Comparison

Star Archive vs Kanso

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

Head to head
About

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.

About

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

Star Archive4 screens
Kanso4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

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

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.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Star Archive versus Kanso: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar ArchiveKanso
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size284 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKyungil MyungYutaro Kawahara

In-app purchases

None

Star Archive

No in-app purchases

None

Kanso

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Star Archive free?
Star Archive is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Kanso free?
Kanso is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Star Archive or Kanso have ads?
Neither Star Archive nor Kanso shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Star Archive or Kanso?
Star Archive ships an update every 2 days, and Kanso every 4 days. Most recently, Star Archive was updated on November 5, 2026 and Kanso on November 6, 2026.

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