Comparison

Apphemeride Precise Astronomy vs Mars Atlas

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

Head to head
About

Apphemeride Precise Astronomy

This app provides precise astronomical data for sky analysis, including eclipses, Moon motion, and planetary positions. It offers location-based calculations and visual tools to understand celestial events and their visibility.

Highlights
  • Precise sky analysis
  • Eclipse and Moon motion tracking
  • Location-based celestial calculations
  • Horizon Tracker for celestial body movement
  • Detailed planetary and solar system data
  • Solar and lunar eclipse simulations
  • Configurable data display
Features
Read full description

Your sky. Your perspective. Explore the Sun, Moon, planets and more than 2.5 million stars with Apphemeride. Plan observations, follow celestial events and understand the sky through detailed data, interactive maps and a 3D solar system. BUILD YOUR OWN DASHBOARDS Bring together personal lists, your favorite objects and the details that matter to you. Arrange cards with the new layout system and choose the values, units and formats you want to see. TRAVEL THROUGH THE SOLAR SYSTEM Explore our solar system in 3D. Move between celestial objects and connect their positions in space with what you see in the sky. MAP YOUR NEXT OBSERVATION Explore the sky with constellations and coordinate grids. Use observation and Earth visibility maps to study where an object is above the horizon. Choose which astronomical guides and values appear in your views. GET TO KNOW EACH OBJECT The redesigned object view brings visual exploration and detailed parameters together. Depending on the object, examine rise, transit and set times, altitude, azimuth, coordinates, phase, illumination, brightness, angular size and distance. Search the expanded star catalog by TYC, HIP or HD identifier. FOLLOW EVENTS AND ECLIPSES Study solar and lunar eclipse visibility with maps and simulations. Find upcoming celestial events for a selected location, open them on the sky map, and follow objects in personal watchlists. Set alerts for the astronomical values you want to track. UNDERSTAND THE LOCAL HORIZON Use the Horizon Tracker to compare the paths of the Sun, Moon and planets over a day, month or year. Explore different times and locations to plan observations, travel or astrophotography. AT HOME IN 17 LANGUAGES English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Hindi, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Indonesian. Core astronomical calculations and bundled catalogs work offline. Online features such as address search, map imagery and current sunspot data require an internet connection. Explore the Sun and Moon for free. Try all features free for three days, then unlock the full version permanently with a one-time in-app purchase. Existing paid customers keep their permanent access.

About

Mars Atlas

Explore Mars with an interactive 3D globe, detailed imagery, and elevation profiles. Discover 450 Martian features, landing sites, and rover traverses. Includes astronomy calculations and orbital simulations.

Highlights
  • Interactive 3D Mars globe
  • 450 Martian features and landing sites
  • High-resolution surface imagery
  • Elevation profiles
  • Rover traverse visualization
  • Astronomy calculations
  • Earth-Mars orbital simulation
Read full description

Turn the red dot in the night sky into a world of mountains, canyons, craters, and exploration. Mars Atlas connects 450 Martian features and exploration sites through an interactive 3D globe, detailed imagery, elevation profiles, and explanations in English and Japanese. Built for iPhone and iPad. EXPLORE A 3D MARS GLOBE Rotate and zoom a globe based on Viking MDIM 2.1 imagery with MOLA-derived terrain shading. Follow place labels from a global view to individual features, then compare them with the surrounding landscape. DISCOVER 450 PLACES Explore volcanoes, craters, valleys, plains, landing sites, and proposed SpaceX Starship landing candidates. Each entry brings together an overview, key facts, observing notes, related features, and sources. Search by name, alias, region, mission, or agency, or use voice search in your selected language. LOOK CLOSER AT THE SURFACE Bundled high-resolution image packs cover 447 features. Explore imagery and derived products from HiRISE, CTX, THEMIS, and MOLA. Available layers vary by site and may include grayscale, infrared, processed, colorized, or false-color imagery. Selected exploration sites also show rover traverses. READ THE TERRAIN IN PROFILE MOLA-derived elevation profiles are available for 427 features. See how giant volcanoes rise and deep canyons cut across the surface, with the map and profile in one place. FOLLOW THE HISTORY OF MARS LANDINGS Discover 16 landing locations from Mars 2 in 1971 to Tianwen-1 and Zhurong in 2021. Successful landings and failed attempts appear together, connecting exploration history to actual places on Mars. FIND MARS IN YOUR SKY Check altitude, azimuth, rise, transit, set, illumination, and phase angle for your observing location. Astronomy calculations run on your device without a remote calculation service. A night-vision mode helps at the telescope. WATCH EARTH AND MARS APPROACH An interactive 3D simulation shows the Sun, Earth, and Mars moving along their orbits. Scrub through time, jump to nearby closest approaches, and compare how the geometry changes from one encounter to the next. READ, LISTEN, AND CUSTOMIZE Switch between English and Japanese. Listen to English narration with Christopher or Michelle, or choose an available iOS voice. Adjust label density, text size, terrain shading, and coordinate grids. The interface supports Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, and Reduce Motion. TRY FREE, UNLOCK ONCE Open explanations for five different features free of charge. A single non-consumable in-app purchase unlocks explanations for all features. No subscription. Restore Purchases is available. SOURCES AND CONTEXT Names, coordinates, imagery, terrain data, and mission information are organized from public sources including USGS/IAU, NASA/JPL/USGS, MGS MOLA, HiRISE, CTX, THEMIS, and Viking MDIM. Sources and processing notes are available in the app. This is an independent app, not an official app of or endorsed by NASA, JPL, USGS, IAU, or SpaceX. SpaceX Starship locations are research candidates, not confirmed landing sites or planned cities. An internet connection is required to download narration audio, open external source links, and make in-app purchases.

Screenshots

Apphemeride Precise Astronomy4 screens
Mars Atlas4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Apphemeride Precise Astronomy at 100% against Mars Atlas's 0%. Apphemeride Precise Astronomy also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Mars Atlas's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Apphemeride Precise Astronomy sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Mars Atlas sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Apphemeride Precise Astronomy ships an update every 4 weeks, Mars Atlas fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 5 level
Apphemeride Precise Astronomy versus Mars Atlas: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterApphemeride Precise AstronomyMars Atlas
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews โ€” better0.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksFortnightly โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree โ€” betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size442 MB1.5 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCsaba LengyelSOICHIRO NISHI

Customer experience

Apphemeride Precise Astronomy

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Mars Atlas

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Apphemeride Precise Astronomy

One-time2
  • 3-day TrialFree
  • Apphemeride Full Unlock$49.99
1 purchases

Mars Atlas

One-time1
  • Mars Atlas Full Unlock$9.99

Questions

Is Apphemeride Precise Astronomy free?
Apphemeride Precise Astronomy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mars Atlas free?
Mars Atlas is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Apphemeride Precise Astronomy or Mars Atlas have ads?
Neither Apphemeride Precise Astronomy nor Mars Atlas shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Apphemeride Precise Astronomy or Mars Atlas?
Apphemeride Precise Astronomy ships an update every 4 weeks, and Mars Atlas fortnightly. Most recently, Apphemeride Precise Astronomy was updated on November 7, 2026 and Mars Atlas on November 5, 2026.

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