Cosmos Next vs Simple Orbit Simulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Cosmos Next
Read full descriptionHide full description
Cosmos โ Your Personal Space Explorer The universe is vast, mysterious, and breathtakingly beautiful. Cosmos brings it all to your fingertips โ from the stars above your head to the farthest reaches of space โ with stunning visuals, immersive AR experiences, and intelligent tools designed for everyone from curious beginners to passionate stargazers. Augmented Reality Sky Exploration Point your device at the night sky and watch the universe reveal itself. Cosmos uses AR technology to overlay real-time constellation maps, star labels, and planet positions right on your camera view. Identify stars, trace constellations, and explore celestial objects just by looking up. Planet & Cosmic Object Deep Dives Travel through the solar system and beyond. Explore detailed profiles of planets, moons, stars, nebulae, and black holes. Stunning visuals and curated facts make every object a journey of discovery. Interactive Universe Map Navigate an interactive, zoomable map of the universe. From our solar system to distant galaxies, explore cosmic structures at every scale โ beautifully rendered and easy to explore. AR Constellation & Night Sky Viewer Experience the night sky like never before. Cosmos overlays constellation art and star data on your live camera feed, making it easy to find and learn about star patterns from anywhere in the world โ even in a city. Ask Cosmos โ AI-Powered Space Assistant Have a question about the universe? Ask Cosmos. Our built-in AI assistant answers your space questions instantly โ from "How big is a neutron star?" to "What is dark matter?" โ making learning feel like a conversation. Space Events Calendar Never miss a meteor shower, eclipse, planetary alignment, or rocket launch again. Cosmos keeps you up to date with upcoming space events so you're always ready to look up at the right moment. Observation Log Keep a personal record of your stargazing sessions. Log your observations, add notes, track what you've seen, and build your cosmic journey over time. Cosmic Calculator Crunch the numbers of the universe. Calculate light-travel time between stars, escape velocities, orbital periods, and more with our built-in cosmic calculator. Daily Quiz & Learning Hub Test and grow your space knowledge with daily quizzes and an ever-expanding learn tab. Dive into physics laws, cosmic phenomena, and astronomical concepts made simple and engaging. Simulations & Visualizations Watch the cosmos in motion. Cosmos features interactive simulations of orbital mechanics, stellar lifecycles, and cosmic events โ bringing science to life in a way textbooks never could. Favorites & Search Save your favorite cosmic objects, articles, and discoveries. Quickly search across the entire Cosmos library to find exactly what you're looking for. Achievements & Progress Earn achievements as you explore, learn, and discover. Track your progress through the knowledge dashboard and unlock rewards for your cosmic curiosity. Whether you're lying on the grass watching the stars, studying for an astronomy class, or simply curious about our place in the universe โ Cosmos is the companion you've been waiting for. The universe is calling. Start exploring.
Simple Orbit Simulator
Read full descriptionHide full description
Simple Orbit Simulator brings the elegance of Einstein's general relativity to your fingertips. Watch two celestial bodies dance under the influence of gravity โ not as a textbook approximation, but as a true Schwarzschild geodesic simulation โ the same physics that governs real planets, stars, and black holes. Real Physics, Visually Beautiful Unlike typical orbit simulators that use Newtonian gravity, Simple Orbit Simulator traces actual curved-spacetime paths. Every orbit is a genuine geodesic of the Schwarzschild metric. The result: Mercury-style perihelion precession that slowly paints a rosette pattern on screen, gravitational time dilation that deepens as the planet plunges toward the star, and event horizon dynamics that are physically meaningful โ not just decorative. Black Hole Mode Switch to Black Hole Mode and watch a supermassive compact object warp the simulation. The event horizon, photon sphere, and innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) become visible boundaries. Push the planet too close and it crosses the point of no return. Accretion disk glow and a dynamically warped spacetime grid make the physics viscerally tangible. Full 3D Orbits Tilt the orbital plane with the inclination slider and drag the canvas to rotate the camera freely. Horizontal drag changes the azimuth โ spinning the scene left and right. Vertical drag changes the elevation โ from a top-down view to edge-on. A circular orbit becomes an ellipse, a line, or a spiral rosette depending on your viewpoint. Physics is computed in full three-dimensional space. Live Relativistic Metrics Track real-time data as the simulation runs: โข Gravitational time dilation factor โข Accumulated proper time of the orbiting body โข Lorentz gamma factor โข Orbital velocity as a fraction of the speed of light โข Perihelion precession angle in degrees โข Orbits completed Explore and Experiment Adjust star mass, planet mass, and orbital distance with intuitive logarithmic sliders. See how increasing the star's mass deepens the gravitational well. Increase separation and watch relativistic precession shrink as GR effects fade with distance. Combine an inclined orbit with Black Hole Mode for a dramatic 3D plunge trajectory. Built for Clarity Every design decision prioritises understanding over complexity. The simulation uses scaled constants so relativistic effects are visible at screen scale โ preserving all qualitative behaviour predicted by general relativity in a form humans can actually see. Simple Orbit Simulator is for students, educators, curious minds, and anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what holds it all together.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Cosmos Next at Free against Simple Orbit Simulator's $0.99. Cosmos Next also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.2). Simple Orbit Simulator's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 months). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Cosmos Next is free to download; Simple Orbit Simulator costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Cosmos Next ships an update every 3 months, Simple Orbit Simulator every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cosmos Next | Simple Orbit Simulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free โ better | $0.99 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 days โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 โ better | 18.2 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Archana Pant | Bratislav Ljubisic |
In-app purchases
Cosmos Next
No in-app purchases
Simple Orbit Simulator
No in-app purchases





