Best Astronomy App For Android

There are so many of these apps...

I'd like to hear some opinions from those who actually use these apps. What do you consider the best out there among the free and/or paid astronomy apps?

ETA: It would be nice to here some input on a good PC app as well.

Yes I would be interested as well.
I hope to hear some user reviews hopefully of the free apps.

a reply to: alphastrike101
I know we have some members heavy into astronomy. So hopefully, they'll stop by and clue us in.

Star Chart.
Only App I have ever purchased for my tablet.

Best one out there!
play.google.com...

a reply to: Klassified

what ` level ` are you looking for ?

i use :

google night sky

sun surveyor

ISS live

lunar phase .

all free [ or free basioc versions ] on android from google play

i dont have a real telescope - just good binoculars and a spotting scope of reasonable quality .

the above apps - i consider to be adequate for my level - they can confirm that what i think i am oberving is what i think it is - or correct me

if you are using a astro telescope you need an app that gives you RA and dec etc

I like - SkyView - I have tried a few other but I always go back to SkyView. So many cool features.

a reply to: ignorant_ape
I'm really a beginner. I can recognize some of the planets when I see them, and a few constellations, but that's about all. I'd like to be able to point my phone, and know what I'm looking at. So honestly, I don't even know the right questions to ask, let alone the answers. lol. Thanks.

a reply to: FalafelBallz
Skyview. Will check it out too.

I'm glad you brought this up because I need to re-download one for my phone. I like SkyMap for both android and PC.

originally posted by: Agit8dChop
Star Chart.
Only App I have ever purchased for my tablet.

Best one out there!
play.google.com...

Looks like a very nice app!

I use Google Sky Map, and Star Chart. I tend to prefer Star Chart, but sometimes Google is faster to load. It just depends. Both are pretty good in my opinion, and two of my astronomy professors recommend either or.

originally posted by: Klassified
a reply to: ignorant_ape
I'm really a beginner. I can recognize some of the planets when I see them, and a few constellations, but that's about all. I'd like to be able to point my phone, and know what I'm looking at. So honestly, I don't even know the right questions to ask, let alone the answers. lol. Thanks.

I am sort of a beginner too. It sounds like SkyView would be perfect for what you're looking for. You can point your phone anywhere and it will give a visual and textual description of what you are looking at in that direction. You can also tap on any star, planet, etc. and get information about it. It's pretty awesome

a reply to: ignorant_ape

I just downloaded Star Chart and it is absolutely amazing! Definitely would recommend this app! Purchasing the upgrades when possible!

originally posted by: Klassified
ETA: It would be nice to here some input on a good PC app as well.

Stellarium is a good free PC app.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur

originally posted by: Klassified
ETA: It would be nice to here some input on a good PC app as well.

Stellarium is a good free PC app.

Seconded!

I've tried a couple of others on the PC but Stellarium is the easiest to use.

The best android/iPhone app IMHO is SkySafari. I use SkySafari Pro since I need the maximum number of stars for planning my astrophotography. For most people the Plus version should suffice.
skysafariastronomy.com...
In my experience it's the most powerful astronomical program available for your phone, others that are available do not include the extensive deep sky and stellar databases that you can get with this program. It even rivals most desktop programs. Some nights I don't even fire up Cartes du Ciel on my laptop, I just plan and run my observations from my phone. Although I don't really use the feature, it does seem to have the ability to "show you what you're looking at" by pointing your phone. For my purposes I'm just using it for the more obscure galaxies and stars for which I need to compare with what my telescope's camera is seeing; pointing the phone wouldn't tell me anything.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

I use Stellarium on Pc and on my Nexus 7. Just a good and solid program.

a reply to: Klassified

I go along with what the others have said Sky Chart, Google Sky & Stellarium, also remember to check out this thread if you haven't already seen it.

Members Astrophotography

a reply to: wmd_2008
Thanks. I am going to give all of these apps a try, and see which ones work the best for me. I realized last night it would also be nice to have a search function to find out where a given planet or star is at present. For instance, if I wanted to know where to look for Mars, the app could tell me where to look.