Sky Guide

The only way i could rate this 5 stars without any doubt was if I designed and created it myself…only then would I rate it less due to my own criticism! Even if you have zero interest in looking at stars and planets, there is so much more to see and do! Don't second guess yourself, just pay the $2.99 and brag to all about how smart you were to get such a great app at such a great price! I did try upgrading to pro, and it wasn't what i needed, so i unsubscribed before the free trial ended, and had no problems with my account going back to the original subscription, and no charges the following month…which was Sept. and why i waited to post review. Attention App creators! This app offered an upgrade to pro, they didnt however, hassle me to, or post ninja ads in my screen to annoy me, and they were transparent about the details and then followed thru with their promises, without excuses or mistakes! You can learn from this app and its protocols. This app combined with the 13pro max night mode camera feature has allowed me to capture stars that are not visible to my eyes, and some satellites that include ISS when it was justa mere +1.3!!! (Normally it has to be -2.0 or lower to get a clear shot) including starlinks and the Pleiades.

Back 10 years ago I purchased Star Walk, and then Star Walk 2 from another developer and they were fantastic apps. They really showed off the power of the iPad and iPhone’s display, compass, and gps location services. Then a couple years later this app hit the App Store and I ponied up more money and purchased it, and life was great. This app did stuff the other didn’t and Vice versa. The months roll on, updates come out all the while they just kept getting better. Then…since the latest update ALL of the cool functionality was gone, hidden behind a subscription based paywall. It’s disheartening when something that you paid for in the beginning is taken away from you and you’re expected to pay again and again just to get back what you originally had. I understand App development cost money and supporting the apps does too, but to take away something that should’ve been grandfathered, or at least if they were changing to a subscription based service then it should’ve been in a whole new app called Skyview2, and left the original alone. Lost one of your greatest champions just for chasing after the dollars. Reply to developers reply… Yes I know I own the”Legacy” version because purchased the app WAY before Aug 2021. I’ve had the app since mid 2014 and now all the cool extra stuff I was referring to having lost since the big update is certainly still available… behind the new “Pro” and “Plus” paywalls when it wasn’t before. Even the cool modeling of the different satellites like the Hubble are gone from the Legacy version.

The app is wonderful. It not only shows you the constellations, but for nearly everything you can find in the sky it has little blurbs of information. It’s super helpful if you’re someone like me who loves the sky, but just wants simple, non physics related explanations for things. It also tells you what kinds of events are coming up that’ll be visible to your location (eclipses, meteor showers, newly visible planets, etc). It’s really well done and I really enjoy the app, but I can’t use it for long periods of time because the dark mode hurts my eyes. Looking at the stars is fine, but whenever I try to read anything my eyes hurt lol. I’m nearsighted, I’ve needed glasses for most of my life. It’s not uncommon for dark mode to be really uncomfortable for folks who are nearsighted, and it’s even worse when I’m not wearing my glasses. I love looking at the stars before I go to sleep, but I usually can’t read any of the information available without ending up in extreme pain. As far as I can tell, there’s no way to turn it off, and I’ve dug through the app’s settings and had a family member do the same. While writing this, I realized I could probably mess with the accessibility settings on my phone to help, but as it stands I will probably not be renewing my subscription at the end of the year and will probably just use the app to show constellations, without any of the extra information. Just a heads up for other nearsighted folks who might be interested!