StarTracker HD vs Planetaria
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
StarTracker HD
Explore the night sky with this augmented reality planetarium. Identify stars, constellations, planets, and deep sky objects by simply pointing your device at the sky. All data is available offline.
- Augmented Reality Star Gazing
- Identify 8000+ stars, planets, and constellations
- Offline data access
- Search and lock celestial objects
- Time Machine feature
- High-quality graphics
Read full descriptionHide full description
== Best StarGazing experience @60fps! == == Video: http://tiny.cc/starvideo == --- Top 1 Education app in 34 countries and Top 10 Education app in 79 countries when FREE! Thank you all my dear users, please leave a review or rating if you love this application! --- Hey, get outdoor with your friends and start star gazing! Let StarTracker guide you to explore the universe. Just hold up and point the device to the sky and have fun! You can see any stars, constellations and deep sky objects you are watching in reality. ======================== What our user said: "Best star gazing app I've ever used. Very well put together and great visuals!!! From end to end this app is a must-have for anyone interested in astronomy!!" "This app is a marvel of technology, art, and science. Super smooth operation, great graphics and a great merging of the devices capabilities. Having grown up using star charts and compasses, this app feels like science fiction come to life. Great job!" "Looking at the sky was never this incredible!" "If you download only one app, make sure it's this one!! This is one of the best apps I've ever seen, period! Its quality is unmatched among star gazing apps!" ======================== Features: • Augmented Reality Star Gazing with gyroscope! Just hold up the device. • Sun, Moon, planets and 8000+ stars visible to the naked eyes. • 88 Constellations & 100+ deep sky objects with magnificent graphics. • All data is offline! • Search and Lock the objects in Solar system, 12 Zodiac Constellations, 88 Constellations, Deep Sky Objects and Famous Stars. • 3D compass in AR mode, indicate position of objects your searched. • Location auto set by GPS, or set manually. • Time Machine. Time and date can be adjusted smoothly. • Capture a screenshot and share with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or save to Photos. • Smooth motion flow and quick response which is realized by cutting edge signal processing technique. • Superb high quality graphics with full screen anti-aliasing. Usage: • Bottom Right: Hide/Show Main Setting Menu, settings for name display, constellation, deep sky object, night mode, star amount and grid mode. • Top Right: Search Menu (Solar system, 12 Zodiac and 88 Constellations, Deep Sky Object and Famous Stars) • Top Left: Location Menu, choose location from a world map. Below is the Share button. • Top bar: Time Machine Menu, adjust any time/date. • Bottom Left: AR Compass indicator in AR track mode, pan the screen to enter un-track mode and click track button to back. Tips: • When search any object under un-track mode, it will be locked at the center of the screen, then user can adjust time/date to see changes of the related sky. • When under un-track mode, just lift up the screen and point it to the sky to enter AR track mode.
Planetaria
Explore a dynamic 3D model of the Solar System, synchronizing with real-time data to show celestial bodies in orbit. Discover planets, dwarf planets, and moons with detailed surface models. Manipulate time to view past and future solar system configurations.
- Interactive 3D Solar System model
- Real-time celestial body positions
- Detailed 3D surface models
- Explore planets, dwarf planets, and moons
- Time manipulation (past/future)
- AR integration
Read full descriptionHide full description
Explore the celestial worlds of the Solar System with Planetaria, an interactive 3D simulator experience for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro. This dynamic scale model of the Solar System synchronizes with real-time data to display the live positions of celestial bodies in their orbits, along with beautiful and detailed 3D models of their surfaces. On your journey through outer space, you can visit the Sun, the 8 planets, 5 dwarf planets, and over 20 major moons. Entire worlds await your discovery, each with their own individual features and environments. You can also fast-forward or rewind time, and see what the Solar System looks like at any time in the past or future. Photos and 3D models provided by NASA/JPL.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Planetaria at 4.7 against StarTracker HD's 4.0. Planetaria also leads on device support (3 vs 1). StarTracker HD's advantage is review sentiment (59% vs 50%) and ratings volume (43 vs 9). On update cadence, ads, 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
StarTracker HD costs $3.99 and Planetaria $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Planetaria holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 9 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of StarTracker HD's written reviews are positive against 50% of Planetaria's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on June 9, 2026 and September 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StarTracker HD | Planetaria |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (43 ratings) | 4.7 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.4% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 43 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 510 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 身吉 潘 | Joseph Rupertus |
Customer experience
StarTracker HD
Planetaria
Bugs and requests
StarTracker HD
Reported bugs
15 issues- App crashes on startup or during use
- Compass direction incorrect (north pointing wrong direction)
- Gyroscope not responding or locked
- Share button causes crashes
- Forward/share button greying out and causing screen loss
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Screen display only showing bottom right corner on iPad Pro 12.9
- App spinning continuously without stopping
- Screen orientation lock issues after iOS updates
- Duplicate app installations appearing
- iPad 2 compatibility issues despite gyroscope presence
- Inaccurate celestial object positioning (e.g., M71 placement)
- Sun position showing incorrectly during daytime
- Ursa Minor not rotating properly over 24-hour period
- Menu disappearing after using forward button
- Half-screen display stuck after exploring tools
Requested features
13 requests- Add search functionality for celestial objects
- Include ISS and satellite tracking
- Display object information (distance, magnitude, color, brightness)
- Add ecliptic line visibility option
- Show coordinate information (RA, Dec, Alt, Azimuth)
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Tap-to-identify popup descriptions for objects
- Add grid markings and horizon line with directional labels
- Better zoom control with more detailed object information
- Ability to manually rotate and correct star map
- Offline functionality without WiFi requirement
- Remove or disable astrology content
- Project capability for classroom screens
- iPhone version availability
Planetaria
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
StarTracker HD
No in-app purchases
Planetaria
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is StarTracker HD free?
Is Planetaria free?
Which has better reviews, StarTracker HD or Planetaria?
Do StarTracker HD or Planetaria have ads?
Which is updated more often, StarTracker HD or Planetaria?
Other comparisons















