The best stargazing apps put the cosmos in the palm of your hand, letting you locate and map the galaxies, stars, and planets from almost any location on Earth. They're not just an essential part of any amateur astronomer's toolkit, but also a great place to start for anyone who wants to understand more about the universe and how we fit into it.
Stargazing apps can introduce you to the wonders of the night sky in a way that is more understandable and accessible than any other source. They can also help you develop a profound understanding of the cosmos that you can carry with you for the rest of your life and reinforce your interest in astronomy and astrophotography.
The apps use the GPS on your smartphone to find the constellations and deep-space objects from wherever you are in the world, so you can access the cosmos from the comfort of your house or car.
For dedicated astronomers out in the field, however, the best stargazing apps make for an invaluable tool when paired with the best telescopes or best binoculars. Remember to pack one of the best power banks to ensure you have enough power to keep your phone charged while using one of these apps.
Take a look at the best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for astrophotography for the perfect astrophotography setup, if that is your goal.
Using a star-charting app typically involves pointing your phone at a certain part of the sky and the app identifies the object you are facing. In spite of their similarities, they differ in accuracy, complexity, features, presentation, and price.
Best stargazing apps 2023
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Best stargazing apps 2023 ranked
Even if you're an experienced stargazer well-versed in astronomical lore, you're almost certain to learn something from Skysafari 7 Pro, a comprehensive app that originally sat at the more expensive end of the market.
You can also connect the app to your telescope and have it guide you around the stars. A great feature is 'Sky Tonight' — a guided tour of the finest sights on show that night. We also love the powerful Events Finder, where you can utilize the search engine to find celestial events that are happening tonight and far into the future — a great feature if you're into astrophotography and want to plan your shoot for a specific event.
We love the fact that it backs up your settings and provides telescopic images and object information. As an educational tool, this app is hard to beat. There are many more features of the previous version that we looked at in our in-depth Sky Safari 6 Pro review, and now there's a newer version out we can't wait to test out even more features it has to offer.
The newer Sky Safari 7 Pro is even cheaper than Sky Safari 6 — you can get it for $26.99. Amongst other enhancements, the main improvements include a simplified interface and an extended database as standard. Be mindful though, it takes up a whopping amount of your device's storage space.
- Read our full SkySafari 6 Pro review
- Download SkySafari 6 Pro: Android, iOs
- Download SkySafari 7 Pro: Android, iOs
The mobile version of the well-known open-source desktop app is a fantastic app that's known for the quality of its constellation illustrations. However, unlike its Windows and Mac counterparts, you need to pay for it. After all, programmers need to make a living too, but at $19.99, it won't break the bank. There is a free version, but as expected, it doesn't have as many features as the Plus version.
What you get with Stellarium is a database that contains more stars than any other app (but not as many asteroids as Sky Safari). During our Stellarium Mobile Plus review we were impressed by the GPS positioning and night sky it displays automatically should you give the app permissions, so the sky you see displayed on your phone will be pretty similar to the actual sky above you. You can discover and identify your favorite planets and constellations, track moving satellites, and access data on the stars and planets of your choice, including myths and legends from other cultures. We were once unconvinced that it was as polished as the desktop version, but all that's been put to bed now with the new version.
When you zoom in, you can see HD pictures of nebulae and galaxies, albeit some, like the Pleiades, could benefit from an update. Pointing your phone at the sky will reveal the objects you can see, while the app also easily connects to most telescopes. Overall, we think this is one of the better astronomy apps out there. The Google Play Store rating of 4.9 stars out of 5 (based on the feedback of 5.52K reviews) is a testament to its high performance.
- Read our full Stellarium Plus review
- Download Stellarium: Android, iOs
Star Walk 2 is an augmented reality experience for the night sky that is available as a paid-for ($2.99) and free version, with the latter displaying ads and lacking in features. It's designed to be experienced from your phone screen rather than by connecting to a scope, and its easy interface makes it well-suited for beginners. We reviewed Star Walk 2 back in October 2021, but since then there have been a number of updates that have improved stability, refined notification settings, added an events calendar, and enhanced accuracy.
