Comparison

Spot the Station vs Mathalon

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
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

Mathalon

Features
Read full description

Mathalon turns math into a competitive arena. Daily challenge — one carefully-picked problem every day. Build a solve streak. Rush — 5-minute live climbing race. Solve fast, stay ahead, top the live leaderboard. Ranked 1v1 — Glicko-2 matchmaking against another player in your rating zone. Head-to-head, best of five. Practice — thousands of problems from arithmetic to olympiad. Filter by topic and difficulty. Escape rooms and mystery cases — narrative puzzle chains that reward mathematical reasoning. Every solve updates your rating. Every match sharpens it. Climb the global leaderboard.

Screenshots

Spot the Station4 screens
Mathalon4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Mathalon at every 2 days against Spot the Station's every 3 months. Spot the Station's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.5). On price, ads, 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, Mathalon every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Spot the Station versus Mathalon: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpot the StationMathalon
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (11K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews63.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings11K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB2 MB
Age rating+412+
DeveloperNASAPETER CHRISTER ANDREAS NODTVEIDT

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

Mathalon

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Spot the Station

No in-app purchases

None

Mathalon

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Spot the Station free?
Spot the Station is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mathalon free?
Mathalon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Spot the Station or Mathalon have ads?
Neither Spot the Station nor Mathalon shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Spot the Station or Mathalon?
Spot the Station ships an update every 3 months, and Mathalon every 2 days. Most recently, Spot the Station was updated on October 31, 2026 and Mathalon on October 25, 2026.

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