Comparison

Back in Time for iPhone vs Galaxy Map

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

Head to head
About

Back in Time for iPhone

Explore the history of the universe, Earth, life, and civilization through interactive timelines, stunning visuals, and custom animations. This app offers an immersive learning experience with social and historical context for key events.

Highlights
  • Interactive timelines
  • Over 350 images
  • 60+ animations and videos
  • 200+ interesting facts
  • Offline access
  • Multilingual support
Features
Read full description

• "...a beautifully executed lesson on the history of the universe" - The New York Times • Winner of the WSA Mobile Award • Top1 iPhone Book App in 10 Countries • Featured by The New York Times (Top10 iPad Apps of the year) • Featured by the American Photo Magazine (Top 10 Photo eBooks of the year) For iPad download - Back in Time Back in Time will take you on a stunning exploration of the history of our Universe, Earth, Life and Civilization. A journey through time where each event is documented with social and historical context, several images, an illustrative timeline and little-known interesting facts. Custom made animations bring those events to life, creating an interesting, immersive learning experience. An imaginary clock will guide you through this quest, proposing a simple analogy: the entire Universe started 24 hours ago. The Big Bang, the source of time and space, is the first event in our journey – the clock reads 0:00 hours. Today, 13.7 billion years later, the clock reads midnight. In between is a sequence of key events that has brought us to where we are today. Explore them, place them in perspective, see how they relate and understand the connections. We invite you to take a step back and see the whole picture. :::: REVIEWS - iPad version :::: "The coolest history textbook you’ll find on the iPad" - Bob Tedeschi, The New York Times “The iPad could use more apps like this one.” - The Daily “...a beautifully executed lesson on the history of the universe and the evolution of life on earth. Great for high school students or parents who’d like to tutor younger children and enjoy a first-rate experience of their own...” - Bob Tedeschi, The New York Times “...the best iPad apps are those that combine coffee table-styled books with the fluid nature of the iPad’s interface. Back in Time is just that, it’s the story of the entire history of our universe made interactive on the iPad.” - Casey Chan, Gizmodo (App of the Day) “Back in Time is utterly gorgeous in its presentation. (...) The app is so easy to navigate that it is a delight to explore. Landka could scarcely have done a better job in putting everything together.” - Gwen Phua, Appmodo :::: FEATURES :::: Designed for iPhone; 47 chapters; Over 350 remarkable images; 60+ amazing animations and videos; 40+ illustrated timelines; More than 200 little-known interesting facts; Music by the compositor Rodrigo Leão; Developed in 7 different languages (English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese); No internet connection required.

About

Galaxy Map

Explore the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies in an interactive 3D map. Discover nebulae, supernovae, and planets, with stunning visuals based on NASA data. Ideal for education and space enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • Interactive 3D galaxy map
  • Explore nebulae and supernovae
  • Fly through planetary atmospheres
  • Land on planets
  • Based on NASA data
  • Available in 100+ languages
Features
Read full description

The galaxy map is an interactive map of the Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda and their satellite galaxies. Explore the Orion Arm's nebulae and supernovae from the comfort of your spaceship. Fly through the atmosphere of Mars and many other planets and you can even land on them. Discover the galaxy in a stunning three dimensional map based on NASA's artistic impression of the Milky Way galactic structure. Photos are taken by NASA spacecraft and ground based telescopes like Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray, Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope. This interactive 3D map is excellent for teachers to use for instruction, and it is a great astronomy resource for students to explore the Milky Way galaxy and space as they learn more about the universe we live in. Available in over 100 languages! You can also From the outskirts of the galaxy, in the Norma-Outer spiral arm to the galactic center's supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, discover a galaxy full of amazing facts. Notable structures included: the Pillars of Creation, Helix Nebula, the Engraved Hourglass Nebula, the Pleiades, the Orion Arm (where the solar system and the Earth are located) with its Orion belt. Check out neighboring dwarf galaxies such as Sagittarius and the Canis Major Overdensity, stellar streams as well as internal galactic components such as a variety of nebulae, star clusters or supernovae. Explore space and get a little closer to our wonderful universe with this awesome astronomy app! The Galaxy Map requires internet access to retrieve information from the wiki.

