Comparison

Solar System vs Planet Pointer

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

Head to head
About

Solar System

Features
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The whole Solar System, in motion, in your pocket. Watch eight planets sweep around the Sun in a live orrery, tap any world to open its full profile, and finally see how big โ€” and how far apart โ€” everything really is. Most space apps hand you a flat diagram or a wall of text. SolarMap gives you a moving map you can actually play with: pause the orbits, speed them up, then jump straight into real NASA and ESA figures for diameter, mass, gravity, day length, year length, mean temperature and moon count. Every world, every number and every photo is stored inside the app, so it all works with the phone in airplane mode. WHAT YOU GET - See all eight planets orbiting the Sun at true relative speeds, with pause and speed controls - Open a deep profile for 14 bodies โ€” the Sun, every planet, Pluto, Ceres, the Moon, Titan and Europa - Compare worlds by size or by distance from the Sun and finally grasp the real scale - Read the numbers that matter: diameter, mass, gravity, day, year, temperature, moons, composition - Test yourself with a 10-question Solar System quiz that tracks your best score - Save your favorite worlds and pull them up instantly from the Explore tab PERFECT FOR - Curious minds who want astronomy explained without a textbook - Parents and teachers looking for a clean, ad-free way to show kids the planets - Students revising planetary facts before a test - Stargazers who want the science behind what they see at night WHY NOT JUST SEARCH ONLINE? A search gives you one number at a time, wrapped in ads, and never shows you motion or scale. SolarMap puts the whole system in one place โ€” orbiting, comparable, sourced from NASA Solar System Exploration and ESA archives, and readable offline on a plane, a camping trip or a classroom with no Wi-Fi. PRIVACY No account, no sign-up, no ads, no tracking. Your favorites and quiz score stay on your device. The app makes no network requests for its content because all data and imagery ship inside it. FULL ACCESS The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are free to explore. Full Access unlocks the gas and ice giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), Pluto, Ceres, the Moon, Titan and Europa, plus faster orbit speeds, unlimited favorites, every Compare entry, all Learn articles and the Solar System quiz. Available as a weekly subscription, a yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Open the Orrery and tap a planet to start exploring. Terms of Use (EULA): https://web-levi.web.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://web-levi.web.app/privacy-policy Questions? tphuc.work@gmail.com

About

Planet Pointer

Features
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Planet Pointer turns your phone into a pocket sky guide. Pick one target โ€” a planet, a star, a constellation, a satellite or a deep-sky object โ€” and an on-screen arrow guides you until your phone is aimed right at it. Or point the camera at something you don't recognise and let the app tell you what it is. Simple, focused, and accurate. POINT AT THE SKY Choose what you want to find and follow the guide arrow. When you're locked on target, the phone confirms with a gentle vibration. The live camera view helps you line up the guide with the real sky. WHAT'S THAT? IDENTIFY MODE Point the camera at anything in the sky and tap it to identify it. A phone compass is only accurate to about 5ยฐ, so the app never hands you a confident answer it cannot back up: you get the most likely object with a match percentage, plus anything else near enough to be a real possibility. Ask which star that is and get an honest answer instead of a guess. WHAT YOU CAN FIND - The Sun, the Moon and all 7 planets - 33 of the brightest named stars - All 88 constellations, drawn as connect-the-dots figures over the live sky - Deep sky: nebulae, galaxies and star clusters โ€” Orion, Andromeda, the Pleiades and more - Live satellites โ€” including the ISS, Hubble, Starlink and more โ€” tracked in real time with upcoming pass predictions ACCURATE & OFFLINE Positions are calculated on your device using a precise astronomy engine, with true-north correction from the World Magnetic Model. No internet needed for the core features. MORE TO EXPLORE - Sky Events (Pro): eclipses, meteor showers, planet conjunctions and the next ISS pass โ€” tap to jump there - Time Travel (Pro): shift the sky forward or back in time to see where everything will be - Info cards with facts, figures and mythology for every body and constellation - Favourites, brightness/magnitude data, and a search you can filter to "visible now" SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE 13 languages built in, and 66 more available to download with Pro โ€” 79 in all, with translated planet, star and constellation names. BUILT FOR STARGAZING - Night-vision red mode to protect your dark-adapted eyes - Spoken sky: hear your target and aim guidance read aloud - Choose km or miles, set your location manually, and more FREE & PRO Free, forever: the camera pointer, the Sun, the Moon and all 7 planets, identify mode for the planets, and a few famous stars, constellations, deep-sky objects and satellites to try. Planet Pointer Pro is a single one-time purchase โ€” no subscription โ€” that unlocks every star, constellation, deep-sky object and satellite, Time Travel, Sky Events, unlimited favourites, the full night-vision options and every language download. PRIVACY FIRST No account. No ads. No trackers. Your location and camera are used only on your device to point you at the sky โ€” they're never recorded or sent anywhere. Look up. Point. Find it.

Screenshots

Solar System4 screens
Planet Pointer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Planet Pointer at every 2 days against Solar System's every 6 weeks. On price, 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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Solar System sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Planet Pointer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Solar System ships an update every 6 weeks, Planet Pointer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Solar System versus Planet Pointer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSolar SystemPlanet Pointer
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size25 MB55 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPhuc PhamHaviv Tarazi

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Solar System

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly$2.997 Days
  • Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro$29.99
1 purchases

Planet Pointer

One-time1
  • Planet Pointer Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Solar System free?
Solar System is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Planet Pointer free?
Planet Pointer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Solar System or Planet Pointer have ads?
Neither Solar System nor Planet Pointer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Solar System or Planet Pointer?
Solar System ships an update every 6 weeks, and Planet Pointer every 2 days. Most recently, Solar System was updated on October 18, 2026 and Planet Pointer on October 12, 2026.

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