Star Walk 2: The Night Sky Map

The app is designed very well, with options to change how the constellations appear (lines or actual pictures) and how many stars are visible in the sky. The music is also very nice. You do have to download packs to get information on satellites, the cores of planets, etc. but it is well worth it. The app never lags, which is fantastic, because if you are like me you get the urge to smash furniture when apps are slow. My one complaint (if you can even call it that) is that not every star has its own information. Many of the stars, when you click on their info tab, simply give the definition of a star. I understand that this is because many stars do not have much information known about them, but at the same time I’d rather not be able to recite the “a star is a luminous sphere of plasma...” spiel in my sleep. If you have read this entire review, I feel sorry for you, because you are either very very bored or a 45-year-old with severe indecisiveness.

This is a very nice, useful app. However, when I tap on a constellation or while I’m looking at the 3D view, I would like the option of turning off the picture of the mythological person/beast that appears. While using the app to look at the sky, I can choose how I want the constellations to appear, but once I tap on the constellation, the picture appears and obstructs my view. I like seeing the picture, and I love that the app includes information about the mythological person/beast, but I don’t like that the picture obstructs my view of the constellation and all that appears in it. So once I’ve seen the picture, I would like to turn it off. What I really want to see when I tap on a constellation is the boarder lines of the constellation. I.e., I want to see the region of space bordered by the constellation. Here is my reply to the developers response. I appreciate your response, but it looks like you misunderstood my suggestion. I know how to change the settings of the constellations. I mentioned this in my review, and I have my constellations set to appear with the lines connecting the stars. However, when I tap the constellation the picture still appears. This is the part I don’t like and can’t change.

I understand that for some they just want to use it for star and constellation locating, and it's great for that. Though for others who plan on going into a field in that kind of subject is great for them to learn where everything we know of is, and how they function. It even gives those people a great understanding of the how much there really is out there. I've managed to learn so much. Even if it doesn't give you every material makeup of all the stars, galaxies, and star clusters, it's still a great source of education. I have much to learn from it, and I highly suggest getting the full deal on it. Maybe someday I'll be able to pursue my dreams, or maybe they'll just stay dreams. But as long as I keep trying my best I might be able to, and this app would have helped me so much. I just want to thank the creators for giving me a chance to study at a low cost, and helping me keep my hope that what I want to do isn't pointless.

This app is everything you or your loved ones could ever want if they’re as in love with space as my son with a traumatic brain injury and epilepsy is. Upon his injury at 5 years old and relearning to walk, talk, eat, and potty train; one thing he never forgot was his love of our night sky and with this app he had before and after his injury he will sit for hours in the backyard playing with the app learning about the heavenly bodies and when it’s day time he will sit inside with his great grandmother (the one that got me into loving the night sky passing it along to my son) showing her things he learned the night before and while many things are difficult for him still this app helps him in his steady quest for knowledge into our cosmos. It’s easy to use and the 3d pictorial constellations make it easier for him to learn what stars make up each constellation. Thank you for this amazing app!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ask user to change the rating

I had this open for less than 10 minutes, but apparently that was too long to return it. The music was annoying, but easy to turn off. The sound effects were overdone, but easy to turn off. The constellation images were over the top, and they have animations that shimmer and sparkle when you pan around the sky. They are very distracting and can make the stars of the constellations difficult to see and identify. I couldn’t turn off the sparkle. One option in the settings looked promising, but it didn’t do anything that I could identify. Most annoying is that the app requires an additional in-app purchase for more than a very limited discussion of simple things like individual planets. That isn’t clear here In the App Store. Fortunately this is partly corrected by a button that links directly to Wikipedia. After playing with it some more, I found the setting to “dial down” the animated constellation images. But even the simple stick figures are animated, disappearing and redrawing (note: not “reappearing”) as I pan through the sky. Someone might find that entertaining for a few minutes sitting at their desk, but the feature makes it difficult to compare to the night sky. I’m still very annoyed that an in-app purchase is required to see full content. The jury is still out on notifications.