SynScan Pro

Skywatcher Apps Team

About this app

Use the SynScan app to control Sky-Watcher telescope mounts via Wi-Fi, USB or Bluetooth LE. Mounts without built-in Wi-Fi can be supported via a SynScan Wi-Fi adapter.

This is the Pro version of the SynScan app and contains features suited for expert users using equatorial mounts.

Features
- Control telescope mount to slew, align, GOTO and track.
- Point And Track: track celestial objects (including the Sun and planets) without aligning.
- Support gamepad navigation.
- Browse a catalog of stars, comets, and deep sky objects. Or, save your own objects.
- Provide access to mount for use by third-party apps, including ASCOM clients, SkySafari, Luminos, Stellarium Mobile Plus, Stellarium Desktop or customer-developed apps.
- Support access to the mount and the SynScan app from any platform that supports TCP/UDP connections.
- Provide emulator mount for testing and practicing.
- Track fast-moving earth satellites by working with the PreviSat app on Windows PC or the Lumios app on iOS devices.
- SynMatrix AutoAlign: use the smartphone camera to align the telescope automatically.
- Perform polar alignment with or without a polar scope.
- Control shutter release (SNAP) port to trigger an attached camera. (Requires mount with SNAP port and adapter cable that matches camera.)
- Use ASCOM to perform autoguiding on mounts that do not have autoguider (ST-4) port.
- Other mount controls: auto home, PPEC, park

Ratings and reviews

Excellent app. Been using it for almost two years with absolutely no issues whatsoever. Never lost a signal, never stopped working even after running for lots of nights doing astrophotography, running for 3 to 5 hours a night. I run the free version for about 6 months with same success and because I love it so much I purchased the paid version and running it ever since. I will pay five times the price they ask for the paid version if I had to, that's how good the app it is.

This app sucks. Almost never works. I've resulted to just using the hand controlled, which unsurprisingly sucks worse, but at least I can get it to work. I do not enjoy scrolling through hundreds of menus without a search function on the controller. Want to see some DSOs? Scroll through hundreds of objects until you get one that is high enough kn the horizon. It is a total PITA.

Version 2.4.31 fixes the "negative response" error introduced in previous updates. Even the Pro version is very limited in it's functionality, but it does what I need it to. UPDATE 2026-03-09 v2.6.10 on Android 16. Sideloaded FITS files because the built-in downloader often fails, but files downloaded so far remain, taking up space, but without purpose. After a while, FITS files are auto-deleted. We need a way to direct SynScan to a User folder where the FITS files for auto align can be stored.

What’s new

• EQ tracking: fix crash that happens sometimes when this task is interrupted