Starmap 1.4 - iPhone - iPod Touch - 284408099 Category: Education Author: Fredd Vote(s): 590 Price: $11.99 Released: July 11, 2008 Version: 1.4 Download Starmap Get Starmap for $11.99
Starmap - Fredd
A complete planetarium in your hand. A high quality interactive and ergonomic map, with 350 000 stars, now fitted with many deep sky images.
With the iPhone 3GS compass, Starmap displays the exact portion of the sky you are pointing at. Hold the device in your line of vision and discover the map smoothly scanning the sky as you move.
Starmap is a powerful sky navigation tool, written by a professional of the field. Its design avoids gadget ornaments on purpose and is aimed at helping real observation.
A complete video of Starmap’s features is available on the support website. Do not hesitate to contact the author before purchasing Starmap.
IMPORTANT: take a look at Starmap PRO, offering the most complete celestial objects catalogues for the iPhone, fitted with functions dedicated to astronomers.
iOS 4 / iPhone 4G optimized.
FEATURES:
- 350 000 visible stars (SAO catalog up to magnitude 12).
- 200 main stars with names, kinds and complete descriptions.
- 150 galaxies, clusters and nebulae (Messier catalog, main NGC/IC).
- Deep sky objects images with StarmapShare.com.
- Tonight’s best selection: the night overview in one glance.
- Time animation.
- Lunar calendar.
- Constellation boundaries.
- Automatic viewpoint with the accelerometer and the compass (3GS).
- Pinch and zoom for more details.
- Finder arrow for localizing objects.
- Smooth and anti aliased graphics.
- Adjust stars and the sky brightness to match your exact observation conditions.
- Full coordinates, ecliptic, celestial equator.
- Complete ephemeris, including moon phases and planet satellites views.
- 50 asteroids and dwarf planets.
- Touching the map bring up info panels.
- Full night vision mode.
- Shooting stars zones.
- GPS support and custom user locations.
- Map colors can be adjusted for the comfort of your eyes. 2008 Frederic Descamps
Starmap reviewed by Users
Nice star map! Updated review based upon updated app - this rocks! The graphics acceleration is really fantastic - great job. This app continues to be one of my all time favorites!!
To the reviewers who have trouble finding things - be sure to check under all the lists: ex. Pleades is M45 under Deep Field. I haven't noticed anything missing from this app :-)
I'm using this app on my iTouch and it works very well. I do scroll around, zoom in/out, and look up info with it and response time is fine. (Note: I don't try running it while other process are going on.) I really enjoy the innovative menu bar and the many display options available. I've spent numerous hours playing with this app - so glad I bought it!
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Version 1.2.1
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Oct 28, 2008
- Starmap review by
NestEggingChicken
Beautiful and versatile but not the only option Of the four star-chart apps currently available, Starmap has the most features and can produce the most aesthetically pleasing images.Starmap's database includes stars all the way down to magnitude 10--about what you can see in good binoculars from a dark site--plus the planets and 150 deep-sky objects. It can show names and colors of the brighter stars, constellation lines (but not boundaries), azimuthal and/or equatorial grids, and an outline of the Milky Way. You can easily adjust the brightness of the stars and the brightness/color of the background sky. A setting allows you to view or hide the sky below your current horizon. Starmap even shows little photographs of planets and most deep-sky objects, though their sizes are exaggerated.A separate ephemeris page provides lots of data on the planets, even showing the current positions of their major satellites. Oddly, there's no similar data (coordinates, magnitudes, rise/set times) available for stars or deep-sky objects. The program would be much improved if you could simply tap on any object to get quantitative information about it, as in iAstronomica or Uranus. Experienced users should definitely consider Uranus, since it also includes more deep-sky objects.The user interface implements the usual pinch, spread, and drag gestures, but as others have pointed out, the animation is pretty sluggish. If a responsive interface is important to you, consider GoSkyWatch or perhaps iAstronomica. The delayed response is aggravated by the way zooming causes stars and gridlines to appear, disappear, or change in brightness. Zooming in often leaves me disoriented, even though I know the sky pretty well. I find myself constantly adjusting the brightness settings to produce realistic images. Another minor annoyance is that some gridlines are incorrectly labeled.My biggest complaint, though, is that you can't zoom out far enough. Unlike iAstronomica and GoSkyWatch, Starmap won't show the whole sky at once; the maximum field is about 70 degrees across. The minimum field is acceptable, about 5 degrees. I also wish Starmap could animate the passage of time--something that's very easy in iAstronomica.Starmap is a great app, and I'm sure it will improve over time. Just remember that it's not the only astronomy app out there, and the others all have their advantages. - Starmap review by Dan Schroeder
This is the app I've been waiting for! (Well, one of them ... ) For many years I used the Star Pilot suite on my Palm OS handhelds before I switched to iPhone, and I was hoping that the advent of the App Store would bring me a replacement for that. Starmap is that, and more! At present there appear to be four star chart applications available here: Starmap, iAstronomica, Uranus, and GoSkyWatch. Starmap has by far the most detailed and informative website, and it seems to have more features than the other apps, too (I haven't played with them). In addition to the basic map, it can lead you to a selected object with arrows pointing which way to look in the sky. With an iPhone 3G, it uses GPS and the accelerometer to change the sky view to show what you're looking at as you turn (azimuth) and look up and down (elevation); on my original iPhone you must change azimuth manually in the view, though the accelerometer will change elevation for you if you turn it on in the prefs (by default it's off, and you have to move the view manually). Starmap also has a built-in "flashlight" with white or red light at variable brightness, saving you the trouble of switching to one of the free-or-cheap flashlight apps out there (as long as you don't want blue light, say). Stars to 10th magnitude are included (same as some of the competitors, more than others), which is useful if you zoom in to find a dim planet or deep-sky object as you would in a telescope, and they turn on and off automatically as you zoom in and out, so a wide-angle view doesn't get too