Your friendly guide to the night sky! (And eclipses!)
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
---
Pocket Universe 2 turns your iPhone or iPad into an intuitive guide to the night sky. Just point your device upward to instantly identify what’s overhead—planets, constellations, comets, satellites, and deep-sky wonders.
Designed for clarity and ease of use, Pocket Universe 2 helps you learn the sky naturally, whether you’re stepping outside for a quick look or exploring in detail from your couch.
Key features
• Live sky view: Aim your device to identify stars, planets, the ISS, satellites, comets, and bright deep-sky objects in real time.
• Time travel: Scrub hours or days forward and back, jump to sunrise, sunset, golden hour, moonrise, or moonset - and return to “now” instantly.
• Explore mode: Discover what’s worth looking for tonight, with summaries of upcoming events, solar activity, Moon phases and maps, Jupiter and Saturn’s moons and rings, a full Solar System orrery, and dedicated ISS and satellite views.
• Find anything fast: Search by name, browse curated “cool things” lists, or jump straight to planets and other Solar System bodies.
• Rich object details: Learn about thousands of objects, including planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, and more.
• Widgets: Add Sun and Moon times and Moon phase to your Home Screen or desktop.
• Deep customization: Night vision mode, labels, grids, constellation lines, satellites, comets, and more. Save presets to switch instantly between your favorite viewing modes.
Pocket Universe 2 is the sequel to Pocket Universe, one of the first astronomy apps on the App Store. It has been completely rewritten using modern frameworks and tools to deliver a faster, cleaner, and more immersive stargazing experience.
Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
I am no expert but I am a huge space and astronomy enthusiast. One of my really good friends is an Astro physicist and professor and he has taught me a fair bit over the years. I love being able to take this app out and share with friends or family various things I have learned from him. This app is incredibly easy to use and very helpful in finding whatever information you are looking for as it relates to the sky. The interactive map that let you point the camera at the sky to find planets and stars is very cool. Great app I would recommend to anyone interested in space whether a beginner or expert. I would buy this app again.
I'm sad
TWEETYPAK
This used to be my favorite app, but I finally have to give up the ghost. I've been frustrated by this app for several years now. When I point my phone towards an object, for instance Venus tonite, I have to turn the face of the phone about 45° to the right of the planet in order to have it come into view on the screen. It's been like this for years. I don't understand. I used to be able to just point my phone at anything and find out what it was. I used to look forward to reading the news every month but now there's nothing there but a little square listing the super moons for 2024 and that's it! I finally had to download a different star app which I don't like as much but at least if I point my phone at a star it'll tell me what it is instead of me having to point my phone away from the object to try to find out what it is, I guess this has largely gone into the orphan app bin. :-( It was a great app! But it's just not usable and hasn't been for a long time.
Developer Response
Hopefully this is all resolved in the latest update!
Version 6.3. Five stars again!!!!
wowwzers
This app is really amazing and lots of fun to use. There are many deep features to explore and enjoy. The 'Motion' feature works really well when several versions ago it was hit and miss with figuring out which was was North.Today the app was updated with a cool solar eclipse tracker. It seems to be off by just a few miles south around the St Louis area (less than 10 maybe) but for a simulation it will allow me to show friends what they can expect.Great app. Keep it up!!
Great app
Jeff griffith
This app is awesome, the only people that leave negative reviews are the same people that don’t know how to turn on a computer and have to have their grandchildren fix their technical issues. Don’t be fooled by the people giving negative reviews, this app is great, been using it for years.
Lots of improvements in this release!
Eclipse View rewrite
- Path centerline shown on map (orange polyline of totality path)
- Your location context - shows distance from centerline and estimated coverage %
- Countdown timer for future eclipses (e.g. "27d 5h until eclipse")
- Eye safety warning appears during live eclipse tracking
- Easier timeline dragging
- Data-driven phase markers (Start / Max / End from NASA-verified path data)
- Proper shadow geometry which is latitude-corrected ellipse at high latitudes
- Improved eclipse picker that shows upcoming/past badges, magnitude
Jupiter & Saturn Moons
- Smart label positioning so moon names no longer overlap
- Rewind past "now" so you can explore past positions
- Standardized button colors with clean white instead of rainbow
Bug Fixes
- Settings dismiss crash - fixed memory access violation (weak reference capture)
- Constellation outlines flashing on Settings close
- Solar Activity data now loads immediately on view appear
- Time buttons no longer overlap the main control strip
- On-screen coordinates aren't hidden by buttons
- Moon phase more accurately calculated for certain locations
- In Motion Tracking mode, adjust the central site to make it less distracting
- Motion Tracking on at launch by default (can be disabled in Settings)
Polish
- Improved star and planet rendering
- Optimized loading speed
- Constellation label size reduced (18pt → 16pt)
- Settings display optimized
- Settings organized with section headers
- Constantly reviewed and improved against Apple HIG
Version 20.7
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
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
John Kennedy
Size
115.4 MB
Category
Education
Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 18.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 15.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.