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Distant Suns: The night sky, reimagined.

2013 finalist in the Family category of TabTimes' best tablet app contest;

"I am putting together some mobile astronomy apps for our local "Sky's the Limit" Observatory in Twentynine Palms, CA. I have been searching for something as good as, or better than, Distant Suns. Short answer: I have not found it yet. ...nothing portrays the night sky as well as Distant Suns.

Distant Suns has been your personal guide to the cosmos since 1985. First on the desktop, now right in your hands. While others play games, you can travel to the stars.

Award-winning Distant Suns has the reputation of both having one of the most realistic displays of the night sky, while being one of the easiest to use astronomy apps for casual sky watchers as well as serious astronomers.

•Named in the "100 Essential Apps" by iLounge •Featured on NPR's MarketPlace

Features include:

•No Internet required. Just a sense of wonder. •View from the Earth or out in the solar system •Simply aim and gaze. •Over 18 million pinpoint stars scintillating like diamond dust in the palm of your hand (18 mil? Yup.) •Integrated with NASA's Night Sky Network space events in your area (US only at present) •What's Up? Gives a quick one snapshot overview of the evening's sky •Realistic ghostly band of the Milky Way •Stories behind each constellation •Viewpoint Lock keeps any object centered •Current weather patterns on the earth, updated daily •Change the look of the stars •Galaxies, nebula and star clusters •Hubble Space Telescope images •All 8 planets (or 9 for you purists) •GPS aware •Special color mode preserves your night vision. •Touch the sky to reveal hidden data for each object •Planetary data and information

First Light is a proud member of Moms with Apps, a collaborative group of family-friendly developers with family-friendly apps.

Twitter: @distantsuns Support: www.distantsuns.com

User Growth & Download Statistics

App
By:
Mike Smithwick
Rating:
4.30
(97)
Version:
5.0.6 Last updated: 2025-01-04
Version code:
870939332
Creation date:
2010-04-01
Compatible devices:
Size:
815.43MB
Price:
2.99
URLs:
Website ,Privacy policy
Full description:
See detailed description
Source:
Apple Apps Store
Data ingested on:
2026-06-14
Compare stats and ranking:

Ranking

Contact the developer

Chrome-Stats does not own this Apple app. Please use these information below to contact the Apple app developer.
Developed by:
Mike Smithwick
Apple Apps Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/distant-suns-5/id363418936
Website:
https://youtu.be/U_vHqjnRVI4

User Reviews

On my iPhone17 with iOS26, Distant Suns only captures the GPS location on first run. After that, no matter what permissions you give the app you will have to enter a lat/long manually or select a ‘nearest city’. If this is a dealbreaker for you then choose another app.
by er*****, 2026-06-03

I purchased this to replace an 12 year old iphone app, kind of sorry in the app’s performance. I’m staring at the 1st quarter moon one hour before sun set but this app can’t seem to find the moon. 60+years amateur astronomer with Iphone 14+ running IOS 18.2 and some basic knowledge of the sky. I give it a polite 2 star rating. Update My iphone received an up date and the app started to work as intended. If the text was more readable for senior eyes I would rate higher.
by Av*****, 2024-12-14

I’ve been using Distant Suns since the Amiga days. Still my go-to app for star gazing.
by nu*****, 2023-03-27
View all user reviews ›

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