iStellar for Pc

There are now seven serious star-charting apps in the iTunes Store (as of 30 January 2009). Each is good in its own ways, and each has its weaknesses. this app is one of the simpler apps. It starts up quickly, draws gorgeous sky images, and is very easy to use. Users will especially appreciate the beautiful full-color stars and constellation artwork. As of this writing, this app is the only app that includes artwork for all 88 constellations. It also offers a wider zoom range than any app except GoSkyWatch, and a very nice user interface for setting the time and showing time-lapse animation. One nice feature for beginners is that this app draws planets as stars--the way they actually appear in the sky. Most of the other apps use either special symbols or photographs taken from space. The main weakness of this app is that it doesn't tell you anything else about the objects in the sky. Nor can you search for an object by name; the app simply shows you what you'll see in a given direction, from a given place, at a given time. You can't see what's below your current horizon, so you have to change the time or location to view the other half of the sky. The settings in this app give you full control over which extra elements are drawn on the chart: constellation lines, names, and pictures; names of planets and brighter stars; and a collection of 110 clusters, nebulae, and galaxies (represented by colored symbols, not images). There's also a light pollution setting that can hide the fainter stars. The closest competitors to this app at this time are Star Walk (even prettier images but less control over the appearance); iAstronomica (full-sky map and even easier to use, but shows a lot less); GoSkyWatch (wider zoom range but plainer images); and Distant Suns (much more information but also much more complex). If you want a more advanced app to complement (not replace) this app, consider Starmap or Uranus. (This review is of version 1.0.4 of this app.)

I actually purchased this app by mistake. I wanted to view more details and read the reviews, but the apple store just starts the purchase without a confirmation. Now for the app. It shows stars, it shows constellations. Ok, big whoop. You can't search for objects, you can't adjust magnitude to relate to your actual human eye view. The app doesn't track your position relative to the direction your facing. So basically, I'm not impressed and actually quite put out that I paid 9 bucks for this app which should have sold for 99 cents. I believe they have a nice solid foundation on which to build and make improvements. But for now, this app is one to either avoid, or maybe the developer will rethink the price. Bottom line. Look somewhere else.

That's the message I get after the most recent upgrade to this app. Tech Support at AstroArts gave the typical non-response: We're sorry that you got trouble. this app works any iPhone/iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.0 or later. So you try re-sync application using iTunes. I resync at least once a day, and I'm running the latest OS on an iPhone 3G.

I have been using Planetarium for Palm OS for years. It has 2 million stars, full object databases, Alt-Az and sky view, rise/set times and much more. It is a professional grade tool. It's $30. This app is a fun toy but not worth the price.