Comparison

Night Sky vs SkySafari 7 Plus

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

SkySafari 7 Plus

Explore the cosmos with a powerful space simulator and telescope control. Discover astronomical events, track celestial objects, and plan your stargazing sessions with real-time data and historical simulations.

Highlights
  • Full-featured space simulator
  • Telescope control (ASCOM Alpaca, INDI)
  • Events Finder for astronomical occurrences
  • Real-time user observation tracking (OneSky)
  • Guided stargazing sessions (SkyCast)
  • Observation planning and recording tools
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
Features
Read full description

SkySafari 7 Plus goes beyond most basic stargazing apps by providing you with a full-featured space simulator with telescope control. If you are looking to dive deeper into astronomy, start your journey with the #1 recommend app for amateur astronomers since 2009. Note that there is no discount upgrade path from SkySafari 7 Plus to SkySafari 7 Pro. Choose carefully! Here's what’s new in version 7: + Complete support for iOS 15 and iPhone 13. Version 7 brings a new and immersive stargazing experience. + Events Finder - go to the new Events section to unlock a powerful search engine that finds astronomical events visible tonight and far into the future. The finder dynamically generates a listing of moon phases, eclipses, planetary moon events, meteor showers and planetary phenomenon such as conjunctions, elongations and oppositions. + Notifications - the notifications section has been completely revamped to allow you to customize and manage which events trigger an alert notification on your device. + Telescope Support - telescope control is at the heart of SkySafari. Version 7 takes a giant leap forward by supporting ASCOM Alpaca and INDI. These next generation control protocols allow you to effortlessly connect to hundreds of compatible astronomical devices. + OneSky - allows you to see what other users are observing, in real time. This feature highlights objects in the sky chart and indicates with a number how many users are observing a particular object. + SkyCast - allows you to guide a friend or group around the night sky through their own copy of SkySafari. After initiating SkyCast, you can generate a link and conveniently share it with other SkySafari users via text message, apps or social media accounts. + Sky Tonight - jump to the new Tonight section to see what’s visible in your sky tonight. Expanded information has been designed to help plan your night and includes Moon & Sun info, calendar curations, events and the best positioned deep sky and solar system objects. + Improved Observation Tools - SkySafari is the perfect tool to help you plan, record and organize your observations. New workflows make it easier to add, search, filter and sort data. + Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets keep your favorite astro information at your fingertips. The Small Touches: + You can now edit the Jupiter GRS Longitude Value in the Settings. + Better Moon Age calculation. + New grid & reference options allow you to display Solstice and Equinox markers, Orbit Node markers for all solar system objects, and tick marks and labels for the Ecliptic, Meridian, and Equator reference lines. + Previous In-app Purchases are Now Free - this includes the H-R diagram and 3D Galaxy view. Enjoy. + Many more. If you haven't used SkySafari 7 Plus before, here's what you can do with it: + Hold your device up, and SkySafari 7 Plus will find comets, stars, constellations, planets, and more! + Simulate the night sky up to 10,000 years in the past or future! Animate meteor showers, conjunctions, eclipses, and other celestial events. + Learn the history, mythology, and science of astronomy! Browse over 1500 object descriptions and astronomical images. Stay up-to-date with the Calendar for all major sky events every day! + Control your telescope, log and plan your observations. + Night Vision – Preserve your eyesight after dark. + Orbit Mode. Leave the Earth’s surface behind, and fly through our solar system. + Time Flow – Follow the motion of sky objects as days, months, and years are compressed into a few seconds. + Advanced Search – Find objects using properties other than their name. + Much more! For even more features, and a gigantic database aimed at the most dedicated amateur or professional astronomer, check out SkySafari 7 Pro! https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Night Sky4 screens
SkySafari 7 Plus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Night Sky at Free against SkySafari 7 Plus's $9.99. Night Sky also leads on ratings volume (498K vs 1.7K) and review sentiment (63% vs 46%). SkySafari 7 Plus's advantage is iOS requirement (14.1 vs 16.4). On rating, update cadence, ads 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

