The best stargazing apps enable you to identify galaxies, stars and planets using your smartphone. Whether you're looking to improve your knowledge of the cosmos or venturing into the world of astrophotography, these apps are a must.
Depending on the level of detail and scientific accuracy you opt for when you choose the app for you, you'll unlock access to vast libraries of knowledge about the night sky. Stargazing apps are interactive, accessible and usable anywhere you can take your phone, making them the perfect companion for your night-time adventures.
Using the GPS on your smartphone, the app can find constellations and other spatial objects whatever your location, so you can find out the details about the cosmos that surrounds you wherever you are. They work both from the comfort of your home to the field, which is handy when you're on night shoots, for example.
The concept is simple: point your phone to the part of the sky you're interested in, and the app will tell you what you are looking at. There is a wide range of these apps available, so we're here to cut through the noise. We've tested and reviewed different stargazing apps to identify the best ones for you, whatever your needs and budget.
To pair with your new stargazing app, why not take a look at our guides to the best telescopes or best binoculars? And if you're a photographer looking to move into astro, don't miss our best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for astrophotography guides.
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 7 Pro review
- Download SkySafari 6 Pro: Android, iOs
- Download SkySafari 7 Pro: Android, iOs
PhotoPills is a sophisticated stargazing app, calculator, map and celestial almanac rolled into one. It's designed to solve problems for astrophotographers such as location scouting, calculating exposure settings, and lens selection, but it's also a place to learn new techniques and share images with a community of users.
Because it has so many functionalities, PhotoPills also has a steep learning curve. The Planner feature shows you the exact sightline, azimuth and altitude for the sun and the moon, which means you can plan your shoots perfectly. There's also a great AR and Night AR function, which overlay the paths of the sun and moon on the sky.
The app is a great tool to have in the field. The PhotoPills app is great if you want to take a full moon photo behind a landmark, but it can do so much more than that. As such, it's the perfect app for astrophotographers looking to precisely plan their shoots in advance. For beginners or more casual users, there are plenty of simpler and cheaper apps in this guide.
- Read our full PhotoPills review
- Download PhotoPills for iOS
- Download PhotoPills for Android
Night Sky 11 is a relatively new stargazing app, but don't let that deter you. It's an aesthetically-pleasing, easy-to-use app with one big caveat: it only works on Apple devices. That said, it is usable on anything from a Mac PC to an Apple watch.
The app has an AR star map, and you can simply point your device to the heathens wherever you are to reveal the constellations, galaxies and other objects in the night sky. Night Sky 11 also lets you set notifications for things like the best times to look for the ISS which we thought was handy.
The premium version does set itself apart from the free one through a variety of different features. When you invest in Night Sky +, you have access to the full 1.7 billion star library, which is restricted in the free version. The AR Grand Orrery function also overlays a whole solar system map onto a surface of your choosing, and lets you interact with it.
If you're an astrophotographer, you'll be interested in Night Sky 11's focus, noise reduction, and ISO adjustment that are included, although they do make the interface quite cluttered.
Overall, this app is a great all-rounded, but perhaps more suited to beginners or people beginning their astronomy journey rather than seasoned astrophotographers.
- Read our full Night Sky 11 review
- Download Night Sky 11 on iOS
The NASA app is more than a traditional stargazing app; it was originally launched in 2011 but now offers access to the agency's information on everything from space missions to the latest James Webb Space Telescope images. It's basically an aggregator of all NASA news sources and feeds, and it includes a stargazing app and ISS tracker.
It's completely free, which means you can get all the features it offers without paying for a subscription. It's also visually-pleasing and simple to use, so it's suitable for most users whatever their ability. There are a few tech stumbles you'll have to contend with, but for a free app, it has an impressive amount of features.
While this app is not a stargazing app at its core, it does have built-in software that allows you to identify stars and constellations. You can even be alerted when the ISS is about to cross your sky. The app has a feature called SkyView, which is exclusive to iOS, a planetarium which shows the sky above either against a black background or using the device's camera to create a transparent AR view. It's quite basic, however, so it might not be suited for a seasoned astrophotographer.
Overall, this app is great for space fans and anyone who is interested in broadening their astronomy knowledge, with the option to have a star gazing app.
- Read our full NASA app review.
- Download the NASA app on iOS, Android.
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.
