Space Arc vs ISS Pass Finder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Real-time satellite tracking
- NASA Picture of the Day
- Global launch calendar
- Celestial events calendar
- Aurora alerts
- Smart notifications
- Offline event caching
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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.
ISS Pass Finder
This app predicts International Space Station passes and rates them based on real-time weather and visibility. It uses augmented reality to guide you to the exact viewing position in the sky, helping you avoid mistaking planes for the ISS.
- Real-time weather and visibility scoring
- Pass ratings: Poor / Maybe / Excellent
- Augmented Reality sky tracking
- Accurate ISS pass predictions
- Eliminates false sightings
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**App Name:** ISS Pass Finder **Subtitle:** See It. Track It. Know When It’s Worth Looking. --- **Description:** ISS Pass Finder is a next-level International Space Station tracker designed to eliminate the guesswork. Not every ISS pass is worth stepping outside for. This app solves that. Using real-time weather analysis combined with precise orbital tracking, ISS Pass Finder rates every upcoming pass as: • **Excellent** – Clear skies, high visibility • **Maybe** – Partial cloud cover, possible visibility • **Poor** – Obstructed view, not worth the time No more walking outside only to stare at clouds. --- **Augmented Reality Guidance:** In areas with heavy air traffic, it’s easy to mistake planes for the ISS. ISS Pass Finder uses **AR (Augmented Reality)** to show you exactly where to look in the sky—direction and elevation—so you can confidently identify the ISS in real time. --- **Key Features:** • Accurate ISS pass predictions based on your location • Real-time cloud and weather visibility scoring • Simple pass ratings: Poor / Maybe / Excellent • AR sky tracking to pinpoint exact viewing position • Designed to eliminate false sightings (no more confusing planes) • Clean, fast, no clutter --- **Why This App Exists:** Most ISS tracker apps tell you *when* it passes. This one tells you if it’s actually worth watching—and shows you exactly where to look. --- **Keywords:** ISS, space station, satellite tracker, AR sky, astronomy, night sky, orbit tracker, space app, ISS tracker, stargazing, satellites, weather visibility, sky map
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: ISS Pass Finder at none against Space Arc's shown. ISS Pass Finder also leads on update cadence (daily vs monthly) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Space Arc against 5.0 for ISS Pass Finder. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively.
Space Arc ships an update monthly, ISS Pass Finder daily. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Space Arc | ISS Pass Finder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Daily — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Marc L. Melcher | Bill Bozeman |
Customer experience
Space Arc
ISS Pass Finder
In-app purchases
Space Arc
No in-app purchases
ISS Pass Finder
No in-app purchases









