Meteor Shower Guide vs AstroHelm
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Meteor Shower Guide
Discover upcoming meteor showers with this comprehensive guide. It provides peak dates, observing conditions like moon phase and rise/set times, and forecasts for future years. Plan your stargazing with detailed information accessible offline.
- Peak date and time forecasts
- Observing condition analysis
- Moon phase and age calculation
- Sunrise and sunset times
- Offline access
- Future year forecasts
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Want to know when the next meteor shower happens? Meteor Shower Guide is your complete pocket reference to the annual meteor showers. Determines the peak date of a meteor shower and the observing conditions for that date (moon phase, rise and set times for the moon and sun). This year or years in the future without needing a internet connection or update. * Includes all meteor showers on the International Meteor Organization working visual list and all meteor showers from the American Meteor Society's Weak Meteor Showers list. * Forecasts peak day and time for your time zone. Calculates sunrise and sunset times, moon phase and age for meteor shower peak date. Advises you of the moonlights affect on the meteor shower. * Selectable catalog year allows you to look at meteor shower conditions for years into the future or past. Handy for comparing conditions in different years. Get outside and enjoy a meteor shower! If you encounter any issues please contact us for help! See the support website for additional information.
AstroHelm
This astronomy app uses on-device plate solving to guide your manual telescope or telephoto lens. It analyzes star patterns in real-time to help you precisely center celestial objects without expensive motorized mounts.
- On-device plate solving
- Real-time star pattern analysis
- Push-to guidance
- Hardware-agnostic compatibility
- Expansive deep-sky object database
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Find galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and planets without struggling with star hopping. AstroHelm turns your iPhone into a smart push-to finder for almost any manual telescope. Using fast, on-device plate solving, AstroHelm recognizes the stars in your camera view, determines exactly where your telescope is pointing, and guides you to your target. No proprietary telescope. No motorized GoTo mount. Just attach your iPhone with a rigid phone mount and start exploring. NOT SURE WHAT TO OBSERVE? AstroHelm can help with that too. Best Tonight highlights bright, interesting objects visible from your location, so you can spend less time planning and more time observing. HOW IT WORKS Mount: Attach your iPhone securely to your telescope tube, or to your camera using a standard bracket or hot-shoe mount. Choose: Pick a galaxy, nebula, star cluster, planet, or other target from AstroHelm's catalog. Point: Move your telescope while following the on-screen guidance. AstroHelm repeatedly plate-solves the sky and shows you exactly how to reach your target. CENTER: When the reticle reaches the target, look through the eyepiece—or start your exposure. BUILT FOR THE GEAR YOU ALREADY OWN AstroHelm works with manual telescopes and cameras without requiring a specific telescope brand or proprietary accessory. It can also integrate with compatible astronomy software and equipment using standard telescope-control protocols. Whether you're exploring the sky with a Dobsonian or framing a deep-sky object with a camera, AstroHelm gets you from “I want to see that” to “there it is.”
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: AstroHelm at Free against Meteor Shower Guide's $0.99. AstroHelm also leads on review sentiment (88% vs 57%) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Meteor Shower Guide's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). On ratings volume, ads 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
AstroHelm is free to download; Meteor Shower Guide costs $0.99 up front. AstroHelm sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Meteor Shower Guide asks for nothing beyond the download.
Meteor Shower Guide holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 7 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of Meteor Shower Guide's written reviews are positive against 88% of AstroHelm's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Meteor Shower Guide ships an update every 2 months, AstroHelm every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Meteor Shower Guide | AstroHelm |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (7 ratings) — better | 4.6 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 57.4% of reviews | 87.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Clearfield Computing LLC | Pacizu LLC |
Customer experience
Meteor Shower Guide
AstroHelm
In-app purchases
Meteor Shower Guide
No in-app purchases
AstroHelm
- AstroHelm Plus$9.99
- Plus to Pro Upgrade$19.99
- AstroHelm Pro$29.99







