Comparison

SkyView® vs Spot the Station

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

Head to head
About

SkyView®

Identify stars, constellations, planets, and satellites by simply pointing your device at the sky. This app uses augmented reality to guide you and provides information on celestial objects, upcoming events, and even allows you to travel through time to view the sky on different dates.

Highlights
  • Identify stars, planets, and satellites with AR
  • Discover all 88 constellations
  • Schedule alerts for celestial events
  • Night mode for preserving vision
  • Time travel to view past/future skies
  • Capture and share celestial images
Read full description

SkyView® brings stargazing to everyone. Simply point your iPhone, iPad, or iPod at the sky to identify stars, constellations, planets, satellites, and more! Over 3.2 million downloads. 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® and let it guide you to their location and identify them. SkyView® is a beautiful and intuitive stargazing app that uses your camera to precisely spot and identify celestial objects in sky, day or night. Find all 88 constellations as they fade in and out while you scan across the sky, locate every planet in our solar system, discover distant galaxies, and witness satellite fly-bys. Features: • Simple: Point your device at the sky to identify galaxies, stars, constellations, planets, and satellites (including the ISS and Hubble) passing overhead at your location. • Sighting Events: schedule alerts for upcoming celestial events. • Apple Watch: see what objects are visible tonight and how to spot them using your Apple Watch. • Today Widget: brand new iOS 8 today widget lets you quickly see upcoming celestial events. • Night Mode: Preserve your night vision with red or green night mode filters. • Augmented Reality (AR): Use your camera to spot objects in the sky, day or night. • Sky Paths: Follow the sky track for any object to see it’s exact location in the sky on any date and time. • Comprehensive: Includes thousands of stars, planets, and satellites with thousands of interesting facts. • 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! What a fun way to teach yourself, your children, your students, or your friends about our wonderful universe!

About

Spot the Station

Receive notifications when the International Space Station is visible from your location. Explore real-time 2D and 3D views, augmented reality tracking, and access NASA resources. Experience the wonder of human presence in orbit.

Highlights
  • Real-time 2D & 3D station location
  • Upcoming sighting lists
  • Augmented reality view with trajectory
  • NASA space station resources & blog
  • Push notifications for sightings
Read full description

For anyone who has ever gazed up at the night sky and wondered about the mysteries of the universe, witnessing the International Space Station pass overhead can be an awe-inspiring moment. The Spot the Station mobile app is designed to notify users when the space station is visible overhead from their location. It aims to broaden access and awareness of the station and NASA globally, by providing users with an opportunity to experience the wonder of the space station firsthand. The realization that there are human beings living and working in that tiny dot, orbiting the Earth at a mind-boggling speed of 17,500 miles per hour, is breathtaking. The app includes several helpful features including: 1. 2D & 3D real-time location views of the station 2. Upcoming Sighting Lists with visibility data 3. Augmented Reality (AR) view with compass and trajectory lines embedded into the camera view 4. Up-to-date NASA space station Resources & Blog 5. Privacy Settings 6. Push Notifications when the station is approaching your location.

Screenshots

SkyView®4 screens
Spot the Station4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Spot the Station at Free against SkyView®'s $2.99. Spot the Station also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6). SkyView®'s advantage is review sentiment (77% vs 63%) and chart position (#2 vs unranked). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Spot the Station is free to download; SkyView® costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Spot the Station holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7.7K and 11K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 77% of SkyView®'s written reviews are positive against 63% of Spot the Station's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SkyView® ships an update every 4 months, Spot the Station every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
SkyView® versus Spot the Station: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSkyView®Spot the Station
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (7.7K ratings)4.8 (11K ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.8% of reviews — better63.3% of reviews
Number of ratings7.7K11K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#2 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size112 MB84 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperTerminal Eleven LLCNASA

Customer experience

SkyView®

All ratings7,665 ratings
Positive89.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews850 reviews
Positive76.8%
Neutral7.3%
Negative15.9%

Spot the Station

All ratings9,526 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews313 reviews
Positive63.3%
Neutral6.4%
Negative30.4%

User reviews

SkyView®

From 7.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🔭 Helpful for stargazing and identifying celestial objects
  • 🌌 Provides a lot of information about the night sky
  • 🎶 Relaxing background music
  • 🤩 Amazed by the app's capabilities

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Calibration issues and inaccurate compass
  • 🤷‍♀️ Missing some celestial objects like comets and the James Webb Space Telescope
  • 🌌 Constellation overlays can be obstructive
  • 🙈 Showing stars/planets on walls/floors even when not present
  • 📱 Compatibility issues on certain devices

Spot the Station

From 11K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Awesome App
  • 🚀 ISS joy!
  • 🚀 Awesome App!
  • 🚀 Brilliant
  • 🚀 Great fun app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 AR View jumps to a bug screen
  • 🐛 Loses location
  • 🐛 Can't open
  • 🐛 Current location
  • 🐛 Crashes on iPhone 15 Pro

Bugs and requests

SkyView®

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Compass and orientation problems
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between automatic and manual calibration

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more celestial objects like comets, dwarf planets, and the James Webb Space Telescope
  • Improve calibration and compass accuracy
  • Add option to hide constellation overlays
  • Implement a feature to track the International Space Station and other satellites
  • Add a widget for quick access to sky information
Show 1 more
  • Improve support for older devices and iOS versions

Spot the Station

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Location-detection bugs are fixed, and the app is much much better.
  • Location FIXED with the latest update
  • App now working as expected
  • App crashes when trying to use AR
  • Crashes when granting camera permission

Requested features

4 requests
  • Would like to know speed and height at which this incredible machine is whizzing above our planet!
  • I wish it could say dates further into the future though
  • I would love to have an option of the map to show where it's at like which country or state it's flying over
  • Would be nice if the notification would give you the details of the pass over your location i.e Visible: 1 min Max Height: 16° Appears: 10° above S Disappears: 16° above S

In-app purchases

None

SkyView®

No in-app purchases

None

Spot the Station

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SkyView® free?
SkyView® costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spot the Station free?
Spot the Station is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SkyView® or Spot the Station?
Spot the Station is rated higher. SkyView® averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7.7K ratings, while Spot the Station averages 4.8 from 11K ratings.
Do SkyView® or Spot the Station have ads?
Neither SkyView® nor Spot the Station shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SkyView® or Spot the Station?
SkyView® ships an update every 4 months, and Spot the Station every 3 months. Most recently, SkyView® was updated on October 25, 2026 and Spot the Station on October 25, 2026.

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