Popar Planets vs Backyard Apollo AR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Popar Planets
Explore our Solar System with interactive Augmented and Virtual Reality. Discover planets, probes, and satellites with animations, videos, and educational content. Take photos and videos to share your cosmic adventures.
- Interactive AR animations
- Educational read-alongs and facts
- 360° environments and sound effects
- Virtual Reality mode
- Astronaut photo and video capture
- Planet resizing, rotation, and zoom
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Put on your astronaut suit and blast off to discover the amazing wonders of our Solar System. Watch out for the Mars Rover, the International Space Station, and even a launching rocket as they come to life right before your eyes in Augmented and Virtual Reality to give you an experience you will never forget! Explore and interact with all these amazing planets, probes, and satellites through marvelous animations, stunning videos, educational read-alongs, and so much more! Transform into an astronaut and take pictures or record video to share with your friends and family. Even fly a satellite or probe around in your own environment! This immersive app by Popar will keep you entertained for hours. Features: -Interactive Augmented Reality (AR) animations -Educational read-alongs and tons of fun facts -Detailed 360° environments and sound effects -Hours of fun exploring, playing, and learning - Watch a space shuttle launch; see a ship dock at the ISS; watch the rover survey Mars; and more in this interactive solar experience -Take pictures as an astronaut to share with your friends and family -Resize, rotate, and zoom into every planet, probe, or satellite with easy, one-touch screen gesture interactions -Transform your own head to look like a planet -Immerse yourself in Virtual Reality (VR) mode and become the center of the Solar System in your own environment -Watch cool out of this world videos like never before
Backyard Apollo AR
Experience a life-sized Apollo Saturn V rocket in augmented reality. Explore it from all angles, walk around it, and launch it with realistic sounds and visuals. Customize your rocket experience and share snapshots.
- Life-sized rocket model
- 360-degree viewing
- Augmented reality placement
- Realistic launch sequence
- Authentic mission sounds
- Customizable rocket experience
- Snapshot sharing
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Its the model rocket you’ve always wanted! See a life-sized Apollo Saturn V rocket up close from every angle walk under and around it, then blast it off! Authentic mission sounds using 3D positional audio — wear headphones for the coolest effect — combine with realistic high-detail graphics, physically-based rendering, and HDR audio recordings of real rocket launches to make the experience just like being there! You’ll be able to launch your rocket again and again, from anywhere you like. Just tap where you want your rocket to appear. It's that easy! Launch a tiny model on your desktop or a full-sized giant in a field! Backyard Apollo offers ways to customize your experience too, making it even more fun to launch your rockets and take snapshots for your friends. “3…2…1…Houston: we have liftoff”!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Backyard Apollo AR at 4.7 against Popar Planets's 4.0. Backyard Apollo AR also leads on review sentiment (70% vs 33%) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Popar Planets's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.6). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Popar Planets sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Backyard Apollo AR asks for nothing beyond the download.
Backyard Apollo AR holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backyard Apollo AR has 1.5K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Popar Planets's written reviews are positive against 70% of Backyard Apollo AR's.
Popar Planets ships an update every 4 months, Backyard Apollo AR every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Popar Planets | Backyard Apollo AR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) | 4.7 (1.5K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 69.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 1.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 278 MB | 82 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Popar Toys | Wobbleworks LLC |
Customer experience
Popar Planets
Backyard Apollo AR
Bugs and requests
Popar Planets
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Backyard Apollo AR
Reported bugs
3 issues- Startup crashes and sensor reset loops
- Rocket launch sequence freezes
- Persistent audio issues after app closure
Requested features
3 requests- Add more rocket models and launch configurations
- Implement video recording capability
- Improve overall stability and performance
In-app purchases
Popar Planets
- Virtual Reality Mode Unlock$1.99
Backyard Apollo AR
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Popar Planets free?
Is Backyard Apollo AR free?
Which has better reviews, Popar Planets or Backyard Apollo AR?
Do Popar Planets or Backyard Apollo AR have ads?
Which is updated more often, Popar Planets or Backyard Apollo AR?
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