crowded. You'll also find all the ephemeris information (location and rise/set times for planets, Sun and Moon) that you'd expect, though I'd have liked to see a numerical indication of moon phase under the image ("20%", "6 days after new", or something like that) instead of just a label ("Waxing Crescent").The most impressive feature for me, though, as a telescope user, is a display of the positions of planetary moons relative to their planet for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Mars! (You'll need a pretty monstrous telescope to go looking for Mars' moons, though.) This was included in the Star Pilot suite for Jupiter and Saturn, and since I switched I have missed the ability to tell which dot in my eyepiece was which moon (and which were background stars) without studying a chart in a magazine in the dark. I really didn't expect to find this specialized capability available in the App Store at launch, let alone for less than I paid for Star Pilot to run on the inferior graphics of my Palm handhelds! And there is plenty more -- as I said, check out the website for lots of details.The developer maintains on the website a list of features planned for the next release of Starmap; some things currently missing but forthcoming include a night-vision mode for the map and interface, and zoom capability in the planetary-moons views (at least for Saturn -- it's hard to see where Mimas, Tethys, and Enceladus are when the view around Saturn is large enough to show Iapetus). Other reviewers have complained about the speed with which the screen updates as you pan, but compared to the speed of Star Pilot on any Palm device I could afford, it's just fine for me. Other things I would like to see changed, though, include the names of the constellations, which are given in English instead of the more familiar (believe it or not) traditional Latin names -- Swan instead of Cygnus, Balance instead of Libra, etc. I also found it annoying that only the main sky display was implemented in landscape mode; presumably because of the details of how the iPhone SDK works, this means that if you are in any other display, say an ephemeris or a prefs screen, and you turn from portrait to landscape mode, then you are dumped back into the sky display. (Okay, so don't rotate your iPhone out of portrait mode -- but sometimes it tilts itself if I set it down a little crooked.) Finally, the one thing that I expected to see that isn't there is an all-sky display, so you can see at a glance what's above the horizon at any given time! This is the main use I made of Star Pilot, but in Starmap the most you can zoom out is the scale where the long dimension runs about halfway from the horizon to the zenith. Well, if the developer doesn't add this, I can always drop an Alexander on iAstronomica. - Starmap review by Mark Looper
Multiple star charts & desktop computer in your pocket I’ve got star charts for the Northern and Southern hemispheres, but they are peanuts to Starmap. One, they don’t fit in my pocket. Two, they’ve got to be swiveled around in multiple places to the correct time, and if you drop one, you’ve got to do it all over again in the dark. Three, they don’t illuminate, so you also have to carry a flashlight. I’ve also got a computer application that does what Starmap does, but again, it’s a bit difficult to fit my Windows XP tower (no Mac version!), monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power source in my pocket.Starmap is many charts in one, since you can orient it to just about any location on the planet. It comes with its own adjustable-brightness flashlight, a “Lamp” button, which you can set to illuminate in red to preserve your night vision. Its interface is drop dead easy to use and includes the ability to turn planets, deep field objects, and constellation outlines on and off. Touchscreen panning and zooming around the sky is a bit slow, but it’s easy and fast to use the cardinal directions buttons instead. You can also search its catalogue to find objects of interest and figure out whether they’re visible and where to look for them in the night sky. I haven’t begun to list all the cool features of Starmap. It’s the only app I’ve paid for, and it’s well worth every penny. - Starmap review by hummingcrow
Bought it... wanted to like it... little disappointed. Performance was a bit slower than I expected/hoped for. Some bugs in the list views that should have been easily found with a small amount of testing. UI was not particularly intuitive. - Starmap review by Ming_The_Merciless
Starmap hard to read due to color selection Looks beautiful. Difficult to read names (in teal) against the blue background. - Starmap review by Bruce395
Looks great, but a little slow on my ipod touch The interface is brilliant, but on my ipod the movement is rather chunky. I hope this can be fixed, or that it turns out to be a consequence of something I'm doing rather than the limits of the hardware. In any case, I look forward to putting this app to extensive use! - Starmap review by cmezak
Not what it seems to be When I saw this app, I thought the description was too good to be true--and I was right. The advertised use of the accelerometer is not what the description in the App store might lead you to believe. It's an adequate little tool to identify stars, but you must orient yourself and move the view manually. - Starmap review by Helmling
not quite ready for prime time A nice idea - I really wanted something like this and purchased it right away. It is sluggish and has hung on me twice requiring a reboot of the iPhone. Not something I would run if I was worried about having things like calls come through. Hopefully there will be an update - nice concept, but it feels like it was rushed out the door - Starmap review by ferrethandler
Earlier review was unfairly harsh - 5 stars now Since this app's release, its author, Frederic Descamps, has been very responsive to comments and suggestions and is preparing a revision which should address most of the complaints. It will still probably be a bit slow, but I now understand why speed was sacrificed for display clarity. With the soon-to-be-released upgrade (including full night vision mode!), this app will become an indispensible part of every observing session. Very solid, worth 5 stars and the money I spent on it, especially given the outstanding support from the author. - Starmap review by ja-mo
The app keeps crashing!! What more can I say - the app keeps crashing. Move the star field a little and crash - restart the app, move the field a little more and crash. Restart the app and move the star field again and crash... Total bummer! This could have been a cool app. I'm a seasoned Palm user who's accustomed to a "try before you buy" routine. I wont buy another app from iTunes until a "try before you buy" routine is implemented. - Starmap review by Total bummer app!!!
