Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have tried a number of star chart apps for mobil devices. Most look cool but you can't actually use them to find and learn the stars in the night sky. They include too many glitzy tricks and not enough basic charting capability. You might think it is cool to point your device at a place in the sky and have it show a fancy artwork constellation... but when you want the overall picture of the sky as it really appears above you to help you identify particular stars, that sort of glitz really is not as helpful as you might first think. And the "celestial music" they play is just a waste of time and memory on your device not to mention annoying. This app does have "Point to ID" capability with artistic renderings, but you can also shut that off and manually scroll around a chart custom-rendered for your location and time which only shows the basic constellation lines and major star and planet names. This mode better mimics a paper star chart and actually looks like what you see and therefore is very useful and useable.... though not as glitzy. And no music... I would rate it five stars except that there are a few minor I/O glitches. Mine won't manually take my longitude for instance.... but this is overcome by selecting a location close enough to my actual observing site from their extensive list. (please see edit below) If you want a star chart app to learn the sars, and not a cocktail conversation starter, this is the app to get. *** ED: there are no instructions but I found the app entierly intuitive. The choices are pretty self-evident. If you are a absolute newbie to star gazing you may want to check out a few basic references to understand what you are looking at when you start this app. Simple concepts such as "zenith," "Celestial pole," and that the stars do not appear the same in every location in the world, and why they move across the sky with the passing of the hours and the seasons will help you make sense of what you are getting into. You don't need anything more sophisticated than what I just listed, just the most basic of basics. Once you have that you won't get too lost just poking the buttons to see what they do. A Users Manual: there is an icon at the lower right that looks like a gear; a version of the now ubiquitous "settings" icon. This brings up some other commonly used icons plus one more set aside that is a wrench(spanner.) The wrench icon gets you to the settings for time and location. You must input your approximate local time and location for this app (or any other star map app) to properly render your skies. You can also adjust the time or place manually if you want to plan a future "real life" observing session or review a previous one. Returning to the commonly used icons: the "star" icon is really a compass rose, it turns on compass indicators for the four cardinal directions. You will find them on your horizon as "N" or "E" etc. The cloud icon attenuates the density of the rendering( i.e. only the brighter stars are dispalyed simulating a hazy atmosphere.) This is useful for removing clutter for beginners, or if you observe from a light polluted area, or if you are observing at twilight. Two different icons toggle different sets of grid lines. One is based on your local zenith, the other on the celestial pole. Beginners should use neither. When you advance enough to need them (which will take you about ten minutes) pick one or the other but not both together. The eyeball icon gives a red on black rendering to save your night vision. Nice if you need it, slightly less clear to understand the chart if you do not. The "Saturn" icon toggles planet name labels; "sun-like" icon (circular saw blade) toggles Messier objects (galaxies) The Big "N" icon => constellation lines (H.A. Rey based) Smaller "N" icon => constellation names "Running man" icon => fancy constellation artwork "Lollipop trees" icon=> horizon and earth in foreground "Moving cell phone" icon => point-to-identify Navigate the screen with your fingers to pinch, zoom, pan etc. Adjust the screen brighness with the screen brightness of your device. This matters because when it is too dim you won't see certain details which are ddeliberatly rendered in low contrast color schemes. *** Final note: I upped my rating from 4 to 5 star since an update seemed to fix my earlier gripes. I love this app now. It is the only star chart or chart app I have ever used that really renders the sky as it appears to my eyes. You look at the sky, see a bright object and say "What is that?" You look at your Stellarium chart and it is obvious what you are looking at.... no more imagining lines criss-crossing through the firmament from hard to identify constellations which appear entierly distorted in the chart views! Peter