GoSatWatch Satellite Tracking app for iPhone and iPad
4.2 (
1872 ratings )
Reference
Navigation
Developer: GoSoftWorks
9.99 USD
Current version: 5.3, last update: 1 year agoFirst release : 22 Dec 2008
App size: 30.47 Mb
Real time satellite tracking on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Find out when and where any satellite including the international space station can be seen from any location in the world. Easily identify satellites seen in the sky with real time tracking.
SpaceX spacecraft Crew Dragon, Dragon CRS and Starlink included.
Can also be used to accurately determine dish orientation for geostationary satellites using iPhone GPS location.
Features:
- World map view with orbit track
- Overhead sky track view
- Visible and 24 hour pass predictions
- Pass alerts
- Supports landscape or portrait orientation
- One touch orbit data update
- Customizable satellite sets
- Easy setup using Apple location or city list
* Requires occasional data network or WiFi access to update satellite orbital data.
See web site for more information.
Pros and cons of GoSatWatch Satellite Tracking app for iPhone and iPad
GoSatWatch Satellite Tracking app good for
May sugestion: add satelites at the Moon, Mars and other planets.
A very nice app that makes night sky watching entertaining. Its simple to use and impresses people that I show it too, even the non-geeky ones. GoSatWatch is a great companion piece to GoSkyWatch.
I live in Canada near Niagara Falls. I was also semi believing that I would see the ISS rise on time over the horizon. And just as predicted here it was. I could not believe it. Ran inside to get my wife. Way too cool. Worth every penny. And it is lots of fun. I have since seen the Hubble space telescope and other satellites.
It is worth mentionning that the interface is also pretty easy to use.
I tried numerous other satellite locators that were good. This app beats them hands down. Like comparing a Ford Pinto to a new Ferrari. The accuracy is remarkable. This, and the developers GoSkyWatch are my two favorite apps. Note to the developer, I would pay the big bucks if you could hook up voice commands through a Bluetooth . That is on my wish list, but so is world peace . You did a great job on both these apps
This app just made my evening. A couple of good friends and I, with jazz cigarettes in hand, we were able to spot many flybys. This app worked perfectly, couldnt have asked for a better, more well functioning app.
The new version 4.0 implements a more modern UI. A time zone bug was inadvertently introduced which may affect users that select a time zone that is somewhat different from the viewing location. But in fairness, this will not affect 99% of users. The publisher is already investigating the bug and I am confident it will be fixed in the next update. This is, IMO, the best satellite tracking app available for the iOS platform.
Some bad moments
Folks better look at the notifications part. I looked at the app, looked at some passes and closed the app. Next day starting at about 4am I began to not get one but many alarms. I had to bring up the app, turn off all notifications, shut down the phone. Then went back to sleep. Please fix this.
The latest update stays stuck on "CALCULATING" and wont give me any passes. I laid my phone down and walked away for 10 minutes and still no data.
The sister app GoISSWatch is similarly setup and I love it.
I installed the latest update last night, started it up and enjoyed new features one time. Now every time I start the app, it crashes every time. I removed the app from memory and tried again. Crash. Why it would run once and then fail is mysterious behavior unless it was conflicting with other programs in memory... So... I emptied memory completely and tried it and again it crashed.
Please look into this...
UPDATE: restarted iPhone and ran this app first over all else and it STILL crashes immediately 100% of the time without exception.
-marc
Wanted an app that would predict visible passes from both the ISS and Iridium Flares... Paid money for an app that NASA produces for free (for my purposes)... Wont be happy until the update with Iridium Flares comes out.
The update on my up-to-date iPhone 5 crashes immediately upon opening. Will restore good rating when fixed.
My rating of previous version...
As an astronomy teacher who also gives public programs, I find this to be a wonderful app and worth the money. But I would like to see two features added. It really needs Iridium flare predictions, not just passes. And I would like it to be able to list the next several visible passes of a single chosen satellite. Will then add that fifth star.
Update: Maybe it was iOS7 or 7.1, because I havent been using the program much because of the orientation problems, but the good ol program IS BACK! Its great again. The program just makes too much sense for its own good. Yay! :)
The latest version broke a lot of things mostly associated with iPad orientation. I wouldnt buy this version. Wait for an update. The program was really good before this one.
Version 3.2 still has the same orientation problems.