When you use your phone's camera to look up into the sky, the app will overlay constellations in the direction you're facing. You can also track the movement of planets and, if you pay for the upgrade, objects such as the International Space Station and the Starlink satellites. There's even a calm audio track to add a bit of atmosphere, but you can turn it off whenever you want if you find it irritating.
We particularly liked the 'Visible Tonight' section that guides you to spectacular objects you can see on a given evening, with photos and a link to its Wikipedia page for more information. Even at its most expensive, Star Walk 2 is a low-cost way to experience augmented astronomy. The free version is perfectly usable if you can live with its limitations, though we think it's worth spending the $2.99.
- Read our full Star Walk 2 review
- Download: Android, iOs
This user-friendly and affordable stargazing app has been around for a long time and has received many upgrades along the way. Using an interactive star map, it can identify constellations and other objects in the night sky and show their motion as they pass across the center of the screen. There is a free version, but the full version is only $1.99.
Though where the app falls down slightly is that you need to be very precise in your positioning to get the information you need. If you move even slightly away from the object you're interested in, the details vanish — perhaps the designers hadn't intended it for handheld viewing but rather for use on a tripod mount. In our SkyView review, we also found the AR screen to be extremely dark, even for viewing at night, but the graphics are clear and the illustrations of constellations are attractive.
However, there's a lot of info on offer when you do have it properly aligned. You can bring up full descriptions and even link externally to the object's Wikipedia page for more information.
The free version contains the details of fewer stars and constellations than the paid-for app, but the free version does have ads. You can upgrade by buying packs of extra stars, satellites and even a music package. Telescope integration is limited, but there's enough detail and functionality on offer here to make it attractive to novice astronomers.
- Read our full SkyView review
- Download: Android, iOs
In our Star Chart review, we were impressed with Star Chart's ability to use a device's built-in compass to locate where you are and what you see when pointing your device at the skies. For devices without a compass, manual scrolling is also supported.
While the Star Chart app offers exploration of the skies, there are also a lot of upgrades available, which can expand the number of targets available in the app. These vary from revealing meteor showers to extending the solar system so it includes dwarf planets and more planetary moons, to tracking comets and satellites. It’s an amazing app for both beginners and experts alike and with a price tag of zero (although there are some in-app purchases) it’s hard not to recommend Star Chart.
- Read our full Star Chart review
- Download: iOS
Sky Tonight is an excellent augmented reality iOS and Android app for pinpointing night sky features and identifying what you’re looking at. The app comes from Vito Technology, the same people who brought us Star Walk 2, and like that app, it provides a view of the night sky and the wonders you can see in it.
Sky Tonight is free, but offers in-app purchases of between $0.99 and $7.99 per item. The minimal white-on-blue look of the app’s map is very attractive, so it’s a shame it will spend so much of its time in the ruddy tones of night mode. Still, better a red map than ruined night vision.
With its nicely illustrated map of the constellations, and the ability to use your device’s camera to identify objects, you’ll not be short of reading material when you head back inside and read up on the sights you’ve seen. There are several astronomy apps on the market, but few manage to present information with the style and depth that Sky Tonight manages.
- Read our full Sky Tonight review
- Download: Android, iOS
How we test the best stargazing apps
In order to guarantee you’re getting honest, up-to-date recommendations on the best stargazing apps to buy here at Space.com we make sure to put every stargazing app through a rigorous review to fully test each software. Each stargazing app is reviewed based on a multitude of aspects, from its layout and design, to how well it functions as a stargazing software and its performance when observing the night sky.
Each stargazing app is carefully tested by either our expert staff or knowledgeable freelance contributors who know their subject areas in depth. This ensures fair reviewing is backed by personal, hands-on experience with each stargazing app and is judged based on its price point, class and destined use.
We look at how easy each stargazing app is to operate, whether it contains the latest up-to-date observing technology like VR and synchronizing with calendars. We’ll also make suggestions if a particular stargazing app would benefit from any additional accessories to give you the best observing experience possible.
With complete editorial independence, Space.com are here to ensure you get the best buying advice on stargazing apps, whether you should purchase one or not, making our buying guides and reviews reliable and transparent.
