SkyView® Lite vs Solar System Scope
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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!
Solar System Scope
Explore and discover the solar system and outer space with realistic 3D visualizations and detailed celestial simulations. This app offers an educational and engaging experience for all ages, featuring a comprehensive encyclopedia and a night sky observatory.
- 3D Encyclopedia of celestial bodies
- Realistic 3D visualizations
- Night sky observatory with time simulation
- Accurate orbital parameter calculations
- High-quality planetary and moon maps
- Multilingual support
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Solar System Scope is a fun way of Exploring, Discovering and Playing with the Solar System and Outer Space. Solar System Scope (or just Solar) contains many views and celestial simulations, but most of all - it brings you closer to the furthest reaches of our world and lets you experience lots of fantastic space sceneries. It aspires to be the most illustrative, easy to understand and simple to use space model. - 3D Encyclopedia In Solar’s unique encyclopedia you will find the most interesting facts about every planet, dwarf planet, every major moon and more – and everything is accompanied by realistic 3D visualizations. Solar’s encyclopedia is available in 10 languages: English, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Korean and Slovak. More languages are coming soon! - Nightsky Observatory Enjoy Stars and constellation of the night sky as viewed from any given location on Earth. You can point your device at the sky to see all objects in their proper place, but you can also simulate Night sky in the past or in the future. Now with advanced options that let you simulate ecliptic, equatorial and azimuthal line, or grid (among other things). - Scientific Instrument Solar System Scope calculations are based on up-to-date orbital parameters published by NASA and let you simulate celestial positions at any given time. - For Everyone Solar System Scope is well suited for all audiences and ages: It is enjoyed by space enthusiasts, teachers, scientists, but Solar is successfully used even by children of 4+ years of age! - Unique Maps We are proud to present a very unique set of planetary and moon maps, that let you experience a true-color space as never before. These accurate maps are based on NASA elevation and imagery data. Colors and shades of the textures are tuned according to true-color photos made by Messenger, Viking, Cassini and New Horizon spacecrafts, and the Hubble Space Telescope. Basic resolution of these maps is for free – but if you would like the best experience, you can check out the highest quality, which is available with In-App purchase. - Join our vision Our vision is to build the ultimate space model and bring you the deepest space experience. And you can help - try Solar System Scope and if you like it, spread the word! And don’t forget to join the community and vote for new features on our homepage.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Solar System Scope at none against SkyView® Lite's shown. Solar System Scope also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 65%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). SkyView® Lite's advantage is ratings volume (19K vs 882) and chart position (#145 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. SkyView® Lite sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Solar System Scope sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for SkyView® Lite against 4.4 for Solar System Scope. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SkyView® Lite has 19K ratings behind it against 882, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of SkyView® Lite's written reviews are positive against 76% of Solar System Scope's.
SkyView® Lite ships an update every 2 months, Solar System Scope every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SkyView® Lite | Solar System Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (19K ratings) — better | 4.4 (882 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.6% of reviews | 76.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 19K — better | 882 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #145 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 122 MB | 154 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Terminal Eleven LLC | INOVE, s.r.o. |
Customer experience
SkyView® Lite
Solar System Scope
User reviews
SkyView® Lite
From 19K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Solar System Scope
From 882 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Amazing app
- 👍 Great for learning about space
- 🌟 Beautifully created
- 🔭 Realistic and detailed
- 🎓 Excellent for education
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🔀 Orientation issues
- 🔒 Upgrade required for full functionality
- 🕰️ Difficulty pinpointing specific dates
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
Solar System Scope
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when dragging Jupiter
- Upside-down orientation on tablets
- Unable to restore purchases
- Freezes and crashes on launch
Requested features
5 requests- Add more celestial bodies (Messier objects, Planet 9/10, black holes, etc.)
- Enable exploration of other galaxies and deep space objects
- Improve telescope/zoom functionality
- Add more moons and irregular satellites
- Implement continental drift and solar system evolution
In-app purchases
SkyView® Lite
- Stargazing Music Pack$0.99
- Brightest Satellites & Sightings$0.99
Solar System Scope
- HQ Textures / No Ads$5.99
Questions
Is SkyView® Lite free?
Is Solar System Scope free?
Which has better reviews, SkyView® Lite or Solar System Scope?
Do SkyView® Lite or Solar System Scope have ads?
Which is updated more often, SkyView® Lite or Solar System Scope?
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