SkyMate for iPhone · Coming soon
Simple when you look up. Deep when you want it.
Everything SkyMate does, from finding your first planet to planning a whole night out.
Precision Finder
An arrow, a number and a tap you can feel.
The Finder uses your iPhone’s motion sensors and compass, not the camera, so it works in the dark. Haptics grow stronger as you close in and settle when you’re on target. Then SkyMate tells you what to look for, so you know you’ve found it.
- Free, and never locked.
- Works for planets, stars, deep-sky objects and the ISS as it moves.
Reality Sky
A sky map that knows what you can see.
Hold up your iPhone and the map lines up with the real sky. Labels appear for what you can actually see tonight, with what you have. Zoom in for more detail, travel in time, and switch layers for constellations, satellites or the grid.
Illustration
Equipment
Recommendations for what you have with you.
Save your binoculars, telescopes and eyepieces once. SkyMate reranks tonight for whichever you pick, and shows its true field of view in the sky map and the Finder.
- Free: your eyes plus one instrument with one eyepiece.
- Pro: unlimited binoculars, telescopes, eyepieces and Barlows.
How many targets each one reaches is worked out for your sky tonight, in the app.
Personal HorizonPRO
Scan your balcony once. SkyMate remembers the rooftops.
Sweep your iPhone along the skyline. SkyMate traces the buildings, trees and hills, then uses that outline everywhere: in Tonight, the Finder, object pages and your plans. Something hidden behind a roof shows when it clears.
Example Example target and time
Observing conditions
Not a weather app. An observing forecast.
Cloud is only part of it. SkyMate combines cloud layers, haze, moonlight and darkness into one answer: when to go out, and what it’s good for.
Example Example values. In the app, weather comes from Apple Weather; this website shows no weather.
Day · Twilight · Night
Useful at lunchtime, too.
During the day SkyMate shows the Moon and the planets that are up but hidden by daylight, with sunset and tonight’s best window. In twilight it tells you which points of light appear first.
Example Example times
Human-made sky
The ISS, and the passes worth catching.
SkyMate lists passes you can actually see, not thousands of dots. Set a reminder, and when it’s time the Finder follows the station across the sky.
- Free: ISS passes, with a reminder and guidance.
- Pro: Tiangong, Starlink, weather and newly launched satellites.
Example Example pass
PlanningPRO
Pick the night. Then the route.
See the nights ahead at a glance, then let SkyMate put tonight’s targets in order so each is well placed when you reach it. Start the plan and the Finder moves you from one to the next.
- Free: short plans for tonight.
- Pro: any length, any night, any of your equipment.
Example Example forecast
Dark Sky FinderComing later
Is the drive worth it? We’re building the answer.
Not in SkyMate yet. The plan is to compare your sky with darker places nearby and show what you’d gain. Today, SkyMate already accounts for how bright the sky is where you are when it says what you can see.
Sketch of a planned feature. Not in the first release.
Expected View
Know what to expect before you look.
SkyMate shows what you’re likely to see, not what a space telescope photographs. That way a small, sharp Saturn is a success, not a disappointment.
Illustration. In the app, the view is drawn for your instrument’s real field of view and the target.
Ask SkyMate
Ask in plain words. Get an answer about your sky.
SkyMate’s astronomy engine works out the facts: positions, times, your horizon and conditions. The assistant only explains them, in plain language, on your iPhone. Your own questions use Apple’s on-device model where your iPhone supports it.
- Suggested questions are always free.
- Free: 3 questions of your own a night. Pro: unlimited.
Example Example conversation
RemindersSmart alerts coming later
Only when the sky is worth your attention.
Tap Remind me on an ISS pass, an event or tonight’s observing window, and SkyMate sends one notification at the right time, or adds it to your calendar if you prefer. Smart alerts that watch the conditions for you are planned, not in the first release.
Example Example notifications
Journal · Your universe
A record of the universe you’ve actually seen.
Every object you find is logged with the date, place and what you used. No points or badges, just your sky, filling in over time. It stays on your iPhone.
Example Example journal
Sky Data
Go deeper when you’re ready.
SkyMate starts small. With Pro, download galaxies, nebulae and clusters, known planetary systems, and comets and asteroids when you want them. The beginner view stays exactly as simple.
Every source and licence is on Data & Licences.
Ready when the sky is.
SkyMate isn’t on the App Store yet. We’ll email you once when it launches.
Compare Free and Pro →