Comparison

AstroAid vs GalacticAR for Education

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

Head to head
About

AstroAid

Visualize what you'll see through your telescope with different eyepieces and optical aids. Plan your astrophotography by pairing cameras with telescopes to see what fits in the frame. Includes astronomical catalogs and equipment lists.

Highlights
  • Telescope/eyepiece/imager field of view simulation
  • Magnification and visual magnitude limit calculation
  • Built-in astronomical object catalogs (Messier, NGC, IC)
  • Searchable object catalogs with downloadable images
  • Extensive equipment lists with custom entry support
  • iCloud synchronization for custom equipment
Features
Read full description

AstroAid is an app for amateur astronomers that functions as an aid to visualizing what you will see through your telescope/camera lens when you use a particular eyepiece and, optionally, an optical aid (such as a Barlow lens). You can also pair a camera/imager with a telescope and determine what your camera/imager will see in its frame. This will be a big help for astro-imagers. The app computes a number of parameters for your telescope/eyepiece/imager combination, such as magnification, actual field of view, visual magnitude limit, etc. and displays these values in tabular form. Several astronomical catalogues are built in to the app (including Messier, NGC, IC, and many other object catalogues), and will be updated on-line occasionally. Images for these objects can be downloaded. All catalogues can be searched. The app contains extensive lists of known vendor-supplied telescopes, camera lenses, eyepieces, imagers, and optical aids. You can also create your own custom entries if your equipment isn't listed (for example, if you made your own telescope). These custom entries are shared between your devices via iCloud (if available).

About

GalacticAR for Education

Explore the universe with interactive 3D models and an extensive encyclopedia. Test your knowledge with over 300 quiz questions covering comets, planets, galaxies, and more. Ideal for students and educators seeking a comprehensive astronomy learning experience.

Highlights
  • 300 quiz questions
  • 121 astronomical topics
  • 43 interactive 3D models
  • 16 immersive outer space scenes
  • 9 main astronomy categories
  • 6 language options
Features
Read full description

GalacticAR for Education is the complete school edition of GalacticAR. Explore and learn about the universe, from comets and planets to black holes, galaxies, and the cosmos as a whole. GalacticAR combines a comprehensive astronomy encyclopedia, interactive 3D models and scenes, and a quiz with 300 questions across multiple difficulty levels. Ideal for schools, classrooms, students, and anyone who wants a complete astronomy experience. It is available across Apple platforms as a one-time app purchase for educational use. Features: • 300 quiz questions to test and expand your knowledge • 121 astronomical topics in the encyclopedia • 43 interactive 3D models • 16 immersive outer space scenes, from the Solar System to galaxies. • 9 main categories: Comets, Asteroids, Moons, Planets, Solar System, Stars, Black Holes, Galaxies, and Universe. • 8 Game Center achievements to collect • 3 Game Center leaderboards to compete in • 6 languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Simplified Chinese) • Made for Vision Pro, iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch.

Screenshots

AstroAid4 screens
GalacticAR for Education4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: GalacticAR for Education at 5.0 against AstroAid's 4.3. GalacticAR for Education also leads on device support (6 vs 3). AstroAid's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (44 vs 1). On 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

AstroAid costs $2.99 and GalacticAR for Education $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

GalacticAR for Education holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AstroAid has 44 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AstroAid ships an update fortnightly, GalacticAR for Education every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
AstroAid versus GalacticAR for Education: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAstroAidGalacticAR for Education
Price$2.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.3 (44 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings44 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size125 MB222 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiLanga, Inc.Vielfalt Software e.U.

Customer experience

AstroAid

All ratings44 ratings
Positive84.1%
Neutral6.8%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive71.1%
Neutral17.8%
Negative11.1%

GalacticAR for Education

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

AstroAid

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • App doesn't open
  • App crashes on opening (iOS 14.2)
  • App crashes after update (12.1)
  • Crashes when adding new scope
  • Keeps quitting when making custom eyepieces
Show 3 more
  • Crashing on iOS 11
  • App crashes when entering decimal points or spaces in custom data
  • Reinstall needed after last update

Requested features

13 requests
  • Update equipment database (cameras, scopes, sensors)
  • Include planets in object database
  • Allow image rotation
  • Provide un-cropped images (optional)
  • Add solar system images (Sun, Moon, planets)
Show 8 more
  • Add ability to exchange north/south
  • Add filter support
  • Add exposure simulator for imaging
  • Add slider for planet rotation
  • Update to 64-bit requirement
  • Add more custom equipment options
  • Improve night mode contrast
  • Update optics list (e.g., TS-Optics 6“ Hypergraph)

GalacticAR for Education

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

AstroAid

No in-app purchases

None

GalacticAR for Education

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AstroAid free?
AstroAid costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is GalacticAR for Education free?
GalacticAR for Education costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AstroAid or GalacticAR for Education?
GalacticAR for Education is rated higher. AstroAid averages 4.3 out of 5 from 44 ratings, while GalacticAR for Education averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do AstroAid or GalacticAR for Education have ads?
Neither AstroAid nor GalacticAR for Education shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AstroAid or GalacticAR for Education?
AstroAid ships an update fortnightly, and GalacticAR for Education every 3 months. Most recently, AstroAid was updated on November 1, 2026 and GalacticAR for Education on November 10, 2026.

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