Comparison

SkyView® Lite vs Classic Sky Map 2

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Currently charting
Read full description

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!

About

Classic Sky Map 2

Explore the cosmos with an intuitive and beautiful sky map. Easily identify stars, planets, and constellations by simply pointing your device at the sky. Track celestial events and understand astronomical movements with time-lapse features.

Highlights
  • Live sky tracking
  • Interactive earth map
  • Time-lapse sky simulation
  • Beautiful constellation art
  • Celestial object search
  • Night vision mode
Features
Read full description

Ever wonder why so many astronomy apps are so hard to use? We do. So we made Classic Sky Map simple and intuitive enough for anyone to enjoy. The user interface is beautiful and straightforward, the controls are easy to use and most settings are just a tap or two away. Classic Sky Map shows you thousands of the brightest stars, the Moon, planets, constellations, meteor showers and more. And it's painless. Free Features: - Live Tracking. Simply point your device toward the stars and the sky map aligns itself automatically, showing you the portion of the sky at which you are looking. If your device has a compass, Classic Sky Map uses it automatically. If not, you can tell Classic Sky Map where the North is, and it aligns the sky map accordingly. - Live Earth Map. Quickly jump from one city to another by tapping on a map that shows the Earth's day and night boundary in real-time. If you allow it, Classic Sky Map can detect your current location automatically. You can also create custom viewing locations in seconds. - Fast Forward and Rewind. Accelerate or reverse time to understand how stars and planets appear to move in the sky over a longer period of time. - Beautiful Constellation Images. We put a tremendous amount of work into creating beautiful constellation images inspired by antique engravings and aligning them precisely with the stars. - Sharing. Share snapshots of the sky map with your friends at the tap of a button. - Quick Help. Should you have any questions while using Classic Sky Map, a concise, illustrated user guide will help answer them quickly. Full Version Features (In-App Purchase): - Interactive Search. Simply type in a search field, pick an object from a list of matches, then point your device toward the sky. An arrow appears and guides you until you are pointing your device toward the object you selected. If the object is not yet visible in the sky, its next rise time is displayed. - Sky Events. Classic Sky Map shows a list of current sky events such as meteor showers, eclipses and more and helps you quickly locate them in the sky. - Night Vision. Classic Sky Map's night vision mode helps minimize loss of dark adaptation. And we went the extra mile to make it look great in cyan, orange or red. - Extra Information. Tooltips and an information panel show details about stars, planets, the Moon, meteor showers and more. - Personalization Options. Personalize your sky map by turning various guides and display options on or off. Have fun!

Screenshots

SkyView® Lite4 screens
Classic Sky Map 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Classic Sky Map 2 at none against SkyView® Lite's shown. Classic Sky Map 2 also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (76% vs 65%). SkyView® Lite's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 16 months) and chart position (#136 vs unranked). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. SkyView® Lite sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Classic Sky Map 2 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Classic Sky Map 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19K and 8.9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of SkyView® Lite's written reviews are positive against 76% of Classic Sky Map 2's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SkyView® Lite ships an update every 2 months, Classic Sky Map 2 every 16 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
SkyView® Lite versus Classic Sky Map 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSkyView® LiteClassic Sky Map 2
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (19K ratings)4.7 (8.9K ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.6% of reviews75.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings19K — better8.9K
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 16 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#136 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size122 MB69 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTerminal Eleven LLCX04 Studios Inc.

Customer experience

SkyView® Lite

All ratings18,744 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral3.3%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews728 reviews
Positive64.6%
Neutral7.1%
Negative28.3%

Classic Sky Map 2

All ratings8,890 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews169 reviews
Positive75.7%
Neutral4.1%
Negative20.1%

User reviews

SkyView® Lite

From 19K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Accurate star and planet tracking
  • 👍 Easy to use and navigate
  • 🔭 Helpful for learning about the night sky
  • 💫 Engaging and educational for all ages
  • 🌌 Realistic AR display of celestial objects

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Compass/location issues causing inaccurate positioning
  • 🔍 Limited free features, many paid upgrades
  • 🤔 Confusing for some users to understand how it works
  • 🔋 High battery consumption

Classic Sky Map 2

From 8.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Straightforward and not cluttered with ads
  • 🌟 Excellent for stargazing and learning about the night sky
  • 🌍 Helpful ground references for locating celestial objects
  • 🎓 Great educational tool for young astronomers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional calibration and alignment issues
  • 🔍 Limited information on stars beyond just names
  • 🌌 Can't see below the horizon
  • 🗺️ Clumsy and unintuitive navigation at times
  • 🔍 Small viewing area that makes it hard to see all the stars

Bugs and 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

Classic Sky Map 2

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Compass bearing is inaccurate
  • Active tracking no longer works
  • App becomes unusable after certain updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add information on comets, meteor showers, and other space events
  • Provide an option to only show visible stars
  • Improve search functionality to find planets, moons, and other objects not currently in the sky
  • Offer a live tracking mode that updates in real-time

In-app purchases

2 purchases

SkyView® Lite

One-time2
  • Stargazing Music Pack$0.99
  • Brightest Satellites & Sightings$0.99
1 purchases

Classic Sky Map 2

One-time1
  • Full Version$2.99

Questions

Is SkyView® Lite free?
SkyView® Lite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Classic Sky Map 2 free?
Classic Sky Map 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SkyView® Lite or Classic Sky Map 2?
Classic Sky Map 2 is rated higher. SkyView® Lite averages 4.5 out of 5 from 19K ratings, while Classic Sky Map 2 averages 4.7 from 8.9K ratings.
Do SkyView® Lite or Classic Sky Map 2 have ads?
SkyView® Lite shows ads; Classic Sky Map 2 does not.
Which is updated more often, SkyView® Lite or Classic Sky Map 2?
SkyView® Lite ships an update every 2 months, and Classic Sky Map 2 every 16 months. Most recently, SkyView® Lite was updated on September 24, 2026 and Classic Sky Map 2 on September 23, 2026.

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