Star Tracker Lite vs SkySafari 7 Plus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Star Tracker Lite
Explore the universe by pointing your device at the sky. Identify stars, constellations, and deep sky objects in real-time. Features offline data, a 3D compass in AR mode, and detailed graphics for an immersive stargazing experience.
- Offline celestial data
- Identify stars, constellations, planets
- Augmented reality compass
- Automatic location setting
- High-quality graphics
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Hey, get outdoor with your friends and start star gazing! Let StarTracker guide you to explore the universe. Just hold up and point the device to the sky and have fun! You can see any stars, constellations and deep sky objects you are watching in reality. ======================== What our user said: "Best star gazing app I've ever used. Very well put together and great visuals!!! From end to end this app is a must-have for anyone interested in astronomy!!" "This app is a marvel of technology, art, and science. Super smooth operation, great graphics and a great merging of the devices capabilities. Having grown up using star charts and compasses, this app feels like science fiction come to life. Great job!" "Looking at the sky was never this incredible!" "If you download only one app, make sure it's this one!! This is one of the best apps I've ever seen, period! Its quality is unmatched among star gazing apps!" ======================== Features: • All data is offline! • Sun, Moon, planets, 88 Constellations and 8000+ stars visible to the naked eyes. • 12 Zodiac Constellations Art & 6 famous deep sky objects with magnificent graphics. • 3D compass in AR mode, indicate position of objects your searched. • Location auto set by GPS, or set manually. • Auto hide all menus and enter AR track mode when lift up the device and point to sky. • Smooth motion flow and quick response which is realized by cutting edge signal processing technique. • Superb high quality graphic display by enabling the retina display of the device and the full screen anti-aliasing technology employment. Pro version: • Full 88 Constellations & 100+ deep sky objects with magnificent graphics. • Search and guide you to stars, constellations, planets and deep sky objects. • Time Machine menu and location menu to encourage children to exploring more on time and location dimension. • Night mode switch, to protect children's eye when doing star gazing outdoor. Usage: • Top Left: Location Menu, choose location from a world map. • Buttom Left: AR Compass indicator in AR track mode, pan the screen to enter un-track mode and click track button to back. Tips: • When under un-track mode, just lift up the screen and point it to the sky to enter AR track mode.
SkySafari 7 Plus
Explore the cosmos with a powerful space simulator and telescope control. Discover astronomical events, track celestial objects, and plan your stargazing sessions with real-time data and historical simulations.
- Full-featured space simulator
- Telescope control (ASCOM Alpaca, INDI)
- Events Finder for astronomical occurrences
- Real-time user observation tracking (OneSky)
- Guided stargazing sessions (SkyCast)
- Observation planning and recording tools
- Home and Lock Screen widgets
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SkySafari 7 Plus goes beyond most basic stargazing apps by providing you with a full-featured space simulator with telescope control. If you are looking to dive deeper into astronomy, start your journey with the #1 recommend app for amateur astronomers since 2009. Note that there is no discount upgrade path from SkySafari 7 Plus to SkySafari 7 Pro. Choose carefully! Here's what’s new in version 7: + Complete support for iOS 15 and iPhone 13. Version 7 brings a new and immersive stargazing experience. + Events Finder - go to the new Events section to unlock a powerful search engine that finds astronomical events visible tonight and far into the future. The finder dynamically generates a listing of moon phases, eclipses, planetary moon events, meteor showers and planetary phenomenon such as conjunctions, elongations and oppositions. + Notifications - the notifications section has been completely revamped to allow you to customize and manage which events trigger an alert notification on your device. + Telescope Support - telescope control is at the heart of SkySafari. Version 7 takes a giant leap forward by supporting ASCOM Alpaca and INDI. These next generation control protocols allow you to effortlessly connect to hundreds of compatible astronomical devices. + OneSky - allows you to see what other users are observing, in real time. This feature highlights objects in the sky chart and indicates with a number how many users are observing a particular object. + SkyCast - allows you to guide a friend or group around the night sky through their own copy of SkySafari. After initiating SkyCast, you can generate a link and conveniently share it with other SkySafari users via text message, apps or social media accounts. + Sky Tonight - jump to the new Tonight section to see what’s visible in your sky tonight. Expanded information has been designed to help plan your night and includes Moon & Sun info, calendar curations, events and the best positioned deep sky and solar system objects. + Improved Observation Tools - SkySafari is the perfect tool to help you plan, record and organize your observations. New workflows make it easier to add, search, filter and sort data. + Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets