Daily iPhone App: Pocket Universe

Losing faith in Pocket Universe, as it doesn't know where "Earth" is.

I can second the purchase of this app - bought it way back when I got my first 3GS, and it has seen regular comprehensive updates ever since. Haven't tried the Siri update yet, but given the level of polish previous feature updates have brought, my expectations are high.

Highly recommended if you have even a passing interest in astronomy.

This was one of the first apps I ever bought for my iPhone and easily one of the best investments. I do a lot of astronomy and it's great to have an extensive catalog of stars, as well as information about anything else you might see up there, and some neat features (constellation quiz, star quiz, tonight's sky, etc.). The new dictation system is really nice too, since the old search system was cumbersome and often didn't come up with what I wanted it to. My only complaints about pUniverse are the inaccuracy in its motion controls (it's often off by 10-15º, even after calibrating) and the constellation overlays (lines don't match up to stars when zoomed in).

On the Mac side, I also recommend Stellarium as a companion app. I tend to use this more when I'm at home stargazing, but if I'm at a remote location, I like to use pUniverse. Great app for anybody interested in knowing what's up there.