Comparison

NearLight vs Learn Binary

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

Head to head
About

NearLight

Explore nearby star systems and visualize interstellar distances with realistic physics. Calculate travel times using classic and relativistic models, and witness the effects of time dilation and black holes firsthand. This interactive space simulator is perfect for astronomy and sci-fi enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • 3D space exploration
  • Relativistic physics calculations
  • Time dilation visualization
  • Black hole exploration
  • Star system inspection
  • Interstellar travel planning
  • Multiple camera views
Features
Read full description

NearLight is a 3D space simulator that spans the whole journey of an astronomy fan: from a real telescope under tonight's sky to a relativistic starship and the edge of a black hole. Explore the Solar System on exact orbits, fly through 1,000 light-years of real stars, and see with your own eyes what the Lorentz factor does to time. Is your favorite sci-fi movie physically right? Check it. YOUR NIGHT SKY, TONIGHT Step onto a field on Earth and look up: the real sky for your location and moment: by GPS or from an offline catalog of 34,000 cities. Six telescopes stand ready, from a 70 mm beginner refractor to a 12-inch truss Dobsonian, with eight eyepieces, a Barlow, Moon and nebula filters (UHC, OIII), every instrument with its true magnification, field of view, image orientation and brightness. The full Messier catalog is in the sky: over 40 objects as real as astrophotographs at their exact positions and sizes, every object rebuilt from reference photos, 341,000 Tycho-2 stars deep in the field. Light pollution (Bortle scale), atmospheric seeing, twinkling, horizon extinction, even moonlight washing the galaxies out of the eyepiece, this sky behaves like the real one. A Redlight mode protects your dark adaptation. Wind the clock to August 12, 2026 and stand in Iceland or Spain: the total solar eclipse happens with true geometry, corona included. "Tonight's Sky" builds your observing plan, the "Top Objects now" wheel rolls absolute beginners to the ten best sights of the moment and all the Messier objects wait to be discovered, for good. THE SOLAR SYSTEM The Sun, all 8 planets and their major moons on ephemeris-true orbits, validated against JPL data: moon transits and shadow events at the correct times, Saturn's ring shadow, true axial tilts. Classical Spaceflight flies real missions: departure burn, coast, flip, capture burn into orbit, including Voyager-class gravity assists past Jupiter. INTERSTELLAR Search and inspect 8,000+ real stars with names, distances, stellar data, exoplanet hosts and their neighbors within 10 light-years. Plan relativistic journeys in Constant-c or Constant-g mode with acceleration, coast and braking phases. Compare Onboard Travel Time (OTT) with Earth Travel Time (ETT), read the length-contracted distance, peak speed and the energy bill (Joule, TWh, PWh or "Sun-output time"). Ride along in three cameras and near light speed the cockpit shows real relativistic optics: star aberration, Doppler colour shift and beaming. THE WHOLE MILKY WAY Pull back until the galaxy fits on screen: 100,000 light-years across, four spiral arms, the barred core: shaped from the NASA/JPL photograph down to the dust lanes and the red glow of its star-forming regions, with up to 450,000 stars drawn at once. Sol sits where it really does, 27,000 light-years out on its thin local arm. Pick any point and a route runs there from home, telling you the distance, the region you are aiming at: bulge, inner disk, rim and whether you are heading coreward or out. Then fly it, with the same relativistic clocks: a trip to the galactic centre costs a few decades on board and 27,000 years on Earth. BLACK HOLES 70+ known black holes from TON 618 to fictional Gargantua, rendered with a scientific Kerr ray tracer. Change mass and spin, sink toward the event horizon or the innermost orbit, and watch two clocks drift apart: one hour here, seven years on Earth, the Interstellar scenario, on your own screen. 6-DoF navigation: rotate, pinch-zoom, pan on every axis Auto rotation, labels, chase and cockpit cams, one-tap Reset View Ambient space music and living nightscape sounds. Native on Mac, iPad and iPhone. English and German, fully localized including VoiceOver Fully offline: no account, no tracking, and your location never leaves your device.

About

Learn Binary

Features
Read full description

Finally understand binary and hex — by doing, not memorising. Learn Binary turns number-base conversion into fast, satisfying drills. See a number, build the answer on a tappable bit row or a clean keypad, and get an instant verdict with the place-value breakdown behind it. It's built around how you actually learn: a level climb, an ~80% mastery gate, and a three-minute daily habit. WHAT'S INSIDE - The drill — convert decimal ⇄ binary ⇄ hex, both directions. Tap the bits or type the digits, confirm, and see exactly why the answer is what it is. - The nibble block — the standout: see how 0x61 = 0110 0001 = 97, with hex sat over colour-coded 4-bit nibbles. This is the trick that makes hex click. - A level climb — one level per bit, from the first switch up to the full byte (the 256 Club) and beyond. Clear a level test to unlock the next. - Two's-complement — read and write signed bytes, with the sign-bit reveal. - Bitwise ops — AND, OR and XOR, worked one column at a time. - Byte Speed Run — an optional 60-second timed challenge once you've earned it. - Daily goal + streak — a gentle habit, with a streak freeze so one missed day doesn't wipe your progress. - Explore — scrub a number and watch decimal, binary and hex move together. BUILT RIGHT - Fully offline — no account, no sign-up, no tracking required. - A clean, friendly light design in apricot and teal. Remove ads with a single one-time purchase — it removes the interstitial ads, and it's the only thing we'll ever ask you to buy.

Screenshots

NearLight4 screens
Learn Binary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Learn Binary at Free against NearLight's $3.99. NearLight's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On iOS requirement 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

Learn Binary is free to download; NearLight costs $3.99 up front. Learn Binary sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. NearLight asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
NearLight versus Learn Binary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNearLightLearn Binary
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days—
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS1716.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size241 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarc BachmannTapricot

In-app purchases

None

NearLight

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Learn Binary

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$3.99

Questions

Is NearLight free?
NearLight costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Learn Binary free?
Learn Binary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do NearLight or Learn Binary have ads?
Learn Binary shows ads; NearLight does not.

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