Comparison

Spot the Station vs CogniMap

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

Head to head
About

Spot the Station

Receive notifications when the International Space Station is visible from your location. Explore real-time 2D and 3D views, augmented reality tracking, and access NASA resources. Experience the wonder of human presence in orbit.

Highlights
  • Real-time 2D & 3D station location
  • Upcoming sighting lists
  • Augmented reality view with trajectory
  • NASA space station resources & blog
  • Push notifications for sightings
Currently charting
Read full description

For anyone who has ever gazed up at the night sky and wondered about the mysteries of the universe, witnessing the International Space Station pass overhead can be an awe-inspiring moment. The Spot the Station mobile app is designed to notify users when the space station is visible overhead from their location. It aims to broaden access and awareness of the station and NASA globally, by providing users with an opportunity to experience the wonder of the space station firsthand. The realization that there are human beings living and working in that tiny dot, orbiting the Earth at a mind-boggling speed of 17,500 miles per hour, is breathtaking. The app includes several helpful features including: 1. 2D & 3D real-time location views of the station 2. Upcoming Sighting Lists with visibility data 3. Augmented Reality (AR) view with compass and trajectory lines embedded into the camera view 4. Up-to-date NASA space station Resources & Blog 5. Privacy Settings 6. Push Notifications when the station is approaching your location.

About

CogniMap

Features
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CogniMap — Your Personal Mental Map Every place you've ever been holds a memory. A feeling. A version of you that existed there. CogniMap lets you build your own mental map — a living record of the places that have shaped who you are, drawn not by geography, but by emotion and memory. What is a Mental Map? In geography, a mental map is the personal, subjective picture of the world we carry in our minds. It's not about accuracy — it's about meaning. The places we remember most vividly loom large. The places tied to strong emotions feel closer. CogniMap brings this concept to life on your iPhone or iPad. How It Works Pin any place — a childhood home, a café where something changed, a park you return to for peace — and attach an emotion: Love, Nostalgia, Calm, Fear, or Dislike. Then set its salience: how strongly that place lives in your memory. Switch between two views: Geo View — See your memories layered over a real 3D map, anchored to the places where they happened. Mental View — Watch your world transform into an abstract constellation of memory, where places cluster by feeling and grow in size with significance. Features Attach photos to bring each memory to life Navigate between geographic and mental map perspectives Emotion layers: Love, Nostalgia, Calm, Fear, Dislike Built on Google Maps for precise, beautiful 3D geography Why CogniMap? We all carry invisible maps inside us — maps of meaning, not miles. CogniMap makes yours visible. Use it to reflect on the places that matter, rediscover forgotten memories, or simply understand yourself a little better through the geography of your own life. See the map only you could draw.

Screenshots

Spot the Station4 screens
CogniMap4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Spot the Station at none against CogniMap's shown. Spot the Station also leads on chart position (#147 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.2). CogniMap's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). On price, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spot the Station ships an update every 3 months, CogniMap monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Spot the Station versus CogniMap: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpot the StationCogniMap
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (11K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews63.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings11K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#147 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB19 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperNASAToru Kawaguchi

Bugs and requests

Spot the Station

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Location-detection bugs are fixed, and the app is much much better.
  • Location FIXED with the latest update
  • App now working as expected
  • App crashes when trying to use AR
  • Crashes when granting camera permission

Requested features

4 requests
  • Would like to know speed and height at which this incredible machine is whizzing above our planet!
  • I wish it could say dates further into the future though
  • I would love to have an option of the map to show where it's at like which country or state it's flying over
  • Would be nice if the notification would give you the details of the pass over your location i.e Visible: 1 min Max Height: 16° Appears: 10° above S Disappears: 16° above S

CogniMap

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Spot the Station

No in-app purchases

None

CogniMap

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Spot the Station free?
Spot the Station is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CogniMap free?
CogniMap is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Spot the Station or CogniMap have ads?
CogniMap shows ads; Spot the Station does not.
Which is updated more often, Spot the Station or CogniMap?
Spot the Station ships an update every 3 months, and CogniMap monthly. Most recently, Spot the Station was updated on November 12, 2026 and CogniMap on November 10, 2026.

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