Comparison

AstroShort vs UnivMap

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

Head to head
About

AstroShort

Explore the entire universe from your fingertips, flying between planets, moons, and even black holes. Dive deep into factual information sourced from NASA, with interactive real-world locations and animated scenes. Offers both an explorer and a kid-friendly mode for all ages.

Highlights
  • Interactive solar system exploration
  • Detailed planet and moon information
  • Real-world location exploration
  • Animated scenes and landmarks
  • Explorer and Kid modes
  • Offline functionality
  • User-submitted feature ideas
Features
Read full description

Astro Explorer was built together — with curiosity, a sense of social connection, learning and education at its heart. It began as a gift from a dad to his kid, and grew into a hand-built universe for curious minds of every age. THE WHOLE UNIVERSE, BY TOUCH Fly between the Sun, all eight planets and the Moon. Zoom from a planet up close all the way out to the Milky Way — and the real black hole at its heart, Sagittarius A*, shown as the 2022 Event Horizon Telescope image. Nothing here needs reading to explore — a child who can't read yet can pilot the entire universe with a fingertip. DEEP FACTS ON EVERY PLANET Tap any planet — all eight, plus Pluto — to open its observation plate: its moons, its weather, the missions we've sent, and how it truly sizes up. The facts go deep, in plain language, and every one is sourced straight from NASA fact sheets and JPL. GO INSIDE REAL WORLDS Earth, Mars and the Moon aren't just spheres. Drill down to real places — the Grand Canyon, Olympus Mons, the Sea of Tranquility — meet animals, visit landmarks, and watch each place come alive with its own animated scene. Every fact carries its source, straight from NASA planetary fact sheets and the International Astronomical Union. TWO WAYS TO EXPLORE - Explorer mode (the default): a clean, premium look where grown-up facts, side-by-side planet comparisons and a daily discovery feed are one tap away. - Kid mode: a playful skin made for little hands — bigger buttons, a gentler pace, and deeper content tucked safely behind a parent hold-gesture. BUILT BY ITS EXPLORERS Here's the part we love most. Have an idea for the app? A child can simply say it out loud. Their words are turned into text right on your device, a grown-up reads it and decides whether to send it — anonymously, never any audio, never any account. On the Builders Board inside the app you can watch ideas from explorers around the world come together: what's being considered, what's being built, and what just shipped. Great ideas can become real features in days. This app is built by its explorers. HONEST BY DESIGN - Works fully offline — every planet, place and fact, with zero connection. - No accounts. No ads. No analytics. No tracking. Ever. - The only thing that ever touches the internet is the daily discovery feed: a single anonymous download of the same public file everyone gets, with no identifiers and no cookies. Offline, it shows the last feed with a visible date. - Facts are sourced and scale is honest: planets are stylized so small worlds stay visible, but the truths always hold — Jupiter is always the biggest, Mercury always closest to the Sun. Made for families. A friendly narrator reads names and facts aloud, so a pre-reader can explore and learn by ear. Safe for the youngest explorer to use alone, deep enough for the most curious adult.

About

UnivMap

Features
Read full description

UnivMap is a navigation app. Search for places, get directions, and check your estimated time of arrival. -Search Type in where you want to go. Alpha Centauri, the Orion Nebula, or that black hole at the center of the galaxy. -Directions Starting from your current location, UnivMap works out the distance and arrival time — and kindly routes you around interstellar pirates and high-radiation zones. To Voyager 1: 25.599 billion km, about 23 hr 43 min at the speed of light. It never stops moving, so we time it just right — it reaches the destination to meet you the moment you arrive. -Choose how you travel Rocket, car, bike, or on foot — take your pick. Drive to Mars and the route card will warn you it's uphill the whole way. -Save your places Set your Home and Work, and get directions home with a single tap. -Reviews Every place has ratings and reviews. The Moon currently holds 5.0 stars across three reviews — one visitor wrote: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." -Works offline No connection required. No data collected. -Search galaxies, get directions, check your ETA. The nearest neighbor is over four years away — pack snacks.

Screenshots

AstroShort4 screens
UnivMap4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: UnivMap at every 9 days against AstroShort's every 3 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AstroShort ships an update every 3 weeks, UnivMap every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
AstroShort versus UnivMap: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAstroShortUnivMap
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size117 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEdon Zogaj宇輝資訊有限公司

In-app purchases

None

AstroShort

No in-app purchases

None

UnivMap

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AstroShort free?
AstroShort is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UnivMap free?
UnivMap is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do AstroShort or UnivMap have ads?
Neither AstroShort nor UnivMap shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AstroShort or UnivMap?
AstroShort ships an update every 3 weeks, and UnivMap every 9 days. Most recently, AstroShort was updated on October 16, 2026 and UnivMap on October 8, 2026.

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