Comparison

SpacepadX vs Satellight

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

Head to head
About

SpacepadX

Features
Read full description

SpacepadX helps you know when rocket launches are happening and where they lift off. Browse upcoming and past launches, search missions, and see launch sites on an interactive map. Open a launch to review liftoff time, provider, rocket, mission context, pad details, webcast links, weather when available, and planning actions. Features: - Upcoming and past launch boards - Map view with launch sites and grouped historical launches - Launch details with provider, rocket, mission, pad, webcast, recovery, weather, and context cards when available - One-hour local launch reminders - Calendar event creation through Apple Calendar - Offline-friendly local cache for recently loaded launch data - iPhone and iPad layouts

About

Satellight

Features
Read full description

Satellight shows you which satellites you can actually see from where you are tonight, and exactly where to look. The International Space Station, China's Tiangong and over 150 of the brightest satellites and rocket stages cross the night sky every evening. Lit by the Sun against a dark sky, they look like bright, steadily moving stars. Satellight works out every pass for your location and tells you when to look, which way it goes and how bright it will be. TONIGHT'S PASSES โ€ข Every pass bright enough to see, in order, with the space stations first โ€ข When it appears, which way it travels, how high it climbs and how long it lasts โ€ข Brightness in plain words, from "Very bright" to "Faint", with the magnitude for the experts โ€ข A short explanation when nothing is up for a while, so a quiet night never looks like a broken app KNOW WHERE TO LOOK โ€ข A map of each pass across the sky that turns with you when you hold your iPhone flat โ€ข The 3D sky view follows your phone: hold it up and see the satellite's path, the stars, the Moon and the planets right where they are โ€ข An arrow points the way when the satellite is out of view NEVER MISS THE ISS โ€ข Optional alerts 5 minutes before every ISS and Tiangong pass over the next three nights, and before the brightest passes of the night THE REAL NIGHT SKY โ€ข Thousands of stars, the Moon with its phase, and Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn โ€ข Twilight and moonlight shown as they are, so the screen matches what you see PRIVATE BY DESIGN โ€ข Everything is worked out on your iPhone, and your location is never sent anywhere โ€ข No account, no ads, no tracking Available in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Japanese. Orbits from CelesTrak. Satellite brightness by Mike McCants. Stars from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue.

Screenshots

SpacepadX4 screens
Satellight4 screens

Verdict

The call

SpacepadX and Satellight are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
SpacepadX versus Satellight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpacepadXSatellight
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size25 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHo Ye LamECKO Design

In-app purchases

None

SpacepadX

No in-app purchases

None

Satellight

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SpacepadX free?
SpacepadX is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Satellight free?
Satellight is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SpacepadX or Satellight have ads?
Neither SpacepadX nor Satellight shows ads.

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