Astro Locator vs QUARCS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Astro Locator
This app assists astronomers in quickly and easily achieving polar alignment for their telescopes. It helps locate key stars like Polaris or Sigma Octantis, displaying essential astronomical data for setup and viewing. Ideal for mobile astronomers who frequently set up and pack down their equipment.
- Quick polar alignment
- Locate Polaris/Sigma Octantis
- Display elevation, latitude, longitude
- Show moon phase
- Sunrise/sunset times
- Astro twilight times
- Today Extension widget
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Spend less time setting up and more time observing. Astro Locator helps you quickly and accurately polar align your equatorial mount by showing the precise position of Polaris or Sigma Octantis. Designed for both visual astronomy and astrophotography, it makes polar alignment fast, simple and reliable wherever you observe. Whether you’re setting up in your garden or under dark skies, Astro Locator provides all the information you need on a single, easy-to-read screen. Features include: • Accurate Polaris and Sigma Octantis positioning • Compass direction and correct elevation for your location • Latitude, longitude and altitude • UTC and local time • Sunrise and sunset times • Astronomical twilight start and end times • Current moon phase • Clean, uncluttered interface designed for fast setup Astro Locator is ideal for astronomers who assemble and pack away their equipment for each observing session, helping you spend less time setting up and more time enjoying the night sky. Trusted by amateur astronomers since 2014.
QUARCS
This open-source software kit enables remote astrophotography capture via Wi-Fi and computer. It offers comprehensive control over telescope mounts, cameras, autoguiding, and electric focusers, integrating with Stellarium for sky mapping.
- Remote capture via Wi-Fi
- Computer remote capture via LAN
- Mount control
- Camera control
- Autoguiding
- Electric focuser control
- Stellarium skymap integration
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Q.U.A.R.C.S (QHYCCD Universal Astrophotographic Remote Capture System) is an open-source software kit that supports the full function of mobile remote capture via WIFI and computer remote capture via LAN. It includes the mount control, camera control, autoguiding, electric focuser control, and Stellarium skymap function.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Astro Locator at 77% against QUARCS's 0%. Astro Locator also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (68 vs 1). QUARCS's advantage is price (Free vs $3.99) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
QUARCS is free to download; Astro Locator costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Astro Locator holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Astro Locator has 68 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Astro Locator's written reviews are positive against 0% of QUARCS's.
Astro Locator ships an update every 3 months, QUARCS every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Astro Locator | QUARCS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (68 ratings) — better | 3.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.3% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 68 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Progress Concepts Limited | Light Speed Vision(Beijing) Co., Ltd |
Customer experience
Astro Locator
QUARCS
In-app purchases
Astro Locator
No in-app purchases
QUARCS
No in-app purchases









