SkyView® Lite 4+

I have used this app for a couple years now, and I cannot say that there is an app I have used for the same amount of time that has brought me more joy, excitement, and satisfaction than this one. It allows my never ending curiosity to be aided in a way that leads to discovery. Which I think is absolutely awesome. I would call myself an amateur astrophotographer, and this app helps me out a bunch. It is also really helpful to be reading a section of the textbook for my current astronomy class, and be able to whip this app out and find what star or galaxy we are talking about.

I do wish it would give you a better look into the future, being able to project where certain stars, galaxies, or nebulae will be in a larger scope of time. I am practicing taking shots of the heart of the milkyway, but I still have about a month or two until it will be near that time where I live. I'd like to be able to plan a bit more for my shots, so I end up on safari searching for the right info to help me out. I feel that would be a modest addition to the app.

So some people are confused about how there are constellations on objects and/or pointing on the ground. The earth is round, and you are not the only person that can see stars, the stars are all around you but you can’t see them because you are in a different place. You also might see a star/planet above you’re head, then right next to you, that is because earth is rotating and planets are also moving. The app is not fake, the constellations are in the right spot, some starts might be too dim, or light are too bright. You also can’t have any interference with magnets or you’re compass might not work. If you want to check if it’s real or working, then look in the sky (without the app) and find a constellation within the app. I’ve had zero problems with this app, and everything seems to be right, you might need to update it to find more stars. I 100% recommend SkyView Lite! (Also the Big Dipper is in a bear constellation)

I love being able to open this app whenever I see a star or constellation that I want to know more about or become familiar with. I’ve used this app on and off for a few years now but in the last few months with so much more dark time in the northern hemisphere, I have used it almost daily. I like to quiz myself and the app helps me grade my responses. I also use it to teach my two year old about the wonders in the night sky. We love it! Her favorite star: Vega. My favorite star(s): The winter triangle; Sirius, Betelgeuse, and Procyon. I love the option to display or hide constellation lines or artwork, and love that I can either show or hide the actual surroundings that my camera can see.
This app is great, I highly recommend it. There’s almost nothing I would change about it except maybe if there was a way to add a link in the facts area of a selected object to either the Wikipedia page or some other information source for further knowledge exploration.