Midnight Planets vs Pocket PlanetARium
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Midnight Planets
Explore Mars through the eyes of NASA rovers. View panoramic images and experience them in 3D. This app visualizes planetary exploration using real spacecraft data.
- Explore Mars imagery
- View panoramic context
- 3D viewing options
- Curiosity, Spirit, Opportunity rover data
- Spacecraft image visualization
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Midnight Planets lets you explore Mars as seen by the Mars Rovers Curiosity, Spirit and Opportunity. It lets you view almost every image returned by the rovers in panoramic context, and provides a number of options for viewing in 3D. The app is an ongoing project in visualizing other worlds, using image data from spacecraft exploring our solar system.
Pocket PlanetARium
Explore the cosmos in augmented reality, bringing the universe to life in your surroundings. Walk around and zoom in on planets, experiencing the solar system in 3D with interactive controls and fascinating facts.
- Immersive AR experience
- Interactive controls
- Fascinating space facts
- 3D solar system exploration
- Adjustable planet scale
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Pocket PlanetARium — A Truly Immersive Experience. Explore the Cosmos in AR and Bring the Universe to Life! Step inside the cosmos with Pocket PlanetARium, the ultimate Augmented Reality planetarium! Walk around, zoom in, and discover the planets like never before — from tiny Mercury to massive Jupiter. Experience the solar system in 3D, wherever you are. Features: • Immersive AR Experience – See planets appear in your space at a scale from 10 feet to 1 mile in diameter. • Interactive Controls – Toggle sounds, show planet names, pause animations, and reset your position with simple gestures. • Fascinating Facts – Did you know Jupiter can fit 1,300 Earths inside it? Or that a year on Pluto lasts 248 Earth years? • Walk Among the Giants – Approach Neptune and observe its Great Dark Spot, the site of the solar system’s strongest sustained winds. Perfect for students, space enthusiasts, or anyone curious about the universe, Pocket PlanetARium turns your surroundings into a stellar playground. Download now and bring the cosmos to life!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Midnight Planets at none against Pocket PlanetARium's 1. Midnight Planets also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 15.6). 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. Pocket PlanetARium sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Midnight Planets asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Midnight Planets against 4.6 for Pocket PlanetARium. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 134 and 64 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Midnight Planets's written reviews are positive against 94% of Pocket PlanetARium's.
Midnight Planets ships an update every 3 weeks, Pocket PlanetARium monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Midnight Planets | Pocket PlanetARium |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (134 ratings) | 4.6 (64 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 90.8% of reviews | 93.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 134 — better | 64 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Monthly |
| 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 | 7.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Midnight Martian | 5Play Apps, LLC |
Customer experience
Midnight Planets
Pocket PlanetARium
Bugs and requests
Midnight Planets
Reported bugs
13 issues- Perseverance rover not included
- Curiosity rover images stopped updating
- Slow loading times
- Horrible definition/resolution
- App not working after updates
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- Only displays a single image per site
- Images load slowly and then disappear
- Data feed not recognized
- Frequent image download failures
- Connectivity issues with Curiosity images
- App not functioning on older devices
- App stops working after a few days
- Images are black and white
Requested features
8 requests- Add Perseverance rover information
- Update with new rover information
- Restore latest Curiosity images
- Add Google Cardboard support
- Add a satellite (MRO) overhead view with tracking
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- Allow saving pictures to camera roll
- Improve menu navigation
- Add a spot to view panoramas assembled by NASA
Pocket PlanetARium
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Midnight Planets
No in-app purchases
Pocket PlanetARium
- Remove Ads$2.99