Comparison

Night Sky vs Pocket PlanetARium

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

Head to head
About

Night Sky

Explore the cosmos with an AI-powered planetarium. Identify stars, planets, and satellites by pointing your device at the sky. Discover celestial objects in augmented reality and share your stargazing experiences with others.

Highlights
  • AI personal planetarium
  • Identify stars, planets, constellations, satellites
  • Augmented Reality (AR) exploration
  • AI Super Astronomer (subscription)
  • Customizable Sky Tags
  • Connected Stargazing with SharePlay
  • Spatial Audio Object Navigation
Features
Read full description

Night Sky is a powerful AI personal planetarium. Quickly identify stars, planets, constellations and satellites above by simply holding your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch to the Night Sky! This is all done magically. Whether you’re looking for a constellation, or the International Space Station, let Night Sky direct you to it, then explore the object in AR! FEATURE SET: - NIGHT SKY + AURA (Night Sky + Aura Subscription required) - Your Personal AI Super Astronomer! Ask Night Sky Aura virtually anything about Space and it will know the answer. Night Sky Aura fully interfaces with features within Night Sky, to direct you to objects you’re interested in, provide information on anything to do with astronomy, or even show you how the sky looks on the other side of the world! With your own personal AI Super Astronomer right by your side, Night Sky Aura becomes the new natural way to interact with the sky above! - SKY TAGS - Make Night Sky yours, by adding personal Sky Tags to the map! Pin Sky Tags to objects in the sky to save for future reference, and share them via iMessage so others can find them! Sky Tags can be categorized, and are completely personal to you. Maybe you want to tag a star as a memorial to someone, or tag something you’d like to observe later that night. You can even add Astrophotography photos and observation notes to your Sky Tags! - CONNECTED STARGAZING (+ Feature) - Connected Stargazing is a revolutionary new feature that utilizes SharePlay in iOS 15.1, allowing you to stargaze with others when you are apart! Start a FaceTime Audio call with those who you would like to stargaze with, then create a session by adding objects for everyone to find in the sky! - SPATIAL AUDIO OBJECT NAVIGATION - Using AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, search for an object when automatic sky tracking is on, and Night Sky will make the star, planet or constellation ‘chirp’ in the 360° soundscape, assisting you to navigate to the object with sound! - AR SKY WINDOW - Erase the ceiling of your bedroom, lounge or classroom with AR! Night Sky intelligently detects the ceiling or other flat surface in a room, and can make it magically disappear to reveal the sky behind it! - BILLIONS OF STARS! (+ Feature) - Space is vast, so Night Sky has been hyper charged with over 1.7 BILLION STARS streamed from the cloud! With a new super deep zoom (greater than 10X before), prepare to delve deeper into space than you ever imagined! - MAPS UI - A clean and familiar interface with Search features including Quick Find, intelligent Night Red Mode, Light Pollution indicator and easy to use menu, prepare to navigate Night Sky quicker than ever before! - AR PLANETARY PORTALS & AR GRAND ORRERY (+ Features) - Step onto the surface of other planets by placing AR portals around your room! Or walk around the entire Solar System using the newly refreshed interactive Grand Orrery! - NIGHT SKY WATCH AR - Night Sky magically comes to life on Apple Watch, with Glass Constellations, Red Vision, and Night Sky Live Tours - all on your wrist! - AR OBJECT EXPLORATION - Pull Planets, Stars and Constellations out of the sky and look at them in detailed AR! - NIGHT SKY TOURS (+ Feature): Get a live sky tour or create your own sky tours for any location and time in the world! - NIGHT SKY MINDFULNESS (+ Feature) - A mindfulness stargazing experience adding mindfulness minutes with Apple HealthKit. - AND MANY MORE FEATURES! Subscription Information: 'Night Sky +' and 'Night Sky + Aura' are available as optional subscriptions. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy policy: http://www.icandiapps.com/privacy-policy/ Terms and Conditions of Use: http://www.icandiapps.com/terms-conditions/

About

Pocket PlanetARium

Explore the cosmos in augmented reality, bringing the universe to life in your surroundings. Walk around and zoom in on planets, experiencing the solar system in 3D with interactive controls and fascinating facts.

