What's Up? vs SkyView® Lite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
What's Up?
Discover celestial bodies visible in the night sky with this intuitive app. Easily track planets, the Sun, and Moon, and forecast their appearance. Access detailed information and moon phases, with support for the Southern Hemisphere.
- Simple sky grid display
- Effortless navigation
- Time-bar functionality
- Comprehensive celestial information
- Observation insights
- Moon phases
- Wikipedia links
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Whether you're deciding if it's worth setting up your telescope or simply curious about that bright 'star,' What's Up? is the perfect companion for sky enthusiasts. Key Features: • Simple Sky Grid Display: View the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets on an intuitive grid representing the night sky. • Effortless Navigation: No augmented reality or motion tracking needed—just a straightforward display to see what's up. • Time-Bar Functionality: Slide the time-bar to forecast the appearance of your favorite planets and their directions. • Comprehensive Information: Displays the location of the Sun, Moon, planets, and even Pluto. • Observation Insights: Instantly identify which celestial objects are prime for observation. • Moon Phases: Stay updated with the current moon phase. • Wikipedia Links: Dive deeper with quick access to Wikipedia pages for detailed information. • Southern Hemisphere Support: Sky-watchers down south are covered too. • Minimal Network Usage: Only needed for Wikipedia access. • Note: Localizations are limited to planet names. For a full 3D rendered experience with motion tracking, check out our award-winning companion app, Pocket Universe. If you already own Pocket Universe, you'll find What's Up? familiar yet even more user-friendly, with a sleeker design and quicker access to the "Currently Visible" mode, and basic Apple Watch support.
SkyView® Lite
Identify stars, constellations, satellites, and more by simply pointing your device at the sky. This augmented reality app makes stargazing accessible to everyone, day or night. Explore celestial paths and even travel through time to view the sky on different dates.
- Identify stars, constellations, and satellites
- Augmented Reality (AR) stargazing
- Set reminders for celestial events
- View sky paths for Sun and Moon
- Time travel to view past/future skies
- Capture and share sky images
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SkyView® Lite brings stargazing to everyone! Simply point your iPhone, iPad, or iPod at the sky to identify stars, constellations, satellites, and more! Downloaded over 40 million times. If you like our lite version of SkyView then you'll love our full version! It includes: a convenient Apple Watch app, a Today Widget displaying tonight's brightest objects, ALL in-app purchases offered in this version, thousands more objects to discover, and more! App Store Best of 2012 App Store Rewind 2011 -- Best Education App “If you've ever wanted to know what you're looking at in the night sky, this app is the perfect stargazer's companion.” – CNET "If you’ve ever been looking for a stargazing app for your iPhone, then this [is] definitely the one to get." – AppAdvice “SkyView is an Augmented Reality app that lets you see just what delights the sky has to offer.” – 148Apps Editor’s Choice You don't need to be an astronomer to find stars or constellations in the sky, just open SkyView® Lite and let it guide you to their location and identify them. SkyView® Lite is a beautiful and intuitive stargazing app that uses your camera to precisely spot and identify celestial objects in sky, day or night. Find your favorite constellations as they fade in and out while you scan across the sky, locate the Moon, discover distant galaxies, and witness satellite fly-bys. Features: • Simple: Point your device at the sky to identify galaxies, stars, constellations and satellites (including the ISS and Hubble) passing overhead at your location. • Sightings: set reminders for celestial events and plan an evening stargazing & spotting satellites. • Augmented Reality (AR): Use your camera to spot objects in the sky, day or night. • Sky Paths: Follow the daily sky tracks for the Sun and Moon to see their exact locations in the sky on any date & time. • Time Travel: Jump to the future or the past and see the sky on different dates and times. • Social: Capture and share beautiful images with friends and family on social networks. • Mobile: WiFi is NOT required (does not require a data signal or GPS to function). Take it camping, boating, or even flying! • Supports Space Navigator™ binoculars, spotting scope, and telescopes. What a fun way to teach yourself, your children, your students, or your friends about our wonderful universe!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: What's Up? at none against SkyView® Lite's 2. What's Up? also leads on ads (none vs shown) and device support (4 vs 2). SkyView® Lite's advantage is ratings volume (19K vs 8) and chart position (#116 vs unranked). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. SkyView® Lite sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. What's Up? asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for What's Up? against 4.5 for SkyView® Lite. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SkyView® Lite has 19K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 58% of What's Up?'s written reviews are positive against 65% of SkyView® Lite's.
What's Up? ships an update every 3 months, SkyView® Lite every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 5, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | What's Up? | SkyView® Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (8 ratings) — better | 4.5 (19K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 57.9% of reviews | 64.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 19K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #116 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.5 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 122 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Kennedy | Terminal Eleven LLC |
Customer experience
What's Up?
SkyView® Lite
Bugs and requests
What's Up?
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
SkyView® Lite
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes or freezes on some devices
- Outdated information on certain celestial objects
- Compatibility issues with older iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add more celestial objects like satellites, comets, and nebulae
- Improve compass calibration and location accuracy
- Provide more detailed information and facts about stars/planets
- Integrate with virtual reality for immersive stargazing experience
- Add reminders for upcoming astronomical events
In-app purchases
What's Up?
No in-app purchases
SkyView® Lite
- Stargazing Music Pack$0.99
- Brightest Satellites & Sightings$0.99
Questions
Is What's Up? free?
Is SkyView® Lite free?
Which has better reviews, What's Up? or SkyView® Lite?
Do What's Up? or SkyView® Lite have ads?
Which is updated more often, What's Up? or SkyView® Lite?
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