Craic Design

Pocket Universe: Virtual Sky Astronomy

Application Description

Winner of Mac World's 2009 App Awards (Education), Pocket Universe is the ideal astronomy app for those keen to learn about the night sky. The unique display is generated dynamically depending on your location and time, and then rendered in 3D for a super fast response - flick the sky and it spins around you. Pocket Universe is a brilliantly simply star map that's always up-to-date and accurate. If you want your kids to learn the constellations, or to impress a date with the names of the stars, this is the only app you need.

"The app works beautifully, making astronomy a bit less mysterious—but no less remarkable", MacWorld

"It’s truly an impressive marvel. 5 Mice out of 5", MacWorld.

"..one of the prettiest and easiest to use. And at three bucks, it’s a steal", Cult of Mac.

Augmented Reality

Pocket Universe was the first iPhone astronomy app to support the built-in compass, and it was also the first to add a true augmented reality view using the iPhone's built-in camera! Use the camera view in the evening or morning sky to overlay the labelled view over the real sky (Note: the iPhone camera is not sensitive enough to show stars or planets).

Simply hold up your iPhone 3GS in front of you, and the view will be exactly what you see - but with names and information at your fingertips. Move the iPhone around to see the view change in real-time. As previous iPhone models and on the iPod Touch do not have a compass, the up/down movement is automatic, but you will need to drag the display left/right yourself.

• Apple App Store Staff Favorite
• Voted Best Educational iPhone Application by AppAdvice

Key Features

• Easy-to-use astronomy application, which focuses on helping you answer the question "What's that in the sky?"
• Works on all iPhones and iPod Touch devices with latest firmware (iPhone 3GS required for compass support)
• Special "Show Me" mode will guide you to named stars, planets, constellations as well as the brightest galaxies and nebulae.
• "Tonight's Sky" and "Objects and Events" will keep you up-to-date, and give you suggestions for what to look for when you head outside.
• Constellation Quiz to help you learn your way around the sky.
• Links to Wikipedia articles for the latest information.
• Responsive customer support and frequent updates and new features.

Please note: Network access is only required to view supplementary web-based news and Wikipedia text. The rendering of the 3D sky and positions of the stars and planets are all calculated in real-time with no access to 3G, Edge or WiFi required.

Specifications

•Plots the position of the Sun, Moon and Planets (including Pluto)
•Displays 10,000 stars and the Messier Catalog of Deep Sky objects.
•Draws the 88 Constellations outlines
•Show Me mode for guidance to planets, constellations and bright stars
•Lunar phases for the current, next and previous months
•Tonight's Sky creates a list of meteor showers and visible planets
•Constellation Quiz helps you learn your way around the sky
•Jupiter's Moons (visible in a small telescope)
•Regularly updated news section for viewing suggestions
•Night Vision mode
•Augmented Reality mode for use during Twilight on iPhone devices.
•Location found automatically or may be specified manually.

For support or to ask a question, feel free to send a direct message on Twitter to @CraicDesign.

Note: Non-English localizations focus on solar system objects and constellation names. Translations will be expanded with future releases.

Latest Update

Minor bug fixes to Lunar Phases and Tonight's Sky