Sky Map

Sky Map Devs

Troubleshooting/FAQ

Find us elsewhere:

About this app

Sky Map is a hand-held planetarium for your Android device. Use it to identify stars, planets, nebulae and more. Originally developed as Google Sky Map, it has now been donated and open sourced.

Troubleshooting/FAQ

The Map doesn't move/points in the wrong place

Make sure you haven't switched into manual mode. Does your phone have a compass? If not, Sky Map cannot tell your orientation. Look it up here: http://www.gsmarena.com/

Try calibrating your compass by moving it in a figure of 8 motion or as described here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1EPbAapaeI.

Are there any magnets or metal nearby that might interfere with the compass?

Try switching off "magnetic correction" (in settings) and see if that is more accurate.

Why is autolocation not supported for my phone?

In Android 6 the way permissions work has changed. You need to enable the location permission setting for Sky Map as described here: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/6270602?p=app_permissons_m

The Map is jittery

If you have a phone that lacks a gyro then some jitter is to be expected. Try adjusting the sensor speed and damping (in settings).

Do I need an internet connection?

No, but some functions (like entering your location manually) won't work without one. You'll have to use the GPS or enter a latitude and longitude instead.

Can I help test the latest features?

Sure! Join our beta testing program and get the latest version. https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.google.android.stardroid

Find us elsewhere:

⭐ GitHub: https://github.com/sky-map-team/stardroid
⭐ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/113507592330/
⭐ Twitter: http://twitter.com/skymapdevs

Ratings and reviews

If you just want to find objects in the night sky, and don't need all the bells & whistles (& details) of a more powerful (and storage-hungry) astronomy app, you really can't go wrong with this 10MB wonder. I'm an astronomy nerd w/ a more hardcore app on my laptop, but for my phone, this is perfect. Pity it appears to be abandonare, after 2y w/o an update. But don't let that stop you from trying it.

Have used for years, and it's mostly great; however... Needs the option to lock labels into one orientation (so that when you hold your phone straight up, then a little further back, the labels don't all flip upside down making them more difficult to read). Also, a setting that lets you keep the heads-up menu from auto-disappearing when you tap a button would be great (i.e. - maybe I'd like to deselect galaxies AND planets without the menu disappearing before I can tap the Planets icon).

It would be a mediocre product if it could ever seem to calibrate its directions properly. I can be looking east and it'll think I'm looking south. I've had this issue for years across three phones, while other similar space apps work fine. ///// Another issue is that it does not include any guidance of what each of the on/off icons are for (though most are easy to figure out by toggling on/off if you have some basic astro skills, you should NEED to have those skills). ///// It's pretty, but it's a very bare bones app that lacks features you'd find in most other apps (even the free ones). It appears to lack all of the following: (1) Objects of immediate interest that are kind of a low-bar for apps like this, such as comets, asteroids, satellites, and space stations. (2) The ability to hone in on or filter explicitly for neat astronomical stuff like black holes, gamma ray bursts, pulsars, recent supernovas, etc. (3) The ability to track/forecast positions of objects, or to change dates/times. (4) The ability to tap on objects to get more information about the objects, its coordinates, etc. (5) Doesn't even include most of the stars you can see with the naked eye.

What's new

Adds Comet Leonard, which will be visible for a few days around Christmas.

Sundry translation improvements and a major refactoring of the code.