Pocket Universe - Astronomy 4+
The night sky stars & planets
John Kennedy
Designed for iPad
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- $4.99
Screenshots
Description
Now with a map detailing the approximate location of the North American Solar Eclipse happening in April!
There's never been a better time to get into Astronomy! Start off easy with an app that will guide you around the night sky - and even entertain you a little when the skies are cloudy.
"The app works beautifully, making astronomy a bit less mysterious—but no less remarkable", MacWorld
"It’s truly an impressive marvel. 5 Mice out of 5", MacWorld.
"..one of the prettiest and easiest to use. And at three bucks, it’s a steal", Cult of Mac.
Apple App Store Staff Favorite
Voted Best Educational iPhone Application by AppAdvice
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Pocket Universe
Have you ever looked up at the night sky, and wondered what exactly you were looking at? Pocket Universe is an easy-to-use app that will help you learn the names of constellations, bright stars, planets and more. You can literally hold up your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch in front of you, and the app will use the built-in compass to display the same view of the sky you see - but one that's complete with names and information.
Then explore the Solar System, and take virtual walks on the surface of the Moon and Mars, before playing a game to help you learn more about astronomy that you thought possible.
Every night there is something to see: Pocket Universe will provide you a list of suggestions, as well as give you regularly updated news and observation tips - which you can even share with your friends.
You don’t need to be an expert to use Pocket Universe, and everything you see has a useful pop-up information window and links to Wikipedia for the latest information.
With over 80,000 stars, beautiful textures, built-in quiz games, updated news, lunar phases, information on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, an Orrery view, and more, there’s so much to explore.
For support or to ask a question, feel free to send a direct message on Twitter to @CraicDesign or email john@craicdesign.com.
Key Features
Pocket Universe was the first iPhone astronomy app to support the built-in compass, and it was also the first to add a true augmented reality view using the iPhone's built-in camera! Use the camera view in the evening or morning sky to overlay the labelled view over the real sky.
Simply hold up your iPhone in front of you, and the view will be exactly what you see - but with names and information at your fingertips. Move the iPhone around to see the view change in real-time.
Easy-to-use astronomy application, which focuses on helping you answer the question "What's that in the sky?"
• Works on all iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices running latest IOS
• Supports augmented reality views that put the solar system in your living room, or all around you with 3rd party stereo headsets (available separately).
• Tracks the International Space Station, and predicts sightings.
• Tells you how long every day is, and tracks changes over the year.
• Special "Show Me" mode will guide you to named stars, planets, constellations as well as the brightest galaxies and nebulae.
• "Tonight's Sky" and "Objects and Events" will keep you up-to-date, and give you suggestions for what to look for when you head outside.
• Constellation and Star Quiz to help you learn your way around the sky.
• Works in Northern Hemisphere and ‘Down Under’ too.
• Links to Wikipedia articles for the latest information.
• Responsive customer support, frequent updates.
Please note: Network access is only required to view supplementary web-based news and Wikipedia text. This app never transmits data from your device.
Note: Non-English localizations focus on solar system objects and constellation names.
What’s New
Version 6.17
Added animated North American April 2024 eclipse map
Updated sky events for 2024
Made text larger in Sky mode
Made it more obvious how to turn off motion tracking
Ratings and Reviews
Congratulations on a fantastic app!
Hey Craig,
I just wanted to thank you wholeheartedly for your Pocket Universe app. This is what I have been looking for at least a decade. Every time I was out and had time to marvel at the stars I didn't have a star gazing book with me. Now I finally have the chance at any time to find out which stars I am looking at. Thank you so much, I really love your app. One feature that I especially like is not only the motion detection which is brilliant (maybe, I'm allowed to make a small remark here that the tracking gets thrown off at a 45% angle when holding up) but also the functionality to connect to Wikipedia for the major stars. It would be awesome if this functionality would be enabled for the constellations as well. I would simply love to be able to read the ancient stories related to them.
Everyone who takes a look at this app - don't even think about not buying. It is worth every cent and more.
Man, you have made me a very happy man. Thanks again!
Compass problem
Good app but the compass never aligns properly, always around 90’ out.
Beam me up.
A friend showed me this last night, it made my Force Unleashed lightsabre look, well lame! Minutes after downloading from iTunes, it was installed on my iPhone 3GS and I was walking outside onto my deck into the night sky. Just that one slow 360 degree scan of the sky with heavens going across my screen in real time and it was money well spent.
Standing there with a hand held global communication device with 'everything imaginable' integrated into it, I did feel very sci-fi. Makes me wonder what the big thing will be in 10 years time. 5/5 for Pocket Universe, Cos it's always good to have a bit of James T in your pocket!
App Privacy
The developer, John Kennedy, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy.
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- John Kennedy
- Size
- 200.2 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
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- iPhone
- Requires iOS 12.1 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 12.1 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 12.1 or later.
- Mac
- Requires macOS 11.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Languages
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English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Swedish
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2011, 2024 Craic Design
- Price
- $4.99
Supports
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Family Sharing
Up to six family members can use this app with Family Sharing enabled.