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Best Astronomy Apps for iPhone (2026)
Night Sky is the top-ranked of 9 astronomy apps on iPhone, at S tier with 4.7/5 from 497,307 ratings.
- 1
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 497,307 ratings · score 98 - 2
Free download · ★ 4.6 · 95,884 ratings · score 94 - 3
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 25,021 ratings · score 94 - 4
$4.99 + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 17,913 ratings · score 87 - 5
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 9,837 ratings · score 86
What belongs in this list
Learn about planets, stars and the universe.
Not here: a horoscope or astrology app alone; a weather forecast alone; a space wallpaper pack alone; a star-spotting sky map with no astronomy information alone; a general chatbot alone
More lists: Best astronomy apps free to download
How we pick
For this list we ask the App Store the same searches a person would, in several countries, and keep every app it returns. A model reads each app's listing and rejects the ones that only mention the use case. Every app that stays is scored out of 100 from four parts, each 0 to 100 and averaged with no weights: its App Store rating, how many people rated it, where the App Store itself ranks it for this list's searches, and how recently its current version shipped. An app showing Apple's Editors' Choice badge gets a fifth part of 100, which can only lift its score. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier. Read the full method →
Compare every app
- 1Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 497,307 ratings · score 98 · best in class
- 2Free download · ★ 4.6 · 95,884 ratings · score 94 · best in class
- 3Free download · ★ 4.7 · 25,021 ratings · score 94 · best in class
- 4$4.99 + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 17,913 ratings · score 87 · excellent
- 5Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 9,837 ratings · score 86 · excellent
- 6
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 4,351 ratings · score 70 · good - 7
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 2,827 ratings · score 57 · weak - 8
$2.99 · ★ 4.7 · 7,307 ratings · score 57 · weak - 9
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 6,814 ratings · score 43 · avoid · provisional
New in the last 30 days
Questions people ask
- What is the best astronomy app for iPhone?
- Night Sky, S tier, ranked #1 of 9, rated 4.7 by 497,307 people.
- Which astronomy apps are free?
- 7 of 9 are free to download: Night Sky (S), Star Walk 2 Plus: Live Sky Map (S), Star Walk:Find Stars & Planets (S), Solar Walk Ads+:Planets System (A) and more. 2 of them sell in-app purchases.
- Which astronomy app has the best App Store rating?
- Astronomy & Space News at 4.8 from 2,827 ratings.
- How many astronomy apps reach S or A tier?
- 5 of 9. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier.
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