Comparison

Sputnik! vs nGeneTime

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

Head to head
About

Sputnik!

Track the International Space Station and bright satellites with precise timing and location data. Get second-by-second countdowns, set reminders, and view satellite paths in the night sky. Supports offline calculations and sharing sightings.

Highlights
  • Accurate satellite and ISS sighting predictions
  • Starlink satellite train detection
  • Second-by-second countdowns
  • Sighting reminders
  • Compass direction and elevation display
  • Night sky path visualization
  • Offline calculations
Features
Read full description

Sputnik! is an easy to use tool for predicting when the International Space Station will pass by your location or when a bright satellite will be visible in the skies above. Sputnik! features: - Predictions of satellite and ISS sightings accurate to the second. - Detection of Starlink satellite trains. - Second by second countdown to the satellite sighting. - Set reminders of upcoming satellite sightings. - Displays compass direction and elevation for your device to easily find the part of the sky where the sighting will occur (requires capable device). - Rotate your device to landscape orientation to show exactly where the satellite will pass in the night sky. - Share sightings via Twitter, Facebook, Mail, Messages and others. - Automatic download of up to date satellite orbital data. - Offline calculations, no need to be connected to the internet once orbital data has been downloaded. - Input your location automatically by GPS, select from a map or enter coordinates manually. - Save your favorite places for easy access. - Audio cues for the last seconds before the satellite passes by. Sputnik! on Apple Watch: - Easily find the next and last sighting at your current location. * Sputnik! is ad-supported *

About

nGeneTime

Features
Read full description

nGeneTime combines three complementary experiences: a kinetic desk clock, a solar-term-based perpetual calendar with Four Pillars (四柱), and line casting for The Book of Change (周易). iPhone • Landscape: A kinetic desk clock with magnetic motion and hourglass-style disappearance effects that visualize the flow of time. • Portrait: A perpetual calendar with lunar dates, day pillars, current Four Pillars, solar-term transitions, date-selectable hour-pillar tables, Zhouyi line casting, and an interactive longitude-to-time globe. Longitude-to-time globe Part 5C presents longitude correction as a visual geographic model. • Rotate, tilt, and zoom the globe. • See the best available location with its latitude and longitude. • Compare the selected time-zone reference meridian with the physical longitude used for correction. • Follow five one-hour longitude guides and their corresponding clock times. • Optionally display simplified civil time-zone boundaries to compare ideal meridians with real-world time zones. Calculation basis On iPhone, nGeneTime offers two calculation modes: • Time-zone applies the selected civil time zone to the complete Four Pillars result. • Longitude-corrected time shifts the calculation reference by the longitude difference from the selected time-zone reference meridian. With valid location data, the corrected time is used for the year, month, day, and hour pillars. Latitude positions the marker on the globe, while longitude determines the clock correction. If usable location data is unavailable, the selected time-zone basis is used. Home Screen widgets Three widgets provide calendar and pillar information: • Calendar: Current month, lunar dates, day pillars, and the applicable solar-term boundary • Four Pillars: Current hour, day, month, and year pillars • Hour Pillars: All twelve hour-pillar intervals, with the current interval highlighted Solar-term-based pillars Year and month pillars do not change at ordinary Gregorian boundaries. • The year pillar changes at the Beginning of Spring (立春), rather than January 1. • The month pillar changes at the applicable monthly solar-term boundary, rather than the first day of the Gregorian month. • The applicable solar term and its local boundary time are displayed in the selected time zone. The Book of Change (周易) Open the full-screen line-casting interface from the portrait calendar and cast one line at a time. Each cast uses the hundredth-second value of the running timer: an odd value creates a whole line, and an even value creates a broken line. Six lines form a set, and multiple sets can be reviewed. This feature focuses on line casting and visual review. It does not reproduce a complete digital edition, translation, commentary, or interpretation of the Zhouyi. Apple Watch The Apple Watch app provides: • Current time and Four Pillars • Solar-term-based year and month pillars • Optional longitude-corrected pillar time when location is available • Monthly calendar with pillar information • Selected-date hour pillars • A timer with immediate-start presets, custom durations from 1 to 180 minutes, progress, and selectable vibration patterns • Circular and corner complications for the current day and hour pillars, with countdown information while the timer is active Privacy Location access is optional and is used only to calculate longitude-corrected pillar time and display the current position on the globe. Precise Core Location coordinates are processed locally. If Core Location is unavailable, the app may request an approximate IP-based location from a network service. No account is required. nGeneTime does not use information for advertising or cross-app tracking.

Screenshots

Sputnik!4 screens
nGeneTime4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: nGeneTime at none against Sputnik!'s 1. nGeneTime also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 months). Sputnik!'s advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Sputnik! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. nGeneTime asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sputnik! ships an update every 5 months, nGeneTime every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sputnik! versus nGeneTime: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSputnik!nGeneTime
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (731 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews92.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings731 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS14.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApplicate LtdHyunsuk Roh

Bugs and requests

Sputnik!

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App reporting 'No Sightings' for all categories
  • Null check errors when selecting satellite sightings
  • Issues with location settings and data updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add support for more satellite types
  • Improve sky chart visualization and orientation
  • Provide filtering options (e.g. by elevation, magnitude)
  • Implement automatic data updates

nGeneTime

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Sputnik!

One-time1
  • Go ad-free$0.99
None

nGeneTime

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sputnik! free?
Sputnik! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is nGeneTime free?
nGeneTime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Sputnik! or nGeneTime have ads?
Neither Sputnik! nor nGeneTime shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sputnik! or nGeneTime?
Sputnik! ships an update every 5 months, and nGeneTime every 10 days. Most recently, Sputnik! was updated on October 15, 2026 and nGeneTime on September 29, 2026.

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