Watch the International Space Station's live feed on the go with ISS Live Video
Space fans, rejoice: a new app, ISS Live Video & Audio Stream, offers iPhone owners a useful means of watching the live video feed from the International Space Station (ISS) while on the go.
To infinity …
You can download the app now for $0.99, and it’s optimized for the iPhone/iPod touch only (as of this writing). In the application, iOS users can enjoy listening in and viewing the ISS’s live feed, which is broadcasted from the International Space Station. Though it had been possible to do this on iOS using Ustream, ISS Live Video & Audio Stream is useful for a number of reasons.
For one, it offers a more native, iPhone-optimized means of following the ISS’s path (though there are shortcomings; more on this below). You can also check on the whereabouts of the ISS inside of ISS Live Video & Audio Stream, too, in order to find out exactly where in the sky the International Space Station currently is.
Space has never looked so good.
The broadcast offered in the app is high definition (HD), meaning it’ll look great on your Retina display-equipped iPhone handset.
Finally, the application also allows iOS device owners to listen in on astronauts’ communications with mission control. Yet all of this doesn’t take anything away from the app’s best feature: the ability to see the Earth from outer space in glorious HD while on the move.
Sadly, ISS Live Video & Audio Stream isn’t perfect; it’s not optimized for the larger iPhone 6/6s (and 6/6s Plus) handsets, for instance, meaning it’ll look a little inflated running on Apple’s 4.7- and 5.5-inch smartphones. Glorious HD doesn’t look so great when an app’s UI has to run in compatibility mode. We’re hoping this is something that changes in the near future.
You can check on the position of the ISS inside of the app, too.
It’d also be great to see iPad support reach the app, since the chance of watching the ISS’s live stream on my iPad Pro would be a real treat.
For now, however, ISS Live Video and Audio Stream is optimized for the iPhone/iPod touch only, and it’s indeed available for the price of $0.99.
