Comparison

Bubble Level + Compass Pro vs StellarMate

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

Head to head
About

Bubble Level + Compass Pro

This utility app provides a precise spirit level and compass for your iPhone and Apple Watch. Get live readings on your wrist, even when your phone's screen is out of sight. Features include bullseye, horizontal, and vertical levels with 0.1-degree precision.

Highlights
  • Bullseye, horizontal, and vertical levels
  • 0.1-degree precision
  • True and magnetic heading
  • Apple Watch companion app
  • Gyro or accelerometer sensor mode
  • Red-light night mode
Features
Read full description

Bubble Level + Compass Pro combines a precise spirit level, compass, and Apple Watch companion app, so when your phone is placed somewhere hard to see its screen, you can still get live readings from your wrist. No more out-of-reach setups, and no more crouching. Features: • Bullseye level plus horizontal and vertical levels with 0.1 degree precision • Bubble level units: Angle (degrees) or Incline/Slope (%) • True and magnetic heading with direction text • Magnetic declination • Apple Watch companion app • Gyro or accelerometer sensor mode • Gyro calibration offset to compensate for camera bulge or uneven phone cases • Pitch/Roll/Yaw rotation rate readouts • Compass calibration status • Red-light night mode The tool is normally included in my astronomical app (Polar Scope Align Pro), but I decided to release it as a separate app because I could not find anything with the features I wanted on the app store. (A free ad-supported version is also available)

About

StellarMate

Control your astrophotography equipment remotely. Capture images, stream video, and perform precise alignment. Automatically back up your photos to the cloud with rich metadata for easy searching.

Highlights
  • Remote equipment control
  • Image capture and video streaming
  • Polar alignment assistant
  • Cloud image backup
  • Metadata search and sorting
  • Software updates
Features
Read full description

Use StellarMate App to discover and connect to your StellarMate controller. Control StellarMate functions and access the Web Manager and Web based VNC Viewer. Join StellarMate to your home WiFi network. Use Ekos to capture images, stream video, guide, focus, and align. With Polar Alignment Assistant tool, get very accurate polar alignment using internal astrometry engine. Never lose your images again with EkosLive Pro. All captured images are automatically uploaded to the cloud with a rich set of metadata that enables powerful search and sorting. Use custom tags to uniquely tag important frames for later use. Check the health of your device, and use the software updater to keep it up to date.

Screenshots

Bubble Level + Compass Pro4 screens
StellarMate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bubble Level + Compass Pro at 100% against StellarMate's 35%. Bubble Level + Compass Pro also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.3) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.1). StellarMate's advantage is price (Free vs $0.99) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 17 months). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

StellarMate is free to download; Bubble Level + Compass Pro costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bubble Level + Compass Pro holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 22 and 20 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Bubble Level + Compass Pro's written reviews are positive against 35% of StellarMate's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bubble Level + Compass Pro ships an update every 17 months, StellarMate every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Bubble Level + Compass Pro versus StellarMate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBubble Level + Compass ProStellarMate
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (22 ratings) — better3.3 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better34.6% of reviews
Number of ratings22 — better20
Update frequencyEvery 17 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB119 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDimitrios KechagiasIkarus Astronomy Company For Scientific Instruments & Tools

Customer experience

Bubble Level + Compass Pro

All ratings22 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

StellarMate

All ratings20 ratings
Positive55.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews52 reviews
Positive34.6%
Neutral9.6%
Negative55.8%

In-app purchases

None

Bubble Level + Compass Pro

No in-app purchases

None

StellarMate

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bubble Level + Compass Pro free?
Bubble Level + Compass Pro costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is StellarMate free?
StellarMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bubble Level + Compass Pro or StellarMate?
Bubble Level + Compass Pro is rated higher. Bubble Level + Compass Pro averages 5.0 out of 5 from 22 ratings, while StellarMate averages 3.3 from 20 ratings.
Do Bubble Level + Compass Pro or StellarMate have ads?
Neither Bubble Level + Compass Pro nor StellarMate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bubble Level + Compass Pro or StellarMate?
Bubble Level + Compass Pro ships an update every 17 months, and StellarMate every 8 days. Most recently, Bubble Level + Compass Pro was updated on September 10, 2026 and StellarMate on September 21, 2026.

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