keep your favorite astro information at your fingertips. The Small Touches: + You can now edit the Jupiter GRS Longitude Value in the Settings. + Better Moon Age calculation. + New grid & reference options allow you to display Solstice and Equinox markers, Orbit Node markers for all solar system objects, and tick marks and labels for the Ecliptic, Meridian, and Equator reference lines. + Previous In-app Purchases are Now Free - this includes the H-R diagram and 3D Galaxy view. Enjoy. + Many more. If you haven't used SkySafari 7 Plus before, here's what you can do with it: + Hold your device up, and SkySafari 7 Plus will find comets, stars, constellations, planets, and more! + Simulate the night sky up to 10,000 years in the past or future! Animate meteor showers, conjunctions, eclipses, and other celestial events. + Learn the history, mythology, and science of astronomy! Browse over 1500 object descriptions and astronomical images. Stay up-to-date with the Calendar for all major sky events every day! + Control your telescope, log and plan your observations. + Night Vision – Preserve your eyesight after dark. + Orbit Mode. Leave the Earth’s surface behind, and fly through our solar system. + Time Flow – Follow the motion of sky objects as days, months, and years are compressed into a few seconds. + Advanced Search – Find objects using properties other than their name. + Much more! For even more features, and a gigantic database aimed at the most dedicated amateur or professional astronomer, check out SkySafari 7 Pro! https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Star Tracker Lite at Free against SkySafari 7 Plus's $9.99. Star Tracker Lite also leads on review sentiment (73% vs 46%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.1). SkySafari 7 Plus's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#165 vs unranked). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Star Tracker Lite is free to download; SkySafari 7 Plus costs $9.99 up front. Star Tracker Lite sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and SkySafari 7 Plus sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Star Tracker Lite against 4.7 for SkySafari 7 Plus. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.1K and 1.7K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Star Tracker Lite's written reviews are positive against 46% of SkySafari 7 Plus's.
Star Tracker Lite ships an update every 3 weeks, SkySafari 7 Plus monthly. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.
| Parameter | Star Tracker Lite | SkySafari 7 Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (2.1K ratings) | 4.7 (1.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 73.0% of reviews — better | 45.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K — better | 1.7K |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #165 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 14.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 38 MB | 1.1 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 身吉 潘 | Simulation Curriculum Corp. |
Customer experience
Star Tracker Lite
SkySafari 7 Plus
User reviews
Star Tracker Lite
From 2.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Accurate star and planet tracking
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
- 🌌 Helpful for learning about the night sky
- 🤩 Visually appealing and engaging
- 🔍 Useful for identifying celestial objects
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional location/compass issues
- 🤔 Inaccurate positioning of celestial objects
- 🙄 Cluttered or confusing interface
- 💰 Paid version not worth the cost
- 🔍 Limited functionality in free version
SkySafari 7 Plus
From 1.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great app, preferred over Stellarium
- 👍 Intuitive and clean interface
- 👍 Useful 'Tonight' tab
- 👍 Accurate and precise for telescope use
- 👍 Impressive data and functionality
Room to improve
- 🙄 Constant upgrade spam and notifications
- 🐛 'Tonight' feature crashes on iPad
- 💰 Paid features hidden behind paywall
- 🐛 Crashes when using 'Tonight' feature
- 🐛 Syncing and connectivity issues
Bugs and requests
Star Tracker Lite
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes or freezes
- Incorrect location/orientation detection
- Paid features not working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to track comets and asteroids
- More detailed information on celestial objects
- Customizable display options
- Improved search and navigation
- Integration with other astronomy apps/tools
SkySafari 7 Plus
Reported bugs
4 issues- 'Tonight' feature crashes
- App crashes on launch or when using certain features
- Connectivity issues with telescopes
- Syncing problems between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add more telescope brands and models
- Improve notification settings to only show relevant events
- Allow hiding of menu bar for cleaner viewing
- Improve font sizes and readability
- Add ability to import observation records from previous versions
In-app purchases
Star Tracker Lite
- Remove Ads$0.99
- Full version$2.99
SkySafari 7 Plus
- SkySafari Premium Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- SkySafari Premium7 Days trial$34.991 Year
- Apollo Lunar MissionsFree
Questions
Is Star Tracker Lite free?
Is SkySafari 7 Plus free?
Which has better reviews, Star Tracker Lite or SkySafari 7 Plus?
Do Star Tracker Lite or SkySafari 7 Plus have ads?
Which is updated more often, Star Tracker Lite or SkySafari 7 Plus?
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