Astronomy Apps

[M4lcs67]

My mobile contract is up shortly and I was considering getting one of the new smartphones (Samsung Galaxy S mk 2) seems the most likely at the moment, but was considering getting one of the Astronomy apps to run off it as the phone has GPS and a giroscope.. Has anyone used any of them and therefore are they a useful tool in the real world. I have heard of Star Chart but nothing else.

Thanks once again for all you advice.

[astro_al]

I use StarmapPro on my iPhone and find it really good. I use an alt-az mount that I nudge about and appreciate the following features provided by the app when star hopping:

• The ability to enter telescope, eyepiece and finder details to generate the FOV I am seeing in the finder or at the eyepiece.
  
• The ability to easily rotate the orientation of the view to match what I am seeing.
  
• The night vision mode to present everything in nice eye-friendly shades of red.
  
• Being able to see at a glance a list of objects that I can observe that evening and when they rise, set and cross the meridian.
  

There are more features that I use and many more that I don't and as much as I like my printed star charts I really like the compact nature of the phone app when I am at the telescope. I find that the use of the phone's gyroscope adds a level of fun (for my kids) but has no real practical use.

AL

[cervesca]

I got an android one about a month ago, and the breadth and range of Apps is amazing, even if you are only looking at the free ones. Highly recommended.

One difference (drawback) you will notice is how quickly batteries drain, essentially you just need to charge daily, especially if you are a heavy user.

[robbie c]

Yeah I got sky walk and skysafari for my iphone 4 both great Apps

[GazOC]

Skeye for Android works very well.

[bcfc1979]

malc make sure you get the galaxy s2, i have just got one and it blows my iphone4 away! the 4.3" screen is just perfect for all the astro apps

[robbie c]

I'v got star walk and skyview on my iphone found them both very good

[jabberwocky]

Another thumbs up for star walk, brilliant app. Make finding and identifying objects much easier, plus you can advance date and time on it to see what's visible later in the year. Very easy to use. Just wish I had an iPad or another tablet to use it on.

[M4lcs67]

Thanks for all your replies fellas!!!!! Just in the process of choosing a new phone contract. Once that is sorted then will be adding some apps to the phone. 99.9% sure it will be the Samsung Galaxy S2

[Jake Bullit]

A useful thread on this subject here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/126726-android-astronomy-apps.html