Solar System Scope vs Birth Light Astronomy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Solar System Scope
Explore and discover the solar system and outer space with realistic 3D visualizations and detailed celestial simulations. This app offers an educational and engaging experience for all ages, featuring a comprehensive encyclopedia and a night sky observatory.
- 3D Encyclopedia of celestial bodies
- Realistic 3D visualizations
- Night sky observatory with time simulation
- Accurate orbital parameter calculations
- High-quality planetary and moon maps
- Multilingual support
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Solar System Scope is a fun way of Exploring, Discovering and Playing with the Solar System and Outer Space. Solar System Scope (or just Solar) contains many views and celestial simulations, but most of all - it brings you closer to the furthest reaches of our world and lets you experience lots of fantastic space sceneries. It aspires to be the most illustrative, easy to understand and simple to use space model. - 3D Encyclopedia In Solar’s unique encyclopedia you will find the most interesting facts about every planet, dwarf planet, every major moon and more – and everything is accompanied by realistic 3D visualizations. Solar’s encyclopedia is available in 10 languages: English, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Korean and Slovak. More languages are coming soon! - Nightsky Observatory Enjoy Stars and constellation of the night sky as viewed from any given location on Earth. You can point your device at the sky to see all objects in their proper place, but you can also simulate Night sky in the past or in the future. Now with advanced options that let you simulate ecliptic, equatorial and azimuthal line, or grid (among other things). - Scientific Instrument Solar System Scope calculations are based on up-to-date orbital parameters published by NASA and let you simulate celestial positions at any given time. - For Everyone Solar System Scope is well suited for all audiences and ages: It is enjoyed by space enthusiasts, teachers, scientists, but Solar is successfully used even by children of 4+ years of age! - Unique Maps We are proud to present a very unique set of planetary and moon maps, that let you experience a true-color space as never before. These accurate maps are based on NASA elevation and imagery data. Colors and shades of the textures are tuned according to true-color photos made by Messenger, Viking, Cassini and New Horizon spacecrafts, and the Hubble Space Telescope. Basic resolution of these maps is for free – but if you would like the best experience, you can check out the highest quality, which is available with In-App purchase. - Join our vision Our vision is to build the ultimate space model and bring you the deepest space experience. And you can help - try Solar System Scope and if you like it, spread the word! And don’t forget to join the community and vote for new features on our homepage.
Birth Light Astronomy
Explore the cosmos and see the stars as they appeared on any date, including your birthday. This app uses your location and augmented reality to guide you to specific stars visible in the night sky.
- View stars from the past
- Augmented reality sky view
- Star rise and set times
- Catalog of over 5000 stars
- Location-based visibility
- Customizable dates
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Birth Light is a simple backyard astronomy app that makes it easy for kids and adults to see back in time by looking at the stars. The stars are so far away that it takes years for their light to reach Earth. If you look at the right star at the right time, you can see the way it looked on the day you were born! Birth Light is an app that shows you when and where to look. Its catalog of over 5000 stars includes every naked-eye-visible star within a thousand light-years of Earth. It uses your location to determine which stars will be visible, and when they rise and set. And it has an augmented-reality mode that shows you exactly where in the sky to look for your birth star. Start by entering your birthday (or any date you want) and you'll see a list starting with the next star to enter your light cone. Tap a star and you'll see basic data about it, along with a scrollable diagram showing when it will rise and set each night. Next tap "Show me in the sky" and you'll see an augmented-reality view of the sky right now, with a helpful arrow that points you toward the star you've selected. Just point your phone until you see the star you're looking for! This app requires GPS.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Birth Light Astronomy at 5.0 against Solar System Scope's 4.4. Birth Light Astronomy also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (100% vs 80%). Solar System Scope's advantage is ratings volume (899 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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
Both are free to download. Solar System Scope sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Birth Light Astronomy asks for nothing beyond the download.
Birth Light Astronomy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Solar System Scope has 899 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Solar System Scope's written reviews are positive against 100% of Birth Light Astronomy's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Solar System Scope | Birth Light Astronomy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (899 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 899 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 154 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | INOVE, s.r.o. | Robert Tempchin |
Customer experience
Solar System Scope
Birth Light Astronomy
Bugs and requests
Solar System Scope
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when dragging Jupiter
- Upside-down orientation on tablets
- Unable to restore purchases
- Freezes and crashes on launch
Requested features
5 requests- Add more celestial bodies (Messier objects, Planet 9/10, black holes, etc.)
- Enable exploration of other galaxies and deep space objects
- Improve telescope/zoom functionality
- Add more moons and irregular satellites
- Implement continental drift and solar system evolution
Birth Light Astronomy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Solar System Scope
- HQ Textures / No Ads$5.99
Birth Light Astronomy
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Solar System Scope free?
Is Birth Light Astronomy free?
Which has better reviews, Solar System Scope or Birth Light Astronomy?
Do Solar System Scope or Birth Light Astronomy have ads?
Which is updated more often, Solar System Scope or Birth Light Astronomy?
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