SkySafari 8 Pro sets a new standard for mobile astronomy. Built on the most complete astronomical database ever put on a phone, it delivers unmatched accuracy, powerful observing and planning tools, seamless telescope and Alpaca camera control, and a beautifully refined interface. Whether you're exploring from your backyard or planning an all-night session, SkySafari 8 Pro gives you the clarity, precision, and reliability that serious observers depend on.
What’s New in Version 8
+ UI Themes - Customize your experience with five new UI color themes. Instantly change the look of the app with a fresh visual palette.
+ ASCOM ALPACA Camera Support - Connect and control ALPACA-compatible astronomy cameras directly from SkySafari.
+ SmartEye Support - Seamless integration with SmartEye for enhanced imaging workflows.
+ Image Gallery - Import your own images from AstroBin, FITS files, local storage, URLs, or an ALPACA camera. Includes basic editing tools.
+ Plate Solving - Quickly plate-solve imported images and place them directly onto the sky chart.
+ Lunar Surface Outlines - Explore the Moon like never before with detailed outlines for maria, craters, mountains, and more.
+ Appulses in Events Finder - Find precise moments when the Moon or planets pass close to the Pleiades, other planets, or stars of a chosen magnitude. Also includes transit and occultation search capabilities.
+ Rotatable FOV Indicator - Rotate the field of view to any angle - perfect for matching your camera orientation.
+ Observing Conditions (Premium) - Get observer-focused hourly forecasts, including best viewing windows, seeing index, and sky quality metrics.
If you're new to SkySafari 8 Pro, here’s what you can do:
+ Point & Identify - Hold your device to the sky and instantly identify stars, constellations, planets, satellites, and more.
+ Travel Through Time - Simulate the sky up to 5 million years backward or forward. Animate meteor showers, conjunctions, eclipses, and other events.
+ Telescope Control - Control your telescope and manage your observing sessions with advanced planning and logging tools. Supports ASCOM ALPACA, INDI, and StarSense Explorer.
+ Events Finder - Use the powerful search engine to find upcoming astronomical events visible from your location - tonight or far into the future.
+ Cloud Sync (Optional) - Securely back up observing data to LiveSky and access it across your devices or through LiveSky.com.
+ Augmented Reality (AR) Mode - View the sky with an AR overlay for an immersive experience.
+ Night Vision Mode - Preserve dark-adapted vision while you observe.
+ Orbit Mode - Leave Earth behind and fly through the solar system.
+ Galaxy View - See where deep-sky objects lie within the Milky Way.
Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Privacy Policy: https://www.livesky.com/privacy.html
My favourite new feature is the ability to import my astrophotos into the charts so it’s easy to ID all the stars and background objects. I bought this on my iPad but really intended to use it on my iPhone, but unfortunately I’ve found it doesn’t work on the iPhone 8… also my Mac is intel so it wont work on that either and, thanks to Apple, most of the space on my iPad is needed for system files - so it’s ended up being a bit of a waste of money for me unfortunately and I’ll have to stick to version 7. That’s not really the devs fault as my phone is old now but I can’t see a good reason why it wont work as version 7 runs fine.
Excellent
iDifficult
This is my go to astronomy app. It builds my observing lists, controls my telescope, shows the night sky with my local horizon. It is excellent. Obviously I still want more - improved import and export functions - more catalogs - ability to record an object as unobserved - more menu customisation - fixes to existing catalogs and the ability to apply local corrections. But massive thanks and kudos to the development team. I don’t see why we shouldn’t have a desktop experience on a mobile device, and it seems nor do they.
Disappointing
Tepamu
An expensive upgrade. Then as soon as opened wants an expensive subscription to unlock many of the features. Couldn’t recommend this at all.
Developer Response
Hi,The core app is as it always has been: scope control, huge object databases and market-leading observing features. We have added imaging, deep customization through plate solving and placement of astrophotography in your sky chart, high-res moon features map with powerful filtering, upgraded event finder with appulse and ISS transit searches and more. If you wish to support passionate astronomy authors that write several articles per month, please consider premium for less than $1 USD per week. You can subscribe monthly and activate a free trial for 7 days to see if you enjoy the content and premium integrations/data feeds that have on-going cost to SkySafari. Observing and Weather Conditions is a big one, but also the access to Premium LiveSky.com and others are not necessary for all SkySafari users. We listen to the community and provide both additional core and premium features over many releases we will have the next few years, it just depends on the nature of the feature or integration and cost to SkySafari whether it falls in the Premium category or Core App category.Thanks,
Just purchased
AlanMc911
I’m a real fan of SkySafari Pro and I’ve used pro 7 for years. So, when I noticed pro 8 was available I was really excited. However, I have to say I’m very dissatisfied with the new version. It seems to have no updated features and unless you agree to a subscription there is no reason to upgrade if you already have access to previous versions. Sorry to be negative here but this my observations so far. I would be happy to be proved wrong….
Developer Response
Hi Alan,I'm sorry but you are quite confused! The plate solving, image import, gallery & pin you favorite astrophotography to your sky chart is an incredible new feature that does not require any premium membership. Alpaca Camera control, SmartEye integration, high resolution Moon surface feature identification and filtering, updated Event Finder with powerful new appulse and ISS transit finding, rotatable FOVs and more have been added to the core app. There is of course a lot more coming as we update all our versions for many years with new features and address tons of user requests. The premium membership supports astronomy authors that publish exclusive and early, ad-free content several times per month for SkySafari users. You can also choose to be a part of Premium to get a feature like on-demand weather and observing conditions that cost us money to integrate into the app. Other data streams that are a part of Premium also incur on-going fees and do not cut you off from anything core to our mobile planetarium and scope/camera control app. If you don't want to support the astronomy authors or need your weather and observing data within SkySafari, it's very easy to hide the Premium related items at the screen where you can sign up for a 7 day free trial. Also, you can simply subscribe monthly and cancel anytime. The annual membership works out to less than $1 per week. Please try the app out a little further, check out the help section in settings, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Fixed Bugs:
- Improved accuracy for the Artemis II mission
Version 8.0.3
The developer, Simulation Curriculum Corp., 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 Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Location
Contact Info
User Content
Identifiers
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary based, for example, on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Provider
Simulation Curriculum Corp.
Size
2.6 GB
Category
Reference
Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.6 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 18.6 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 18.6 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 15.6 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
