Celeris vs Solar Journal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Celeris
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Plan the photo. Find the moment. Celeris is visual photo planning built around the picture you want to take. Choose your standpoint, direction and focal length. In a simulated camera view, see how your subject lines up with the sun, moon or Milky Way. Then find when the picture becomes possible ā and take the plan outside. Start free. Unlock the full version once, with no subscription. A 3D WORLD BUILT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY Terrain, water, forest, buildings, photographic landmarks, your own 3D objects, camera and sky share one view. Where terrain data is available, Celeris shows the real horizon. The sun and moon light the land, cast shadows and change its appearance through the day; lakes mirror the land, the trees and the stars. In the full version, woods stand as tree crowns that turn with the seasons, and buildings from official data light up at night with street lamps and windows. After dusk, cars drive the real roads. Haze, snow and fog help you picture the shot ā as simulations, not weather forecasts. THE LANDMARK MATTERS Castles, towers, bridges and rock formations can stand in the sky as surveyed 3D models. The curated collection keeps growing; build your own objects from parts and place them on the terrain. Model, building and terrain coverage varies by location. PLANNED FROM ABOVE The drone view lifts your eye up to 1,000 m above the ground; the horizon and the rise and set times follow the height. In the flight planner, lay out a flight with waypoints or as an orbit, aim each waypoint in the 3D sky, play it back in the light of the chosen moment and export it as a video. Celeris does not fly a drone. FIND THE OPPORTUNITY Set the frame from 10 to 1200 mm or through your own lenses, in portrait or landscape, or make a panorama. Two controls find the next or previous time the sun, moon, Milky Way or a selected sky object becomes visible inside that exact frame. The real terrain skyline and the darkness needed to see it count too. A separate transit finder handles the ISS. The month calendar reveals promising nights. Event search finds sunrises, the moon, Milky Way, eclipses and more; Location Finder compares viewpoints. Save the place, time, direction and lens as a plan with a rendered picture ā and later mark it completed with your own photo. Saved places get a photo, notes and tags. DAY INTO NIGHT The time scrubber carries the colours of twilight and the sun's and moon's arcs. The 3D sky shows planets, stars, the Milky Way, zodiacal light and the ISS. The full version shows light pollution in the sky and on the map and finds nearby dark places. Find worthwhile nights for meteor showers; the full version draws their radiants and time-compressed meteors. OUT IN THE FIELD AR lays the calculated sky over your camera view. Widgets show events and your next plan. On Apple Watch, see the night as a ring, your next plan, a compass to your standpoint, the moon and ISS, plus a sequence timer and watch-face complications. START FREE. UNLOCK ONCE. The map, 3D view, terrain, catalogue, your own models, lenses and plans are free to use, with planning limited to 48 hours around now. The full version opens every date, 3D buildings, 3D forest, the drone view, the flight planner and more with a one-time in-app purchase. No subscription. One purchase unlocks it on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Plans, places, drone flights, lenses and your own models can sync across your Apple devices through iCloud. No Celeris account, ads or trackers. English and German. The star catalogue uses HYG (Astronexus) and OpenNGC (Mattia Verga), both CC BY-SA 4.0; sources and licences are in the app.
Solar Journal
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Turn your solar telescope photographs into a personal record of the changing Sun. Import a short sequence of photos and explore your annotated solar disc, detected sunspots and the gentle change in brightness from centre to edge. Open a sunspot to see an enlarged crop from your original photograph, or explore nearby spots as a group. Today gives you your latest observation. Discover brings your measurements into context with concise findings and dated NOAA space-weather information. Trends keeps your observing history visible, with the variation between photographs shown alongside each measurement. ⢠Local photo analysis, with original photographs preserved. ⢠Sunspot counts, apparent dark coverage and visual size comparisons. ⢠Date and time corrections, photo removal and optional group tracking. ⢠CSV, JSON, picture and analysis-prompt reports to share when you choose. ⢠Explicit journal archive backup and restore. ⢠A clearly labelled sample journal to explore without a telescope. Five separate photographs are recommended for each session; two or more usable photographs can be saved. Measurements describe what is visible in processed white-light photographs. They are not magnetic measurements or predictions of solar storms. No account, advertising, subscription or AI service is required. Your photographs are not uploaded for analysis. NOAA information requires a connection and is always dated. Solar Journal is independent and is not endorsed by NOAA or telescope manufacturers. Use properly filtered solar observing equipment and follow its manufacturer's safety instructions.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Solar Journal at none against Celeris's 1. Celeris's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Celeris sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Solar Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Celeris | Solar Journal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | ā |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No ā better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch ā better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stefan Engel | Sascha Wyss |
In-app purchases
Celeris
- Full Version$8.99
Solar Journal
No in-app purchases