Night Sky is free to download; SkySafari 7 Plus costs $9.99 up front. Night Sky sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and SkySafari 7 Plus sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. 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 4.7 for SkySafari 7 Plus. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Night Sky has 498K ratings behind it against 1.7K, 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 46% of SkySafari 7 Plus's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Night Sky versus SkySafari 7 Plus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNight SkySkySafari 7 Plus
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.7 (498K ratings) — better4.7 (1.7K ratings)
Positive reviews62.9% of reviews — better45.7% of reviews
Number of ratings498K — better1.7K
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#26 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.414.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size530 MB1.1 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiCandi Apps Ltd.Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Customer experience

Night Sky

All ratings497,072 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews1,402 reviews
Positive62.9%
Neutral6.4%
Negative30.7%

SkySafari 7 Plus

All ratings1,671 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive45.7%
Neutral14.1%
Negative40.2%

User reviews

Night Sky

From 498K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Excellent app for stargazing and learning about the night sky
  • 🔭 Detailed information on celestial objects, satellites, and space events
  • 🌍 Accurate mapping of the sky to real-world locations
  • 🎨 Beautiful visuals and animations
  • 🔍 Helpful for identifying stars, planets, and constellations

Room to improve

  • 💰 Frequent prompts to upgrade to premium subscription
  • 🔌 Concerns about high battery consumption
  • 🤔 Calibration and alignment issues with the AR features
  • 🤯 Overwhelming amount of information and features for casual users
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches reported

SkySafari 7 Plus

From 1.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great app, preferred over Stellarium
  • 👍 Intuitive and clean interface
  • 👍 Useful 'Tonight' tab
  • 👍 Accurate and precise for telescope use
  • 👍 Impressive data and functionality

Room to improve

  • 🙄 Constant upgrade spam and notifications
  • 🐛 'Tonight' feature crashes on iPad
  • 💰 Paid features hidden behind paywall
  • 🐛 Crashes when using 'Tonight' feature
  • 🐛 Syncing and connectivity issues

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

SkySafari 7 Plus

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 'Tonight' feature crashes
  • App crashes on launch or when using certain features
  • Connectivity issues with telescopes
  • Syncing problems between devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more telescope brands and models
  • Improve notification settings to only show relevant events
  • Allow hiding of menu bar for cleaner viewing
  • Improve font sizes and readability
  • Add ability to import observation records from previous versions

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Night Sky

Subscriptions9
  • Night Sky+$5.991 Month
  • Night Sky +$5.997 Days
  • Night Sky +$9.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Night Sky + Aura$9.997 Days
  • Night Sky + Aura$17.991 Month
  • Night Sky+$39.991 Year
  • Night Sky +$49.991 Year
  • Night Sky + Aura$69.991 Year
  • Night Sky + Aura3 Days trial$69.991 Year
One-time1
  • Night Sky + Aura (Unlimited)$229.99
3 purchases

SkySafari 7 Plus

Subscriptions2
  • SkySafari Premium Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • SkySafari Premium7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Apollo Lunar MissionsFree

Questions

Is Night Sky free?
Night Sky is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SkySafari 7 Plus free?
SkySafari 7 Plus costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Night Sky or SkySafari 7 Plus?
Night Sky is rated higher. Night Sky averages 4.7 out of 5 from 498K ratings, while SkySafari 7 Plus averages 4.7 from 1.7K ratings.
Do Night Sky or SkySafari 7 Plus have ads?
Neither Night Sky nor SkySafari 7 Plus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Night Sky or SkySafari 7 Plus?
Night Sky ships an update monthly, and SkySafari 7 Plus monthly. Most recently, Night Sky was updated on October 28, 2026 and SkySafari 7 Plus on October 27, 2026.

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