Highlights
  • Immersive AR experience
  • Interactive controls
  • Fascinating space facts
  • 3D solar system exploration
  • Adjustable planet scale
Features
Read full description

Pocket PlanetARium — A Truly Immersive Experience. Explore the Cosmos in AR and Bring the Universe to Life! Step inside the cosmos with Pocket PlanetARium, the ultimate Augmented Reality planetarium! Walk around, zoom in, and discover the planets like never before — from tiny Mercury to massive Jupiter. Experience the solar system in 3D, wherever you are. Features: • Immersive AR Experience – See planets appear in your space at a scale from 10 feet to 1 mile in diameter. • Interactive Controls – Toggle sounds, show planet names, pause animations, and reset your position with simple gestures. • Fascinating Facts – Did you know Jupiter can fit 1,300 Earths inside it? Or that a year on Pluto lasts 248 Earth years? • Walk Among the Giants – Approach Neptune and observe its Great Dark Spot, the site of the solar system’s strongest sustained winds. Perfect for students, space enthusiasts, or anyone curious about the universe, Pocket PlanetARium turns your surroundings into a stellar playground. Download now and bring the cosmos to life!

Screenshots

Night Sky4 screens
Pocket PlanetARium4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Night Sky at none against Pocket PlanetARium's shown. Night Sky also leads on ratings volume (498K vs 64) and chart position (#30 vs unranked). Pocket PlanetARium's advantage is review sentiment (94% vs 63%). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Night Sky sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days and Pocket PlanetARium 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Night Sky against 4.6 for Pocket PlanetARium. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Night Sky has 498K ratings behind it against 64, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of Night Sky's written reviews are positive against 94% of Pocket PlanetARium's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Night Sky versus Pocket PlanetARium: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNight SkyPocket PlanetARium
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (498K ratings) — better4.6 (64 ratings)
Positive reviews62.9% of reviews93.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings498K — better64
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#30 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.415.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size530 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiCandi Apps Ltd.5Play Apps, LLC

Customer experience

Night Sky

All ratings497,072 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews1,414 reviews
Positive62.9%
Neutral6.4%
Negative30.7%

Pocket PlanetARium

All ratings64 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.8%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive93.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.3%

Bugs and requests

Night Sky

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashing or freezing during use
  • Inaccurate mapping of the night sky compared to the real-world view
  • Issues with the app continuing to run and consume data in the background even when not in use

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to disable or reduce the frequency of subscription prompts
  • Improved accuracy and responsiveness of the AR sky blending
  • More customization options to tailor the app experience
  • Better support for users in areas with high light pollution
  • Ability to search for and locate specific celestial objects more easily

Pocket PlanetARium

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Night Sky

Subscriptions7
  • Night Sky +$5.997 Days
  • Night Sky +$9.991 Month
  • Night Sky + Aura$9.997 Days
Show 4 more
  • Night Sky + Aura$17.991 Month
  • Night Sky +$49.991 Year
  • Night Sky + Aura$69.991 Year
  • Night Sky + Aura3 Days trial$69.991 Year
1 purchases

Pocket PlanetARium

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Night Sky free?
Night Sky is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pocket PlanetARium free?
Pocket PlanetARium is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Night Sky or Pocket PlanetARium?
Night Sky is rated higher. Night Sky averages 4.7 out of 5 from 498K ratings, while Pocket PlanetARium averages 4.6 from 64 ratings.
Do Night Sky or Pocket PlanetARium have ads?
Pocket PlanetARium shows ads; Night Sky does not.
Which is updated more often, Night Sky or Pocket PlanetARium?
Night Sky ships an update monthly, and Pocket PlanetARium monthly. Most recently, Night Sky was updated on October 30, 2026 and Pocket PlanetARium on October 24, 2026.

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