Earth vs Space Telescope App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Earth
Visualize global climate data from NASA satellites, including temperature, CO2, and sea level. Explore 3D Earth models with interactive controls and color-coded maps to understand environmental conditions.
- Global climate data visualization
- Satellite data from Earth Science
- Surface air temperature maps
- CO2 and CO levels
- Ozone and water vapor data
- Gravity and sea level variations
- Interactive 3D Earth model
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NASA's Earth Now is an application that visualizes recent global climate data from Earth Science satellites, including surface air temperature, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and water vapor as well as gravity and sea level variations. Data sets are visually described using "false color" maps. Color-coded legends are provided to indicate relative strength or weakness of an environmental condition. The resulting 3D model of the Earth may be rotated by a single finger stroke, and may also be zoomed in or out by pinching 2 fingers. It was developed by the Earth Science Communications and Visualization Technology Applications and Development Teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with support from NASA Headquarters.
Space Telescope App
Explore the universe with real-time updates and stunning visuals from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Engage with expert insights, join community discussions, and test your knowledge with interactive quizzes. Discover distant galaxies and unlock the secrets of the early universe.
- Live mission updates
- Breathtaking image gallery
- Expert Q&A with astronomers
- Community discussions
- Interactive space quizzes
- 3D solar system explorer
- Exclusive wallpapers
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Space Telescope is an astronomy app for people who actually go outside and look up. See what the James Webb Space Telescope is observing right now. Decide whether tonight is worth staying out for. Catch the next visible ISS pass over your own location, and follow the rocket launches coming up. WHAT WEBB IS LOOKING AT, RIGHT NOW Webb's current target, science category, proposal, instruments and scheduled times, refreshed every five minutes while the view is open. Tap through to the proposal or the full observation schedule. A REAL PLAN FOR METEOR NIGHT Most meteor apps hand you a peak date. This one tells you what you will actually see. Set your location and how dark your sky is, and get an honest meteors-per-hour range, the best viewing window, where to look, how much the Moon will wash out, and what 30, 60 or 90 minutes outside is likely to be worth. Two alerts that matter: a heads-up the evening before, and a nudge when your window opens. Cloud cover is not included, so check the weather before you commit. THE ISS, OVER YOUR HOUSE Live position, altitude, velocity and orbit, plus crew, expeditions, dockings and visiting vehicles. Seven days of passes for your location with quality, direction, peak elevation and duration - set a 10-minute alert or drop the pass straight into your calendar. LAUNCH DAY Upcoming launches with live countdowns, status, provider, rocket, pad, launch window and webcast link. One tap for a reminder 15 minutes before liftoff. GALLERIES WORTH SCROLLING Imagery and mission guides for James Webb, Hubble, Chandra, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Artemis, Mars and the ISS. Follow Roman's countdown, instruments and journey to L2. Pinch to zoom, save, share, like and comment. Turn on alerts only for the galleries you care about. PICTURE OF THE DAY NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, image or video, with the full expert explanation and an optional daily alert. AND WHEN YOU WANT MORE - Tonight Sky: sunrise, sunset, Moon phase, illumination and twilight - Space Weather: Kp index, solar wind, aurora probability and active alerts - Cosmic Calendar: meteor showers, eclipses and other sky events - Exoplanets: discovery method and year, distance, orbit, mass, radius, temperature, host star and habitable-zone marker - Community astrophotography: post your own shots with gear and conditions - Space wallpapers for your phone - Quizzes, points, levels and global leaderboards - Ask an Astronomer, and live chat rooms in 10 languages - Full interface in English and Spanish PREMIUM Space Telescope is free, with ads. Premium removes every ad, unlocks the premium wallpaper collection and adds a gold avatar ring. Choose a monthly or annual subscription, or pay once for lifetime access, which also grants 1,000,000 points and Diamond level straight away. Subscriptions are charged to your Apple Account and renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Whether you follow Webb every day, plan a Perseids or Geminids watch, photograph the night sky, teach astronomy, or just want to know when the ISS will cross overhead, Space Telescope keeps the useful details in one place. Space Telescope is an independent astronomy app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA, ESA, STScI, SpaceX or any launch provider. Data and imagery are credited to their respective sources. Privacy policy: https://jameswebbtracker.com/privacy-policy Terms of use (Apple standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Earth at 4.6 against Space Telescope App's 4.1. Earth also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). Space Telescope App's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Space Telescope App sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Earth asks for nothing beyond the download.
Earth holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 42 and 31 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Earth's written reviews are positive against 40% of Space Telescope App's.
Earth ships an update every 4 months, Space Telescope App every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Earth | Space Telescope App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (42 ratings) — better | 4.1 (31 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 73.7% of reviews — better | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 42 — better | 31 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 181 MB | 104 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | KAKHA GIORGASHVILI |
Customer experience
Earth
Space Telescope App
Bugs and requests
Earth
Reported bugs
12 issues- App crashes on startup or during use
- Endless 'Loading model' message
- Crashes on iPhone 4 and older devices
- Pixel doubler requirement on iPad
- No landscape orientation support
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- Doesn't fill iPhone 5 screen properly
- Extremely slow data loading
- Menu navigation issues
- Equator display shows slashes of emptiness
- Zoom sensitivity causes twitchy behavior
- Text readability issues against Earth background
- Geographic data coverage gaps
Requested features
17 requests- Celsius/Kelvin temperature unit options
- Satellite information (height, launch date)
- ISS tracking capability
- Ocean current visualization
- Ice sheet data layers
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- Methane concentration data
- Snapshot/screenshot capability
- Adjustable animation playback speed
- Manual timeline scrolling for animations
- Higher resolution maps for Retina displays
- Landscape orientation support
- iPad version
- Google Earth integration
- More detailed explanations of data
- Selectable date ranges for animations
- Atmospheric CO2 levels (previously removed)
- Surface temperature data (previously removed)
Space Telescope App
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Earth
No in-app purchases
Space Telescope App
- Monthly Ad-Free Plan$4.991 Month
- Ad-Free Annual Access$29.991 Year
- Premium$2.99
- Buy 1M Points$99.99
Questions
Is Earth free?
Is Space Telescope App free?
Which has better reviews, Earth or Space Telescope App?
Do Earth or Space Telescope App have ads?
Which is updated more often, Earth or Space Telescope App?
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