You can either use the plus and minus buttons at the bottom of the screen or stretch the screen with your fingers to take advantage of the zoom controls. At night, pointing your phone at the sky will reveal the objects above you in the direction you are facing. There’s also a fantastic transitional phase to reflect a semi-realistic version of the changing of light between daytime and nighttime. (Image credit: Future) Stellarium Mobile Plus review: Designĭuring the daytime, the Stellarium Mobile Plus app only shows you what you can see with the naked eye in the daylight - the sun, the moon, and Venus - and gives you the option to fast-forward to the evening to show the night sky. It is possible to search for specific stars in the search bar, although this function can be challenging as it uses a predictive keyboard. There are search and settings icons on the left of the screen. You can also turn sensor controls on and off to maintain or adjust the sky view as your phone is moved. You can also choose to show or hide gridlines such as the equatorial grid and enable or disable the illustrations behind each constellation, which are beautiful but could be distracting if you’re trying to focus on something specific. Here, you can easily locate and label your favorite constellations, planets, and track satellites as they traverse the sky. To the bottom right of the screen is a gear icon.

The setting section also provides some star lore from different cultures. This is where the app is more limited when compared to others, such as SkySafari 3, where you receive more comprehensive details about celestial objects. Pressing the down arrow will show you information about the star's brightness and location in the sky. When using the app, at the top left of the screen, you will find a down arrow, a star within a circle, and the designation for the star closest to where you last tapped the screen.

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