Not What was Promised Not the same app as the one in the pic, there is no screen or option for meteors or anything except Stars, Planets, Deep field and Constellations. Which is fine. But I actually bought it thinking I'd get what was displayed. Tough to read, but otherwise good use of hardward. Add the meteors and update your sales image.Please. - Starmap review by Kevin SM
Horrible in Present Form (July31 08) Accelerometer never seemed to work, does not have Dallas or Seattle (!!) as cities in database, unbearably slow, non-intuitive controls, unbearably slow (did I say that?), clunky. I quickly got tired of fighting the application. This application requires significant re-work to be the application of choice for people seriously interested in the night sky. - Starmap review by jpvann
A good application I found it great fun and easy to use. I love being able to adjust lighting conditions to match my location. It also gives you meteor shower info and defines where in the sky to look. Very nice. - Starmap review by Nightman60
Really Slow... There better be updates to shore up the weaknesses here. Very unintuitive user interface, and the accelerometer is only used to determine vertical or horizontal orientation. Where is the "i" info button for options and the ballyhooed low light settings. Dates? To paraphrase Steve Jobs, by the time you've loaded this the girl is already long gone. - Starmap review by balconycollapse
Excellent Astronomy App (09/26/2008) Definately the best Astronomy app I have seen for the iPhone. - Starmap review by Octans Solutions
Excellent App !! This is a great app and well worth the 12 bucks. As someone with a Master's degree in astronomy and a lifelong observer with a telescope I can say this with some authority. The graphics are both beautiful and precise.
Yes the map updates a little slowly but this is because the display is so wonderfully precise. Plus the idea is to find an area and stay there for a while. Stargazing is meditative. No need to hurry.
There's lots and lots of well thought out features. The screen shot here doesn't do it justice. Go to the web site before you buy for a tutorial. Also visiting the web site you will be impressed by the level of support and planned improvements.
I have a 2G iPhone (no GPS) and it found my location just fine when I hit the locator button.
The only thing I would like would be for the map to optionally update/rotate at the earth rate - but this is a nitpick - the earth doesn't rotate that quickly and it's easy to update the time of day manually if desired.
Oh yeah, the accelerometer feature is very cool. For example, for me tonight Saggitarius was close to the horizon due South. So I centered Saggitarius on the map and held it at arm's length, pointing to saggitarius in the sky. Then, with the accelerometer option turned on (this is configurable) I SLOWLY raised the iPhone above my head and there, both in the sky and on the iPhone, was the constellation Lyra. Neat! - Starmap review by Shady Mac
Accurate, but too slow to be fun Too slow! But its nice for what it is. Its definitely an educational program and not really professional. Why are star programs like this so resource intensive? Equinox 6 runs pretty slow on my new iMac when I drag the sky in a direction too. - Starmap review by Joshdonk
Outstanding! My 4 year old boy and I love this. A great bonding momunt, combined with learning, makes for a top knotch app! - Starmap review by Sambuddha
Pocket Planetarium - A must for a date amongst the stars I have to say, I am just amazed by how rich this applications is and how good it looks. You might not realise that the bottom memu rotates to reveal 3 more menu bars. There is a help section to get you to know every feature. There is even a build in flashlight. Worth every cent and a must for everyone with even the slightest interest in anything beyond our planet.The only issues I have is the sluggish performance and the fact that there is only one city listed in my country. I am sure the developer will update that over time. - Starmap review by lantinian
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$18.99
Starmap - iPhone Education Application A complete planetarium in your hand. A high quality interactive and ergonomic map, with 350 000 stars, now fitted with many deep sky images.
With the iPhone 3GS compass, Starmap displays the exact portion of the sky you are pointing at. Hold the device in your line of vision and discover the map... Fredd - Released: July 11, 2008 - Vote(s): 590
