Two centuries (633 Mercury retrograde cycles) of NASA/JPL Horizons-derived events in app, with geocentric vectors. Full Instrument unlocks granular alerts.
Retrograde carries its astronomical record with it.
633 Mercury retrograde cycles from 1900 through 2100, derived from NASA/JPL Horizons geocentric vectors all bundled inside the app. Status comes from that embedded event table. Current measurements and additional event estimates are calculated on your device. There is no server between the question and the answer.
IS MERCURY IN RETROGRADE?
For some, it's a simple yes or no question. For Retrograde, it's the shades in between that matter.
Retrograde opens the record for today: current phase, apparent longitudinal velocity and acceleration, distance from Earth, solar elongation, illuminated fraction, and the next state change. An orrery shows Mercury's ecliptic position. A fixed-scale velocity plot makes the station crossings visible and marks today on the curve.
TWO CENTURIES OF DATA ON YOUR DEVICE
Select and share any date from 1900 through 2100. Full Instrument opens the complete cycle archive. Read a cycle's complete chronology: shadow boundaries, stations, peak retrograde speed, inferior conjunction, closest approach, and greatest elongations. Compare its duration with all 633 cycles. Add a selected window to Calendar.
NINE NOTIFICATION EVENTS, INDIVIDUALLY CONTROLLED
Full Instrument lets you choose any combination of nine Mercury events for notifications: pre-retrograde shadow begins, greatest eastern elongation, station retrograde, peak retrograde speed, inferior conjunction, closest approach to Earth, station direct, greatest western elongation, and post-retrograde shadow ends.
Each selected occurrence fires once at its event time. Station and shadow alerts use timestamps from the bundled event table. Velocity and geometry alerts use clearly identified on-device estimates. Every alert explains what happened and identifies the next selected event. Events on the same day are combined into one useful update. A custom sound marks delivery. There are no daily reminders or recurring check-ins.
PRIVATE BY DESIGN
The answer, archive, calculations, widgets, alerts, and card generation are local. Retrograde has no account, backend, runtime astronomy feed, ads, or subscription, and never asks to track you across other apps. The core instrument works offline.
TODAY STAYS FREE. FULL INSTRUMENT IS ONE PURCHASE.
Today, the animated orrery, current measurements, any-date reports, sharing, and widgets are free. Full Instrument is one permanent purchase that unlocks the complete cycle archive, detailed cycle records, Calendar export, and all nine event alerts. Existing paid owners keep full access automatically. There is no subscription.
They added a function where each day there is a piece of ancient wisdom and the new functionality is really good
Developer Response
We're so glad you're enjoying the ancient wisdom feature! It's wonderful to hear you find it a valuable addition.— retrograde
Love the app!
kota8
Love this app! Hoping that they add a widget feature to eventually.
Developer Response
Widget coming and a complete design refresh!
Notifications do not work
steph22555
This app would be perfect. The layout is perfect and I wouldn’t change anything about it except the notifications do NOT work. I have played with the settings and have all the notifications turned on on my phone but I do not receive any notifications from this app no matter what I do. Please fix this ASAP as this was my reason for downloading this app. Thank you.
Developer Response
Hi Friend! The notifications have been fixed! Thanks for reporting this in and please feel free to send any more suggestions or questions to hello@retrogradeapp.com
No pre or post shadow
Mjheas111
It’s ok. Not anything great. It shows the Mercury retrograde dates & will send notifications but it doesn’t show pre or post shadow. It’s not worth the money. I am looking for an app that does it all...shows retrograde of all the major planets, shows pre & post shadow, strength of retrograde, as well as notifications. Thanks anyway.
Developer Response
Hi there! I know it's been years, but we've completely rebuilt it from the ground up, and your upgrade is free. Thanks for being one of our early users. If you like the new stability, features, and speed, please leave a new review!
Retrograde 3.4 is free to download, and Full Instrument is still one purchase for life.
FULL INSTRUMENT FOR EARLIER BUYERS. If you paid to download Retrograde, Full Instrument now unlocks automatically. No second purchase, no restore.
FREE TO DOWNLOAD. Today's answer, the live orrery, current measurements, any-date reports, sharing, and widgets are free. Full Instrument opens the complete 633-cycle archive, Calendar export, and all nine event alerts. There is no subscription.
STILL PRIVATE. Retrograde now sends anonymous usage stats and privacy-preserving install measurement so we can see what's working. There's still no account and no ads, and Retrograde never asks to track you or reads your advertising identifier. Details at trackingmercury.com/privacy.
Version 3.4
The developer, Dialect Agency Inc., 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:
Purchases
Identifiers
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Usage Data
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based 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
Seller
Dialect Agency Inc.
Size
5.2 MB
Category
Reference
Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