Screenshots

Back in Time for iPhone4 screens
Galaxy Map4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Galaxy Map at Free against Back in Time for iPhone's $4.99. Galaxy Map also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.8) and update cadence (monthly vs every 8 months). Back in Time for iPhone's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and ads (none vs shown). On iOS requirement 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

Galaxy Map is free to download; Back in Time for iPhone costs $4.99 up front. Galaxy Map sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Back in Time for iPhone asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Galaxy Map holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Galaxy Map has 609 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Back in Time for iPhone's written reviews are positive against 80% of Galaxy Map's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Back in Time for iPhone ships an update every 8 months, Galaxy Map monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
Back in Time for iPhone versus Galaxy Map: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBack in Time for iPhoneGalaxy Map
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.8 (15 ratings)4.6 (609 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.7% of reviews79.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15609 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size625 MB632 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLandkaAndrei Nistorescu

Customer experience

Back in Time for iPhone

All ratings15 ratings
Positive73.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative26.7%
Written reviews53 reviews
Positive71.7%
Neutral5.7%
Negative22.6%

Galaxy Map

All ratings609 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral3.9%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews104 reviews
Positive79.8%
Neutral6.7%
Negative13.5%

Bugs and requests

Back in Time for iPhone

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Galaxy Map

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App crashes on startup
  • Explore button shows nothing
  • Pinch-to-zoom doesn't work
  • App won't load on iPad
  • Text displays as boxes in language settings
Show 4 more
  • Mars moon orbital speed incorrect
  • App kicks users out during exploration
  • Loading issues and incomplete functionality
  • Inconsistent performance across platforms

Requested features

18 requests
  • Search button to find galaxies and objects
  • More diverse and realistic black hole designs
  • AR feature to identify stars/planets in real sky
  • More free content and objects
  • Exoplanet additions (TRAPPIST-1e, J1407B)
Show 13 more
  • Ability to click on stars within galaxies for details
  • Generated planets around stars
  • Sandbox/creation mode for user-generated content
  • Animation for Milky Way and Andromeda
  • More galaxy variety in the app
  • Coordinates filter for objects
  • Space-Engine style gameplay
  • Flying through galaxies feature
  • More female character customization options
  • VIP version option
  • Brown dwarfs addition
  • Photosphere viewing mode
  • More detailed star information

In-app purchases

None

Back in Time for iPhone

No in-app purchases

13 purchases

Galaxy Map

One-time13
  • Buy ship - Alien Destroyer$0.99
  • Buy ship - Alien fighter$0.99
  • Remove ads$1.99
Show 10 more
  • Buy ship - Alien Destroyer$1.99
  • Buy ship - Alien fighter$1.99
  • 3D Visualization Pack$1.99
  • Buy ship - Dragon Frigate$1.99
  • Essentials bundle - SALE$2.99
  • Remove ads$3.99
  • 3D Visualization Pack$3.99
  • Ultimate bundle - SALE$4.99
  • Essentials bundle$4.99
  • Ultimate bundle$8.99

Questions

Is Back in Time for iPhone free?
Back in Time for iPhone costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Galaxy Map free?
Galaxy Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Back in Time for iPhone or Galaxy Map?
Galaxy Map is rated higher. Back in Time for iPhone averages 3.8 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Galaxy Map averages 4.6 from 609 ratings.
Do Back in Time for iPhone or Galaxy Map have ads?
Galaxy Map shows ads; Back in Time for iPhone does not.
Which is updated more often, Back in Time for iPhone or Galaxy Map?
Back in Time for iPhone ships an update every 8 months, and Galaxy Map monthly. Most recently, Back in Time for iPhone was updated on September 28, 2026 and Galaxy Map on October 16, 2026.

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