Comparison

UnivMap vs Sideris

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

Head to head
About

UnivMap

Features
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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 โ€” 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 โ€” it reaches the destination to meet you the moment you arrive. -Choose how you travel Rocket, car, bike, or on foot โ€” 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 โ€” 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 โ€” pack snacks.

About

Sideris

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Point your camera at the night sky and know exactly what you captured. Sideris is a plate-solving companion and interactive star map built for astrophotographers with simple gear: a camera, a lens, and a star tracker. No go-to mount required. Take a photo of the sky and Sideris solves it: it identifies the exact patch of sky in the frame and reports where the camera is pointing, in real celestial coordinates. The photograph is then overlaid on the star map, at the right angle and the right size, among the stars and deep-sky objects that surround it. STAR MAP AND PLATE SOLVING - Interactive star map: pan and zoom across a live map of stars, planets, and the Moon. - Messier catalog: all 110 Messier objects, each with a real NASA and ESA photograph and an altitude curve showing when it climbs highest and when the sky is dark enough to shoot it. - Plate solving: identify any night-sky photo and get its true celestial coordinates. - Photo on the sky map: the solved picture appears exactly where it points, with the surrounding sky in view. - Distance to target: pick the object you were aiming for and see how far the center of the frame sits from it. TOOLS FOR THE FIELD - Polar alignment scope: a built-in reticle for aligning your star tracker. - Night mode: a red-light theme that turns on automatically after dark and preserves night vision. - White screen: a dimmable white panel for shooting flat frames. - Moon phase calendar: phases, illumination and moonrise times for any night, whether the Moon is the problem or the subject. NO TELESCOPE REQUIRED Solving works fully offline. No signal needed at your dark site. Sideris is built for the DSLR and tracker setup that most beginning and traveling astrophotographers use, without a go-to mount or an observatory. TRY IT FREE Start with free plate solves to try it out. When you are ready for more, unlock unlimited solving with a single one-time purchase. No subscription, ever. Clear skies.

Screenshots

UnivMap4 screens
Sideris4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: UnivMap at none against Sideris's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Sideris sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. UnivMap asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UnivMap ships an update every 9 days, Sideris every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
UnivMap versus Sideris: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUnivMapSideris
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 days โ€” betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size31 MB127 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerๅฎ‡่ผ่ณ‡่จŠๆœ‰้™ๅ…ฌๅธLoris BERT

In-app purchases

None

UnivMap

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Sideris

One-time1
  • Unlimited Plate Solving$9.99

Questions

Is UnivMap free?
UnivMap is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sideris free?
Sideris is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do UnivMap or Sideris have ads?
Neither UnivMap nor Sideris shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UnivMap or Sideris?
UnivMap ships an update every 9 days, and Sideris every 10 days. Most recently, UnivMap was updated on October 8, 2026 and Sideris on October 9, 2026.

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