Cosmo Desktop vs Astral Capture
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cosmo Desktop
Access stunning NASA astronomy pictures on your iOS device. Easily browse, save, and set them as your wallpaper. Enjoy a user-friendly interface for exploring the cosmos.
- View NASA astronomy pictures
- User-friendly browsing interface
- Save pictures to photo album
- Set pictures as iOS wallpaper
- Free and ad-less experience
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Cosmo Desktop serves the latest NASA astronomy pictures http://apod.nasa.gov/ to your iOS device in a few clicks. You can let you slide and flip through all the pictures in a user-friendly manner. If you would like to use the pictures to be your iOS wallpaper, just export the pictures to your iOS Photo Album first. You can then select the pictures at your iOS settings. All astronomy pictures are courtesy of the NASA Astronomy Pictures of the Day under public domain, or their respective owners. The Cosmo Desktop will always be free and ad-less. Please direct your appreciations to the APOD team by Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html Cosmo Desktop is also available on the Mac App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cosmo-desktop/id553916089?ls=1&mt=12
Astral Capture
This app allows you to set live wallpapers and widgets featuring recent images from Earth observation satellites and Mars rovers. Images update automatically, offering fresh views of our planet and beyond.
- Live wallpapers from satellites
- Home screen widgets
- Automatic image updates
- Images from Mars rovers
- Multiple satellite options
- Desk display option
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Choose from a plethora of satellites and both of Mars's Perseverance and Curiosity rovers to display on your home screen. All but NASA's EPIC satellite and the rovers are 30-40 minutes old, and all images update automatically. Pick from NOAA's GOES-East/West, Japan's Himawari-8, or Europe's EUMETSAT weather satellite for the most recent coverage. Choose to have a desk display or a home screen widget. Tap the Earth for a list of available satellites, or tap and hold the widget to edit the satellites. Current Views: GOES-East in both GeoColor and NaturalColor, Full Disk and CONUS GOES-West in both GeoColor and NaturalColor, Full Disk Himawari-8 EUMETView in both GeoColor and NaturalColor EPIC Perseverance Rover Curiosity rover SDO (171 A) SDO (193 A) SDO (211 A) SDO (304 A) Location-Based Widget
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Astral Capture at every 4 weeks against Cosmo Desktop's every 10 months. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Cosmo Desktop against 5.0 for Astral Capture. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Cosmo Desktop ships an update every 10 months, Astral Capture every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cosmo Desktop | Astral Capture |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pulsely Consulting | Mannon Wallace |
Customer experience
Cosmo Desktop
Astral Capture
In-app purchases
Cosmo Desktop
No in-app purchases
Astral Capture
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Cosmo Desktop free?
Is Astral Capture free?
Which has better reviews, Cosmo Desktop or Astral Capture?
Do Cosmo Desktop or Astral Capture have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cosmo Desktop or Astral Capture?
Other comparisons
