A look at astronomy applications on the iPhone
Motivated by the year of astronomy (and also by my interest in augmented reality), I took a look at some of the first applications haveiong a kind of augmented reality on the iPhone: astronomy apps. I found these four which support the use of the compass and accelerometer to show the user on the display what (s)he is pointing the iPhone at. Links go to appadvice.com, so no iTunes needs to be installed to look at screenshots:
- SkyVoyager: This app was free for one day to celebrate the anniversary of the moon landing, so I got it on that day. The app clearly focuses on a very (semi-)professional user base and even allows to tell an attaced computerized telescope where to point. The newest update added the ability to use the accelerometer and the compass too, as well as a landscape mode, which is very useful to work around a hardware limitation: when you point the iPhone upwards at a 45° angle, the compass becomes very confused an jumpy. This is not the case when using the iPhone sideways. When you are a serious astronomer and have one of the supported telesopes, this will surely be the app for you!
- Starmap: This was the first application I had bought, and the first time I heard about augmented reality already in the app store. It has a very nice interface (not too bright, but no dedicated night view either) and supports landscape mode as well. There are many features and lots of background information as well. I would recommend this for anyone who is interested in any of these applications. There is also a Pro version available for serious astronomers.
- Pocket Universe: This application seems to be targeted at geeks and Star Trek Fans: it sports a STTNG-LCARS interface. It also has some nice inforation in its database, but does not support landscape mode. Therefore, looking at things at 45° up can become frustrating. Until this is fixed, I can only recommend this app to real ST-TNG fans.
- Distant Suns: This app is on sale until Wednesday evening, to celebrate the Perseid Meteor Shower. There is also a free (lite) version available. This program is the only one of the mentioned which has a true night vision mode, where the colour scheme is changed from blue to red, to aid nightvision. Compass, accelerometer and landscape support. If it is still on sale, why not get it?
I hope I could help someone with the decision which app to get. If I did, leave a comment!