iStellar

Astro Arts has done the right thing in correcting the upgrade path of iStellar. My iStellar 1 upgraded to iStellar 2 as promised. This is an impressive upgrade. I'll need to learn its many new features before writing a full review. Buy this app to support these devs as they perfect a truly original and comprehensive star chart. Descriptive content is still minimal, but the chart is becoming awesome and there are great efforts at an interface allowing detailed control of all elements. It's a bit buggy in this release, but nothing serious. Stars may stop twinkling, and the buttons controling the grids don't always work. Prior Reviews: Version 1.2.2 fixes the problem of crashing upon launch. Other tweeks needed: • Awkward to have to push a start button to get the clock to advance in real time. Clock should run automatically by default. • Light pollution mode needs to be more gradual. Turning it on wipes out too many stars even at the lowest setting. • Darkness is not calculated properly. Sky is shown as too light to see stars even when it is actually completely dark outside. Original review: (Other apps have since caught up in teaching the constellations.) Best App for Learning Constellations The high price hurts sales, but this is actually the best app in the store for learning the constellations. It's not perfect, but feels like a work in progress written by people with significant expertise in astronomy, programming, and user interface design. I predict they will fix the flaws and would like to see the app receive more support from star gazers. Not all other astronomy apps show cartoons for the constellations, and many that do include only an incomplete set. In nearly every case in other apps, the constellation lines are arbitrary rather than clear (why draw Geminii as a box with a line off it when it can appear as stick-figure twins?), and the cartoon is an arbitrary superimposition of a character that does not fit on top of its stars (why show the Serpent Bearer's serpent not following its line of stars?). This is the only app showing carefully conceived, beautifully drawn lines and cartoons for every constellation. I have wondered since childhood how the ancients saw pictures in the night sky. This app shows me how. Improvements needed: Night vision mode, especially in menus; foreground added to landscape shown at horizon; option to see below the horizon to see the gorgeous cartoons in the opposite hemisphere; short histories of the constellations.

That's the message I get after the most recent upgrade to iStellar. Tech Support at AstroArts gave the typical non-response: We're sorry that you got trouble. iStellar works any iPhone/iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.0 or later. So you try re-sync application using iTunes. I resync at least once a day, and I'm running the latest OS on an iPhone 3G.

I have been using Planetarium for Palm OS for years. It has 2 million stars, full object databases, Alt-Az and sky view, rise/set times and much more. It is a professional grade tool. It's $30. This app is a fun toy but not worth the price.