Comparison

AST Meetings vs Space Arc

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

Head to head
About

AST Meetings

This app offers attendees access to meeting agendas, abstracts, exhibitors, and faculty. Users can also connect with other participants and explore social media and membership services.

Highlights
  • Access meeting agenda
  • View abstracts
  • Explore exhibitor information
  • Connect with attendees
  • Access faculty details
  • Explore social media
Features
Read full description

**FOR ATTENDEES ONLY** The AST Meeting mobile app provides access to abstracts, exhibitors, faculty, the meeting agenda, and the ability to connect with other attendees. Users can also explore AST's social media platforms and membership services.

About

Space Arc

Explore celestial events with real-time data from NASA and other space agencies. Track satellites, view stunning astronomy pictures, and get personalized alerts for meteor showers, eclipses, and aurora.

Highlights
  • Real-time satellite tracking
  • NASA Picture of the Day
  • Global launch calendar
  • Celestial events calendar
  • Aurora alerts
  • Smart notifications
  • Offline event caching
Features
Read full description

Space Arc tells you what's worth stepping outside for tonight — when to go, where to look, and whether the clouds will cooperate. Meteor showers, planets, the ISS, Starlink trains, eclipses, the aurora, full Moons and rocket launches, all worked out for your exact location, with a weather-based Sky Score so you only head out when it's worth it. TONIGHT'S PLAN A simple timeline for tonight: sunset, full darkness, moonrise and moonset, each planet at its best, and every event you can actually see. A "Now" marker shows what's up right now. FIND IT IN THE SKY • AR Sky Finder — hold up your phone and follow the arrow until the target is in the circle. Works for planets, the Moon, meteor-shower radiants and satellites. • Where Do I Look? — a compass guide with the direction and height above the horizon. • Live Track — follow the International Space Station in real time, with a countdown to its next visible pass. EVENTS THAT FIT YOUR NIGHT • Meteor showers — the best hours of the peak night where you are, with realistic hourly rates that account for the radiant's height, twilight and moonlight. • Planets — oppositions, the best evenings and mornings for Mercury and Venus, and a live "Tonight's Sky" card with rise and set times. • Moon — full Moons, supermoons, blue moons and moonless Dark Sky Windows. • Eclipses — whether you'll see each solar and lunar eclipse from your location, and how much of the Sun will be covered. • Satellites — ISS flyovers, Hubble and Tiangong passes, and "Starlink trains" right after launches. • Aurora — NOAA geomagnetic storm alerts, shown only when it's dark and the storm can reach your latitude. • Space weather, rocket launches and near-Earth asteroid flybys. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO • Sky Score — Apple Weather cloud forecasts for the clearest dark hour of each viewing window. • Clear-sky alerts — one optional heads-up before sunset when something special is up and the forecast looks clear. • Reminders and Calendar — get notified before an event or add it to your calendar. Reminders update automatically if a launch is rescheduled. • Home Screen widget — tonight's best event and its Sky Score at a glance. YOUR OBSERVING LOG Tap "I saw it" to save sightings with notes and photos. Earn badges like Meteor Hunter, Station Spotter and Planet Collector, keep a weekly streak, and share good-looking cards of what you saw. EVERY DAY NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day and the latest image from the Hubble Space Telescope. ACCURATE AND PRIVATE Sky positions, twilight, Moon phases, planet events, meteor peaks and satellite orbits are calculated on your phone using established astronomical methods and NASA/NORAD orbital data. Your observing log and photos stay on your device. Data from NASA (APOD, DONKI, NeoWs, JPL Horizons), NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Launch Library 2, CelesTrak, N2YO, ESA/Hubble and Apple Weather.

Screenshots

AST Meetings4 screens
Space Arc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: AST Meetings at none against Space Arc's shown. AST Meetings also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and device support (3 vs 1). Space Arc's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for AST Meetings against 5.0 for Space Arc. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AST Meetings ships an update every 4 months, Space Arc monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 4 level
AST Meetings versus Space Arc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAST MeetingsSpace Arc
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Number of ratings7 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.5 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size94 MB8 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperAmerican Society of TransplantationMarc L. Melcher

Customer experience

AST Meetings

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Space Arc

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

AST Meetings

No in-app purchases

None

Space Arc

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AST Meetings free?
AST Meetings is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Space Arc free?
Space Arc is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AST Meetings or Space Arc?
AST Meetings and Space Arc are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 7 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do AST Meetings or Space Arc have ads?
Space Arc shows ads; AST Meetings does not.
Which is updated more often, AST Meetings or Space Arc?
AST Meetings ships an update every 4 months, and Space Arc monthly. Most recently, AST Meetings was updated on October 13, 2026 and Space Arc on October 28, 2026.

Other comparisons