Comparison

SkyView® Lite vs Stellar Tour

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

Stellar Tour

Explore the cosmos with an augmented reality stargazing app guided by an astrophysicist. Discover exoplanets, solar system bodies, and deep-sky objects with scientifically accurate narratives and detailed visuals.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality stargazing
  • Astrophysicist-guided tours
  • Detailed exoplanet information
  • High-resolution solar system visuals
  • Exploration of galaxies and nebulae
  • Interactive 3D planet and moon models
Features
Read full description

Stellar Tour is the only AR stargazing app written by an astrophysicist. Point your phone at the night sky and get a guided tour of everything up there: 1.7 billion real stars, every planet and major moon, eclipses, meteor showers, 13,000 deep-sky objects, and a course in astronomy that starts with the sky over your head and ends at the edge of the universe. Astrophysicist Dr. Aaron Day wrote every word. Instead of the standard flood of random facts, Stellar Tour tells the scientifically accurate story of each world: what it is like on the ground, in the seas, or floating through the clouds. THE NIGHT SKY, FOR REAL • 1.7 billion stars from ESA's Gaia survey, each in its true position. Pinch to zoom from your backyard to the galactic core. • The Milky Way as it actually looks, drawn from every star Gaia measured, with constellations, planets, and satellites overlaid on your live sky. • A sky that looks like the time it is: dawn, daylight, twilight, and full dark, with a real atmosphere and hazy ridges on the horizon. The Moon shows its earthshine, and Earth's night side its city lights. • Night Vision mode keeps your eyes dark-adapted with a pure red display. LEARN THE SKY • Fifteen short lessons, from the sky over your head to the edge of the universe. Every stop is a live visit: the lesson flies you to the star, steps the clock, or opens the tool it is talking about. The first three lessons are free. • Three reference books inside the app, How We Know, The Sky, and The Whole Story, with a glossary and dozens of labeled diagrams. SEVEN SKIES • See the stars the way Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, India, and the Arabian desert saw them: their star figures and folk names drawn on your sky, their stories on each star's page, and their lunar festivals on the calendar. PLAN YOUR NIGHT • Sky Calendar: every eclipse, meteor shower, conjunction, and full moon, filtered by type. The week ahead is free; the full year comes with the expansion. • Night Planner: the best targets for your sky tonight, hour by hour. Sky Forecast: the cloud cover over your spot, hour by hour. • Reminders that fire only when something is worth stepping outside for, including ISS and Tiangong passes with a live countdown. • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for rise and set times and the next sky event. Ask Siri what is visible tonight. ECLIPSE EXPLORER Simulate any solar or lunar eclipse from any place on Earth: local timings, a disc animation of the Moon crossing the Sun, and a live countdown. The next solar eclipse at your own location is free: its times, what you will see there, and a reminder. GO DEEPER • Telescope Catalog: 13,000 NGC, IC, and Messier objects, searchable and shown on your sky. • Exoplanets: nearly every known world, in its actual position on the sky, with sizes, temperatures, and orbits. • The Solar System up close: planets and major moons in NASA probe imagery, in visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, and radar. Rotate them to any angle. • Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope pictures, on the pages of the objects they show. FOR EVERYONE • Kid Mode rewrites the whole tour for explorers aged five to seven. • Birthday Sky: a shareable card of the sky on the night you were born. • Smart search: ask for exactly what you want. • Fifteen languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Vietnamese, and Icelandic. Dates in your own calendar. • VoiceOver and Dynamic Type throughout. ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION Cosmic Expansion adds the planner, the catalog, the eclipses, the exoplanets, the galaxies, the full year of the calendar, and the whole course in a single purchase that is yours forever. Take the Stellar Tour!

Screenshots

SkyView® Lite4 screens
Stellar Tour4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Stellar Tour at none against SkyView® Lite's shown. Stellar Tour also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (84% vs 65%). SkyView® Lite's advantage is ratings volume (19K vs 1.7K) and chart position (#136 vs unranked). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. SkyView® Lite sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Stellar Tour sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Stellar Tour holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SkyView® Lite has 19K ratings behind it against 1.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of SkyView® Lite's written reviews are positive against 84% of Stellar Tour's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SkyView® Lite ships an update every 2 months, Stellar Tour fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
SkyView® Lite versus Stellar Tour: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSkyView® LiteStellar Tour
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (19K ratings)4.7 (1.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.6% of reviews83.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings19K — better1.7K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
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 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size122 MB570 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTerminal Eleven LLCAaron Day

Customer experience

SkyView® Lite

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

Stellar Tour

All ratings1,695 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive83.5%
Neutral5.5%
Negative11.0%

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

Stellar Tour

From 1.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Amazing app
  • 👍 Excellent for stargazing and learning
  • 🔭 Helpful for identifying stars and constellations
  • 🌌 Detailed information on planets and exoplanets
  • 🎓 Great educational tool for all ages

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches
  • 🤔 Some features not intuitive or user-friendly
  • 💰 Wish it was completely free without in-app purchases
  • 🌍 Language localization could be improved

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

Stellar Tour

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Videos not playing offline as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add support for viewing comets and other celestial events
  • Improve AR functionality and integration
  • Provide more detailed information on exoplanets
  • Introduce a dark mode option for better visibility at night

In-app purchases

2 purchases

SkyView® Lite

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

Stellar Tour

One-time5
  • Remove Ads 1$2.99
  • Upgrade: Lessons & Sky Tools$3.99
  • Cosmic Expansion2 variants$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Remove Ads 2$9.99
  • Remove Ads 3$14.99

Questions

Is SkyView® Lite free?
SkyView® Lite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stellar Tour free?
Stellar Tour is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SkyView® Lite or Stellar Tour?
Stellar Tour is rated higher. SkyView® Lite averages 4.5 out of 5 from 19K ratings, while Stellar Tour averages 4.7 from 1.7K ratings.
Do SkyView® Lite or Stellar Tour have ads?
SkyView® Lite shows ads; Stellar Tour does not.
Which is updated more often, SkyView® Lite or Stellar Tour?
SkyView® Lite ships an update every 2 months, and Stellar Tour fortnightly. Most recently, SkyView® Lite was updated on September 24, 2026 and Stellar Tour on September 25, 2026.

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