SkyView

SkyView is a fun, educational app that allows users to identify galaxies, stars, planets, and more by simply looking at the screen. It features a night mode, offering red and green filters to enhance night vision capabilities. The app supports Augmented Reality (AR) and can track the trajectories of celestial bodies, enabling users to capture stunning images of the sky. It is easy to use—simply point your phone at the sky to identify objects—and functions without a Wi-Fi connection. Additionally, it provides directional information, making it ideal for camping trips while helping users expand their astronomical knowledge.

Features

Simple: Point your device at the sky to identify galaxies, stars, constellations, planets, and satellites (including the ISS and Hubble) passing overhead.

Night Mode: Preserve your night vision with red or green night mode filters.

Augmented Reality (AR): Use your camera to locate objects in the sky, day or night.

Sky Path: Track the path of any object across the sky and see its exact position at any date and time.

Time Travel: Jump into the future or past to view the sky at different times and dates.

Social: Capture and share beautiful images with friends and family on social networks.

Portable: No Wi-Fi, data signal, or GPS required. Take it camping, boating, or even on a flight!

Advantages and disadvantages

Pros

Identify stars, constellations, planets, and certain satellites simply by pointing your phone at the sky.

Tap on celestial objects to view details such as their names, radii, and distances from Earth; easy to learn and use.

Features time-travel capabilities, path visualization, and stargazing event notifications, balancing exploration with planning.

Includes augmented reality and night modes (red and green filters), and supports offline use.

Cons

Some data and celestial object positions may lack precision, potentially leading to misidentification.

Occasional instability may occur, such as the screen spinning continuously and failing to lock onto a location.

User comments

Nice app. When I first downloaded and tried it, the compass settings (and sky) didn't line up with reality - ie. South showed up as though I was looking northeast. A few days later though, it worked perfectly. The graphics on this app are really good. If you hover over a star, satellite, or planet, it gives you info on it. In the case of planets and satellites it expands the planet or star into an image of it. If you hover near constellation it connects the stars with lines and an image.

I've downloaded this app on my last 3 phones because I love it so much. I love sharing it with people when we are outside under the stars so they can identify, and sometimes see with their naked eye, planets, galaxies, constellations, satellites, and my favorite, finding the ISS. The music is so comforting too. Thank you for keeping it accessible!

Very beautiful as well as informative with regards to the purpose of orienting oneself in the night sky and locating cosmic "goodies". If you draw over stars within a constellation, it will produce an overlay of the image of that constellation (a setting option) and even tracks faster moving objects (such as comets and satellites) as they are moving through space in real time. This is just in the "Lite" version that is free. ...oh, and the background music is EPIC!

Summarize

SkyView is a very interesting app for fans of outer space. Not only can you have fun with it, you can also learn. The app also has a great design with beautiful images of stars and planets and descriptions taken directly from Wikipedia.