Star Archive vs Kanso
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Star Archive
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An app for visual astronomy — observing through a telescope or binoculars with your own eyes. · Sky chart — 5.5 million stars with your own fields of view overlaid, opened from plans, observing and object pages. · Plan and recommend — only what your aperture can show under your site's sky (1,272 objects judged in advance), placed into hour slots, rehearsed on the chart. · Observe and record — step through objects on the chart, check, rate and write; review by night or by object. ■ A built-in sky chart · About 5.5 million stars to 13th magnitude and 16,000+ deep-sky objects. Drag and pinch anywhere. · Sky as it looks right now (zenith up) or north up — one tap on the compass at top left. · Build fields of view from your telescope, eyepieces and finder and overlay several at once. Plan objects as rings, observed ones checked. · Open the chart from a plan, the observing screen or an object page, and come straight back. ■ One unbroken night · Plan — added objects settle into hour slots on their own; drag to rearrange. Tap an object for its altitude curve and suggested magnification right there. · Rehearsal — walk the night on the chart before you leave. Course editing handles hour slots, order and start stars on one screen. · Observing — step through objects on the chart, check them off, rate and write notes. Dictate by voice. · Records — enter the night's conditions once, then review by night or by object. Long-term plans spanning months, too. ■ Data and learning · 2,400+ visual guides — how to find it and what each aperture shows. 4,600+ observing points to rate. · Lists such as Messier, Caldwell, Herschel 400 and 1001, plus your own lists and courses. · Star hopping with 126 routes (using the chart's field-of-view settings); Messier marathon prep and a 110-object night. ■ Also Night mode (red screen, shake to toggle, automatic after sunset) · six themes · sketch albums · eyepiece-view simulator · tonight's clouds and seeing · real-time planets · spreadsheets in and out, full backup · on a bigger screen at starnotearchive.com · Korean, English and Japanese. Free. No ads, no purchases. No account in the app; make a web account only if you want the website. Records stay on your phone; only what you send goes up to the web (site names visible only to you). With weather on, the forecast point's location is passed to the weather service. The 13th-magnitude star data downloads only when you ask. Made as a hobby by one observer.
Kanso
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数直線を、そのまま宇宙にしました。 Kanso - Integers は「整数1 = 1km」の世界です。0 から出発して指でスクロールすると、 149,600,000 で地球に、1,433,500,000 で土星に出会います。数字の並びはやがて太陽系全景になり、 天の川の腕になり、銀河団になり、6,000,000,000 を超えた先は観測可能な宇宙の大規模構造へ。 ズームもスワイプも、地図アプリのように直感的です。 ■ 整数の雑学 素数・完全数・フィボナッチ数……気になる数に止まると、その数の性質と物語が1枚のカードで 現れます。約数・素因数分解は全整数で自動計算。自分だけのメモも残せます。 ■ 実在の天体 地球・火星・木星などの惑星は NASA の実観測画像による全球テクスチャで、実距離の整数の座に 実寸で置かれています。天体データ・出典もアプリ内に明記。 ■ 数のゲームで遊んで、カードを集める ゴールドバッハの結晶、ユークリッド・タイリング、プライムキー、GCDトラップ、 コプライムリング、ファクターショック。遊ぶほど宇宙図鑑に天体カードが増えていきます。 集めたカードは美しいトレーディングカード画像・回転する3D動画として共有できます。 ■ 完全無料・広告なし 課金も広告も分析SDKもありません。記録はあなたの端末と iCloud(非公開領域)だけに保存され、 iPhone と iPad で同期します。 数って、こんなに遠くまで続いてるんだ—— そのスケール感を、あなたの指で確かめてください。
Screenshots
Verdict
Star Archive and Kanso are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Star Archive ships an update every 2 days, Kanso every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Star Archive | Kanso |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 284 MB | 68 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kyungil Myung | Yutaro Kawahara |
In-app purchases
Star Archive
No in-app purchases
Kanso
No in-app purchases









