SkySafari 5 Pro App Reviews

To reluctantly paraphrase a commercial: If youre serious about astronomy at all, you get SkySafari Pro. Its what you do! ;-) In all seriousness, though, it is a truly excellent app. If it was really cheap, you just couldnt get this depth of information and level of support. Regardless of what you might think, the price of this app is actually a bargain, given the "stellar" quality that you find in all aspects of the program.

Ive been running 5 Pro for several days, and Ive encountered enough serious bugs as to render the app unusable. I tried to submit a support ticket on Simulation Curriculums website. The site wouldnt accept the submitted form. Contacted one of the developers on the Cloudy Nights forums and was just told to submit a support ticket. I never encountered these issues on SS3 Pro or SS4 Pro. Im regretting dropping twenty dollars on this crAPP. Edited to add: FINALLY, after a three hour ordeal, was able to submit a support ticket. They initially claimed that they had never seen the particular bugs Ive encountered before admitting that theyre known issues that cant be fixed. VERY dishonest way of dealing with customers. For the record, DONT rely on the night mode because it doesnt work. Also, Swype and similar gesture-based third party keyboards WILL NOT WORK in night mode. If you want to use this app at night, ignore the night mode and use a rubylith overlay and keep the app in monochrome chart mode. That way its useful. Finally, and the developer wont admit this is an issue, dont bother even TRYING to import observing lists from earlier versions of SkySafari. The list will duplicate dozens of line items, forcing you to manually sift through and delete duplicated items. Better to make up fresh lists from scratch. Edit: Im updating the review from one star to 3 stars because Ive finally got the software working halfway decently in spite of the lack of help from the developer. Regardless of how good the software may be, if it takes this much fiddling to get it working right and the support on the developers end stinks, its going to lose a couple stars. First of all, I rebuilt my observing lists from scratch, which took a couple of days, considering I have multiple observing lists with hundreds of items each for Astronomical League observing programs. Second, I installed iOS 9.3 beta on an auxiliary device. In 9.3, setting "night shift" to its strongest setting and using "monochrome" mode in accessibility settings in addition to reducing chart brightness in-app provides a decent alternative to the in-app night mode. It isnt deep red, but it wont destroy your night vision if you keep it dim enough. Alternately, if you want a red chart AND a gesture based keyboard, turn off "redden keyboard in night mode" in the app settings. If your gesture keyboard has a dark theme (such as white lettering on a plain black background) use it and turn on Night Shift on its strongest setting. The keyboard will be a bit brighter than the chart, but still wont be super damaging to night vision. Also, saving multiple settings profiles is necessary to preventing graphical glitches, like the milky way suddenly turning blue in monochrome chart if you tinker with the settings too much.

I have really enjoyed using SkySafari Pro since version 4. I like the layout of version 5 Pro. Great app. I would like to be able to export my observation list with rise, transit, and set times. This would be a great feature for messier marathons and other events.

I really enjoy browsing from planet to planet and looking at the different objects that would be visible to me with some bazillion-dollar telescope, but for much less, and in my warm house, and on cloudy days.

Ive been using Sky Safari since version 3 and Im really impressed with it. I can do things with this application that previously would have required a full desktop planetarium application. Among the new features... one nice addition to this latest version is the ability to store your data (equipment lists, observing lists, observing logs, etc.) in the cloud so that you can create it on one device and use it on another. (I confess that setting this up was slightly confusing but it did work.) I use equipment lists to create field of views to plan my Astro-imaging sessions. I use it for telescope control (via WiFi using the "SkyFI" adapter). I use the ability to leave Earth and view the solar system from space to show the path a comet will take through the solar system. And of course I use the compass & gyro to locate objects in the sky and pull up information on objects.

Ive been using this for a while now and, as an amateur astronomer and imager, I can say this app packs a lot of information in an intuitive and entertaining package. It is great for on-the-go information dumps and handy because it is on my phone. Highly recommended!

I was momentarily put off by the cost of this app, but after thinking further for a nanosecond or two I quickly concluded that it is a tremendous value when compared to the cost of getting the same quantity of information from charts, books, etc.

Have been using this app for several years now and it continues to grow and evolve. The support service is the best in the industry. I have all the major astronomy apps and this is the only one I use at the telescope and in my astronomical arm chair!

Using it with SkyFi module pointing my Celestron CGEM DX after all star polar alignment. Easy and fun. Great app.

Best astronomy app on the market

Fantastic! Works like a hand-held planetarium. Contains detailed descriptions of nearly all deep sky objects, planets, comets, etc.. I use it whenever Im at the telescope or even just star gazing. Extremely accurate for star hopping as well as azimuth and alt data to find more difficult objects. Highly recommended.

Ive had different versions of SkySafari before so when I saw there was a newer version and that it was $19.99 for a limited time I just had to get it. The database is amazing as are the graphics. I especially like the red and black for night vision and the capability to share the image of your sky. I also like how crisp the images are and I always turn the option on for the mythical creatures display and names. Thank you to the developers for making this, and please keep this updated for every future Apple device.

Worth every penny

Have been using this app for several years now. Has everything i need to plan and execute observing sessions, or just to find information about astronomical objects. It is the most comprehensive astronomy app I know for iPhone. Would recommend it to anyone with an interest in astronomy.

Im an avid astronomer with a healthy balance between Imaging and visual observations. This app has been excellent in both areas, and is my main go to tool for framing objects for imaging as well as planning outings. Also, it seamlessly controls my Losmandy mount too! Very easy to set up and use.

This is the best astro app I have on my phone. From just a reference to a telescope mount control, this program proves to be top notch.

This is a great tool for locating objects, connecting via wireless to my Ioptron scope mount and then controlling the direction. I also Like the feature to record an observation, make comments and then share the data across devices and email. Very well thought out program for both planning your viewing and during viewing. Hope to see more features added in future versions.

Super application, very reliable and accurate. It has tons of nice features. I use it with Takahashi Temma2 and SkyFi. There should be a cheaper option for owners of previous versions (i.e. Sky Safari Pro 4) instead of forcing to pay the full price.

When I go into tonight, it shows the Sun is in Pisces, it should be in Aries. Any fix for this?

We use this several times weekly. Interface is easy to use. It is ideal for amateur star gazing.