AstroOwl vs Cosmo Sherpa

AstroOwl is the night photographer's whole workflow in one app: find the night, frame the shot, prove the exposure, then drive the camera — without juggling three apps and an intervalometer at 2 AM in the dark. PLAN THE RIGHT NIGHT • Best-nights calendar scores the next several months for your location — moonlight, Milky Way visibility, darkness windows, weather, and light pollution, distilled to an honest verdict ("Fair — moonlight") instead of a mystery number • Milky Way core position, rise/set and darkness windows for any date • 33,000+ locations with offline time zones and measured/modeled sky darkness, including DarkSky International certified places • Scrub time with a knob and watch the whole sky move COMPOSE THE SHOT • Pick your camera and lens (or browse presets) and see the real field of view framed on the sky • Exposure recipes with NPF-aware shutter limits — start from presets matched to your subject (Milky Way, star trails, moon, timelapse…) and save your own • Simulate the result before you commit: realistic star trails, stacking, and noise for YOUR gear and settings • AR mode — hold the phone up and see targets over the live camera view SHOOT — HANDS OFF (Pro) • Connect your Sony Alpha camera over Wi-Fi and fire recipes directly • Multi-frame sequences run on the camera body itself — stacks, star trails, timelapses keep shooting even if the phone sleeps • Focus magnifier, session progress with ETA, automatic reconnect, and session recovery if anything drops mid-shoot • Your photos stay on your camera's card — they never pass through us FREE VS PRO The planner, composer, and simulator are free. AstroOwl Pro unlocks camera control and removes the free tier's monthly caps and watermark — as a subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation; subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends, and can be managed in your Apple Account settings. CAMERA COMPATIBILITY Camera control supports Sony Alpha bodies with built-in Wi-Fi (validated on the a7 IV). Planning, composing, and simulation work with any camera — or none at all. No account, no sign-up; the app works offline at dark-sky sites once you've planned. Terms of Use: https://astroowl.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://astroowl.app/privacy/

Cosmo Sherpa is the trusted guide that tells you the truth about the night sky — then walks you to the shot. Most astronomy apps answer "what star is that?" Cosmo Sherpa answers the question photographers actually ask: is tonight worth it, where should I stand, and where do I point? And when the honest answer is "not tonight," it tells you why — and when the next great night arrives. THE HONEST VERDICT Open the app and choose what calls you: the Milky Way, the Moon, or the stars. Cosmo Sherpa computes tonight's real conditions — moon phase and illumination, astronomical darkness, cloud cover from Apple Weather — and gives you a straight verdict with the reason in plain words. An overcast night can never read "Good." That's a promise. THE WORLD'S DARK SKIES Discover ranks 251 DarkSky International certified places across 34 countries — plus founder-verified arrival points — using real 2024 satellite darkness data. Share your location and every distance re-ranks around you, with live drive times to the nearest skies. PLAN THE NIGHT One tap turns any destination into a real expedition: departure time, arrival, setup, and tonight's actual shooting window, computed on your device. IN THE FIELD Frame Assist steers your tripod-mounted iPhone onto the shot — follow the arrows until it locks, level the horizon, then switch to your camera. Dark Discipline turns the whole app astronomy-red to protect your night vision. Ask Cosmo Sherpa answers field questions on device, no signal needed. NEVER MISS A SKY Quiet reminders for full moons, meteor-shower peaks, and exceptional dark windows — computed entirely on your iPhone. The sherpa whispers; it never spams. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts. No ads. No tracking. No analytics. Your location is used only when you ask, and only to compute your sky. Astronomy runs on device and works offline. Bring home the shot you've been promising yourself.