SkyView®

This is one of the best ways to explore space, right at your fingertips. There’s no ads! You can explore, look at stars even during the broad daylight, you can find your favorite space objects, you can read information on rocket bodies, you can view planet alignments, you can even look at constellations, and an image of something, which, is supposed to resemble the constellations of which you are looking at. I never even knew that Orion was a constellation, therefore that Betelgeuse was within the constellation of Orion. I could not have guessed that Orion was a constellation, and Betelgeuse was a star inside Orion, was even a thing. That’s why I love Skyview. This is my favorite educational app I have ever downloaded. You can learn about ANYTHING about space, and watch the sky. I am telling you, Skyview is one of the best apps ever. You can view all of your favorite stars, galaxies, nebulae, planets, constellations, even literal rockets and satellites. I love that when the camera is off, the background looks, fantastic! I love how you can learn something by every tap. Find a star, tap it, and watch how all this information pops up. The name, its precise location and where it is going, and a cool fun fact. Observe. Observe the true nature of this app. Skyview is awesome. How many times did I say this apps name?

I initially tried the SkyView Lite with my son after buying him a telescope a few weeks back. My initial thoughts of the app were great (still is) as you can point up, down, side-to-side and behind you and find what’s out there. This gets me dizzy and somewhat lost when trying relocate the object through the telescope. A few nights back, we went to a viewing event and found another similar app (stellarium) which did not have (could be user settings) all of the constellation artwork pop ups and things getting in the way to try and find certain nebula and various other objects. His app simplified with a real-time view (potentially used a light pollution map) of what’s visible by the eye, to help find objects. He also did not have to point the app up, he held it at ground level and was able to match the stars visible currently to the eye, vs holding up the phone and getting lost within all the stars in the sky with your app. Long story short I found some settings in this app to remove the pop up constellation artwork and reduce some of the stars, planets and satellites, however I’m not able to eliminate the point up to see option. Is there a setting for that in this app? I would like to hold the phone flat like I’m texting and see a real time view of what’s viewable with my eye, vs getting dizzy with the moving and spinning of the app.

This app is so helpful when using a telescope or binoculars (tells you right where to look for what you want to see closer up with your equipment) but is also fun to use just to know where everything is in relationship to where I am and where the horizon is etc. I love being able to "see through" Earth - to see what space objects are beneath us at that moment and unseen by us because the Earth is in the way. I love the many facts we'll get if we click on the object (or do a search). I love enabling the trajectory to see where the object will be and at what time (allows me to plan my star-gazing evening hours and hours earlier). I love the relaxing music (tho a larger variety would be fun...however would also take up more storage?). I appreciate the option to manually calibrate my smart phone/camera to any particular item in the sky so that the view through my phone will be spot on (vs. where the app might otherwise be showing me the object is compared to where my phone's screen shows me the object is, if that makes sense). It also does it automatically but I prefer to use my own eye against an object that's easy to see like the moon or a bright planet or star. This has been a VERY entertaining app at gatherings/parties where others always end up downloading the app for themselves after using it on my phone...and I love how my kids love using it. Why? Because it's not a damned video game! It's also fun to see all the space trash out there (rocket bodies etc)! The newer option to have the app features lit up with red light instead of the usual color is SO important for those of us who want to keep our night vision after it's carefully adjusted to the darkness of the night sky. Lastly it's fun to take photos with the app and then to share on social media or to send to a friend or family member. Thanks so much for such a useful, practical, interesting and fun app!