topographic lighting to present the planet Mars as it appears from above. An Introduction and Guided Tour present some of Mars' most intriguing features. You can leave the guided tour and explore Mars as you like; over 1500 surface features have been annotated with information and links. Mars Globe HD is a must-have app for anyone interested in our solar system. PLEASE NOTE: Regular Mars Globe is a smaller download and is free. This HD version has slightly, not extremely, better resolution and rendering.
Star Rover HD
Explore the night sky with a realistic planetarium on your device. Identify stars, planets, and constellations in real-time by simply pointing your device. Travel through time and space to view celestial events and learn about the cosmos.
- Real-time star map updates
- Identify celestial objects
- View constellations with artwork
- Explore planets and moons
- Moon phases and meteor showers
- Time and location travel
- Over 120,000 stars
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Do you love the starry night? Do you want to know everything in the sky? Star Rover HD is the fantastic planetarium for your iPad. Just hold up your iPad and Star Rover HD will tell you exactly what you are pointing at. Star Rover HD determines your location automatically. You'll see the stars, moon, planets, constellations in their proper place from your current location. As you move your iPad, the star map updates in real time. Star Rover HD makes the virtual sky a gorgeous view. You can see star twinkling, beautiful nebulae, occasional meteor and even sunset glow in the evening. Star Rover HD is very easy to use. You can simply change the sky view in settings and use Quick Find for everything you want to know in the night sky. Star Rover HD lets you set your location manually so you can see the sky from any part of the world. It also lets you travel to the future or the past and see the sky on different dates and times. If you are planning for a solar eclipse, this is the app you need. Features - Over 120,000 stars. - All 88 constellations with beautiful artworks. - Planets and their moons with stunning graphics. - Moon phases. - Real images of Messier objects. - Sky objects information. - Realistic Milky Way. - Equatorial and azimuthal grids. - Sky view underneath the horizon. - Visual magnitude adjustment. - Manually time & date setting. - Manually location setting. - Quick Find. - Point and view.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Mars Globe HD at every 3 months against Star Rover HD's every 6 months. Mars Globe HD also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and price ($0.99 vs $1.99). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Mars Globe HD costs $0.99 and Star Rover HD $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Mars Globe HD against 4.7 for Star Rover HD. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 54 and 98 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Mars Globe HD's written reviews are positive against 89% of Star Rover HD's.
Mars Globe HD ships an update every 3 months, Star Rover HD every 6 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | Mars Globe HD | Star Rover HD |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (54 ratings) — better | 4.7 (98 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 82.7% of reviews | 88.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 54 | 98 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 9.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 526 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Midnight Martian | 寒飞 易 |
Customer experience
Mars Globe HD
Star Rover HD
User reviews
Mars Globe HD
From 54 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Visually stunning and detailed
- 💡 Informative and educational
- 🚀 Smooth and intuitive navigation
- 🌟 Great for astronomy enthusiasts
- 📱 Pocket-sized Mars exploration
Room to improve
- ⚠️ Lacks recent mission data (Curiosity, Perseverance)
- blurry HD textures on modern iOS
- 📉 Outdated information
- ❓ Dead NASA links
- 🐌 Slow download/update times
Star Rover HD
From 98 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🌟 Helpful for stargazing
- 🔍 Detailed information on stars and planets
- 🌌 Beautiful graphics
- 🧠 Educational for kids and adults
Room to improve
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with certain devices
- 🔄 Lack of landscape mode
- 💤 Limited descriptions and explanations
Bugs and requests
Mars Globe HD
Reported bugs
5 issues- Dead NASA links
- Blurry HD textures on modern iOS
- Navigation issues near poles
- Choppy playback after updates
- Jittery movement during rotation
Requested features
23 requests- Add Sun, Earth, and moons Phobos/Deimos
- More defined sun color
- Update with InSight and Perseverance landing sites
- Add a reset button
- Input latitude and longitude
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- Add a coordinate grid
- Allow inputting or importing custom locations
- Add a 3D view
- Add local time for MSL Curiosity
- Add distances between landmarks, depths, and heights
- Add similar apps for Ceres and Mercury
- Add a real-time view of the central meridian
- Add longitude and latitude scale and satellite locations
- Show proper tilt, disk size, illumination, and distance data
- Add a 'view from Earth' option
- Add real-time phases or time sliding abilities
- Add a telescope view option
- Add Earth Globe HD product
- Add Jupiter or other celestial bodies
- Improve polar rendering
- Allow flying close over the surface
- More resolution for astronomers
- Add German language support
Star Rover HD
Reported bugs
2 issues- Screen does not rotate to landscape view on iPad
- Compass shows interference in some areas
Requested features
4 requests- Add Proxima Centauri
- Provide constellation pictures and names simultaneously
- Improve brightness representation for bright stars
- Add Iridium Flare tracking
In-app purchases
Mars Globe HD
No in-app purchases
Star Rover HD
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mars Globe HD free?
Is Star Rover HD free?
Which has better reviews, Mars Globe HD or Star Rover HD?
Do Mars Globe HD or Star Rover HD have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mars Globe HD or Star Rover HD?
Other comparisons
