Michal Ždanský Stargazing is definitely one of the most romantic nighttime activities. However, it is not easy to remember dozens of constellations that the night sky offers us. If you have an iPhone and you like to observe the stars, you will definitely appreciate the Star Walk application, which will greatly simplify your orientation in the starry sky.
After launching Star Walk, you will be shown a table with data about the sun, several planets and the current phase of the moon after a beautiful splash screen. It is not a problem to scroll through time in this table, so you can see which part of the month you will see in a week, for example. Once you close the table, you will see a complete map of the starry sky.
In the application, it is important to determine your position first. This is done via the small settings icon at the bottom right. With a beautiful animation, you will be virtually transported above the earth's surface, where you can choose the location manually on the globe, find it in a list or use the built-in GPS. Based on this, Star Walk knows which part of the starry sky is visible to you. It will be separated from the invisible one by a horizontal line, and the area below it will be shown in darker colors.
The map rotates around an axis passing through the headrest, and the sides of the world are also marked here, so you are not in danger of getting lost somewhere on the map. Owners of the iPhone 4/3GS will get the real pleasure thanks to the compass (the iPhone 4 will also use the gyroscope), when the starry sky will adapt itself to where you point the phone. One can thus speak of a kind of "pseudo" augmented reality, but without the use of a camera. Unfortunately, owners of older models have to scroll manually. In addition to sliding gestures, there is also pinch to zoom for zooming in.
The constellations themselves are not displayed straight away, but only if they are near the center of the screen. At that moment the stars align and an outline of what it represents appears around the constellation itself. This is especially useful if you don't know the Latin names of the constellations, the picture can often give you a clue. If you want to know more about a star, constellation or planet, just tap on it and press the "i" icon in the upper left corner. This will show you some interesting information, including mythological background, and if the information is not enough for you, the application can take you directly to Wikipedia.
If you're looking for a specific star, planet, or constellation, the search option comes in handy, where you can either scroll through the list or type your search term into the search engine. Among other useful functions, I would mention the visibility setting, which regulates the number of visible stars. You can thus see the entire starry sky or just the most visible stars that are currently in front of you. In Star Walk, of course, you are not limited to the current state of the starry sky, but you can move the time up and down by pressing the clock in the upper right corner. The application also includes pleasant musical accompaniment, which can be turned off. In the last row, we also find options for bookmarks (saving the current view) that you can share on social networks or send to friends, as well as several interesting images from space that you can send to someone or save and use, for example, as wallpaper.
A small cherry at the end – the application is already ready for the retina display of the iPhone 4, the starry sky is so incredibly detailed that you will want to believe that you are really looking at the sky through the camera, which also enhances the shift of the sky depending on where you point the iPhone . It is the gyroscope of the new iPhone that makes it possible to move the sky, no matter how you point the phone. As you can see, not only games will use the gyroscope.
Star Walk is probably the best app for stargazing, and whether you're an avid stargazer or just a holiday watcher, I definitely recommend getting it. Star Walk is available in the Appstore for a pleasant €2,39.
iTunes link - €2,39
I have a feeling that the app uses the compass, not the gyroscope, because it works on my 3GS, even with the "view" focus
It uses both, the gyroscope is mainly used when moving up/down, it uses the compass to move sideways
I can't figure out how to get back to that mode when the sky itself moves after I've searched for some constellations...
just move the phone to the sides more significantly
I wonder if this app uses the internet, does anyone know?
Okay, I bought it today, so hopefully it will be clear in the evening so I can test it
I was looking for this app, I saw it in the last advertisement for an iPad and it caught my attention, I'm glad that it was presented here and I immediately bought it, it's really great on the iPhone 4 with the gyroscope, it's just a shame that I didn't have it when I was on the mountain in the Krkonose, the stars were great to see there, not like here in Prague :( so I'll have to wait until I go somewhere where the stars can be seen nicely again ;) 5 stars out of 5 for me
and does he use the internet?
It does not use