Comparison

88 constellations vs Sky Academy

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

Head to head
About

88 constellations

Explore the night sky and identify celestial objects like stars, planets, and constellations. Set the sky to any position and time to learn about the universe.

Highlights
  • Identify stars and planets
  • View constellations
  • Set sky position and time
  • Interactive sky map
  • Educational astronomy tool
Features
Read full description

The application allows you to set the sky by position and time, to identify the stars, planets and constellations.

About

Sky Academy

Learn about constellations, stars, and deep sky objects through interactive levels and quizzes. Features realistic sky simulations, customizable learning paths, and offline access. Gamified approach makes astronomy engaging and accessible.

Highlights
  • Learn 88 constellations, 150+ stars, 110 Deep Sky Objects
  • 123+ levels for constellations, stars, and DSOs
  • Customizable learning lists
  • Three difficulty modes per level
  • Realistic night sky simulation
  • Offline access, no ads
Features
Read full description

Features: - 123 levels teach, train and test your knowledge of all 88 constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. - 180 levels teach, train and test your knowledge of 150+ brightest stars of the sky. - NEW! 153 levels teach, train and test your knowledge of 110 Deep Sky Objects (Messier Objects). - Create your own list of constellations, stars and DSOs for learning and practice. - 7 default presets (e.g. zodiac constellations & navigational stars) ready for use. - Three training and testing modes for each level (easy, medium and hard) to help you progress smoothly and guide you to eventually recognize the constellations, stars and DSOs in the real night sky. - Opportunity to review your mistakes after completing each level. - Device-specific pronunciation for constellations, stars and DSOs. - Realistic night sky simulation and beautiful illustrations and animations. - Combination of learning and gaming. Learn while having fun. - Explore the mysterious night sky on your own on the Explore screen. - Completely configure the game according to your preference. Adjust sounds & vibrations, change appearance of the sky (stars, illustrations, constellation lines, borders of constellations, equatorial grid lines, focus ring, Milky Way, etc.) and so on. - Night mode to reduce the strain on the eyes. - Absolutely no ads. - Works completely offline. Game The game is designed to teach the user to recognize all the 88 modern constellations, brightest stars and 110 Messier Objects by taking them through a number of levels. Levels are divided into categories (constellations, stars & DSOs), regions (north, equator, south) and difficulties (easy, medium, hard). Each level teaches only a small number of objects and then trains the knowledge in a quiz game to aid memorization. Later levels also review and retest the knowledge of previously learnt objects. Levels In each level, you're first given an opportunity to see and memorize the objects (constellations, stars or DSOs) of that level. Use the arrows to go through all of them, and click 'Start' once you're ready. The description of each object is displayed on the panel at the bottom of the screen. The panel can be expanded by dragging it up to show more details about the object. After clicking “Start”, an object will be shown and you’ll be presented with 4 options. The level ends when you answer a certain number of questions (shown in the top-left corner) correctly. At the end of the level you'll have the opportunity to review the mistakes you’ve made before progressing further. Please note, in challenge levels, no hints are available and you are given only a limited number of lives to pass them. Difficulties Each level is available in 3 difficulties: easy, medium, and hard. Easy levels show the lines of the constellations, making the experience less similar to the real night sky, but it's the first step of learning. Medium levels hide the lines of the constellations, but show their precise borders and the lines of the surrounding constellations to help the recognition. Hard levels are closest to the real night sky: they only show the approximate location of the objects, instead of the exact shape (the borders), and randomly choose the orientation each time, so that you learn to recognize the objects from another angle. We recommend going through each difficulty, from easy to hard. Explore screen The explore screen (third button on the main screen) allows you to explore the sky on your own. Tapping on the objects (e.g. names of the stars or constellations) shows more information about them (e.g. abbreviation, brightest star, area of the sky, distance etc.). You can also use the same double-tap gesture to quickly hide/reveal all the decorations. The search icon (top-right corner) allows you to quickly find a particular object you're interested in. Privacy Policy: https://www.dong.digital/skyacademy/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.dong.digital/skyacademy/tos/

Screenshots

Sky Academy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: 88 constellations at none against Sky Academy's 1. Sky Academy's advantage is ratings volume (198 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Sky Academy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 88 constellations asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for 88 constellations against 4.9 for Sky Academy. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sky Academy has 198 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
88 constellations versus Sky Academy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter88 constellationsSky Academy
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.9 (198 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1198 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVladimir VascakXiang Dong

Customer experience

88 constellations

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Sky Academy

All ratings194 ratings
Positive97.9%
Neutral2.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

88 constellations

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Sky Academy

One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$4.99

Questions

Is 88 constellations free?
88 constellations is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sky Academy free?
Sky Academy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, 88 constellations or Sky Academy?
88 constellations is rated higher. 88 constellations averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Sky Academy averages 4.9 from 198 ratings.
Do 88 constellations or Sky Academy have ads?
Neither 88 constellations nor Sky Academy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 88 constellations or Sky Academy?
88 constellations ships an update every 4 months, and Sky Academy every 4 months. Most recently, 88 constellations was updated on November 1, 2026 and Sky Academy on November 7, 2026.

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