GoISSWatch ISS Tracking Reviews

by Dravengsd

This used to be my favorite app for tracking the ISS. GoISSWatchISSTracking just crashes now as soon as it’s opened. It’s been years since there was an update, and I’m hoping this doesn’t mean GoISSWatchISSTracking has been abandoned by the developers. Holding out hope it will be fixed!

by Showfan97

I loved GoISSWatchISSTracking. It told me every time the ISS was going over my city.
It’s exciting to see that bright light in the sky, moving so rapidly.
Suddenly I stopped getting the notices.
I deleted GoISSWatchISSTracking , now I have reinstalled it.
I hope it give me my views of the Space Station back.

by Oscar Milton Stevens

I want to like GoISSWatchISSTracking. The timing is indeed off - verified using both other iPhone apps and PC apps, side-by-side, in real time. Location is correct, as is GMT time.

Support suggests that the bad info is due to government servers being down during the government shutdown.

I look forward to an update to fix the timing/calculation problem - the reliance on government server for data calculation (while the $10 paid app has an alternative server from which to receive corret TLE? Show me GoISSWatchISSTracking can work correctly and I'll invest in your other app.

by MFedchock

Great graphics, but off when it comes to timing. If I was only using GoISSWatchISSTracking, I'd never see it. Graphic shows its overhead, but it shows 10 minutes later. I also use ISS Spotter which it perfect every time. Sorry, but GoISSWatchISSTracking needs some work.

by AstroPaul

GOOD APP, BUT TWO BIG PROBLEMS HAVE RETURNED

Posted: Saturday, August 24, 2019

GoISSWatchISSTracking , again, shows the wrong date and day of the week & no longer automatically updates ISS passes!

1) For example, it says that today is Friday, August 23! It claims that the next pass is Sunday, August 25, but that’s actually happening on Monday, August 26! This is an incredibly bad error — and such a basic issue — for a satellite app!

2) The passes NO longer update automatically. One is forced to MANUALLY tap World (or Sky) view, then Passes to get a SINGLE DAY’S worth of passes! Then, to get another day, one has to that again! And, so on, and so forth. Irritating!

Pull down to refresh the list of passes no longer works, either!

OLD REVIEW — October 7, 2018

Note: Appreciate the developers' reply but, in fact, there is a refresh control! (Surprised you don't know that about your OWN app!) If you pull down the pass list, it used to calculate and show the passes for the next several days. If you wanted to see more days, just drag up. That no longer works, however, on the iPod Touch 6G under iOS 11. See later on.

GOOD FEATURES

This is one of the best ISS apps. It lists upcoming ISS passes, locates the ISS on a globe view, provides a night sky view, etc. It's a very good app, but there are problems as noted. Read on for the highlights, a description of the problems, and suggestions.

IMPROVEMENTS THEY MADE!

The developers have been listening to feedback! ISS passes are now shown on a single screen. This is a major improvement in usability. (You used to have to manually step through, a day at a time, which was slow, went to a new screen, and the displayed flashed!) I do wish, though, that it would calculate many passes at once; instead, one has to scroll down and still wait a bit for the next pass to show up in the list!

In the good news department, the developers provide a button for the previous day, if you want to check on yesterday's passes! The accuracy problems (days, times of passes) seem to have been finally fixed, too! THE PROBLEM IS BACK!

They also fixed a problem (one version earlier) with alerts where they used to be ON by default and you had to *manually* turn each one of them OFF. Now, they are OFF by default and that makes a HUGE difference (no longer any worries about being unexpectedly awakened in the middle of the night!).

GREAT FEATURE: SKY VIEW

It's great to tap on an upcoming pass and see a pop-up sky map showing the ISS pass through the stars.

MAJOR PROBLEMS AND SUGGESTIONS

PASSES NO LONGER UPDATE!

A major problem as of September 22, 2018! When one pulls down the pass list on an iPod Touch 6G, GoISSWatchISSTracking no longer updates the ISS passes! You have to switch to another view first, e.g. World, and then return to passes to get GoISSWatch do its calculations and show the next day's passes.

Even worse, it only updates one day or night at a time, so you have to keep switching views and returning to Passes. Before you could just pull down the pass list and it would update several days at a time! That fortunately still work on the iPad.

PLEASE FIX THIS ASAP!

SKY VIEW ISSUE

In addition, the Sky Views need major improvements. The cardinal directions E and W are reversed from how they are in virtually every other sky charting and satellite app out there! East is on the right and West on the left. Now, this works if the ISS is crossing the sky from West to North and you are facing North.

But today, we had an ISS pass going from West to South. Alas, the result was that the ISS is shown moving in the *opposite* direction from what actually happens in the sky! There is no setting to switch the orientation. I tried moving the sky view display through the nadir and also the zenith--no change, no luck. I checked my location--it's correct, so it's not a hemisphere problem.

TIP: if you rotate the iPad, holding it with the home button at the top, you can have the southern (West to East) passes display correctly!

Another issue: At low brightness, the cardinal point designations-- N, E, S, and W--are not legible! Their blue coloring faded into the background.

Furthermore, on the iPad, tapping on a pass opens up a small chart in the upper left corner that's hard to read. I think they simply brought over the one from the iPhone version. It should be larger or even full screen. (On the iPhone, we should be able to tap on the sky view and zoom in.)

The Sky View also could use constellation lines to help observers figure out where the ISS is going to be traveling!

Each pass has an alarm clock symbol--that makes it look like they are on! The icon needs changing-- perhaps an alarm clock with a slash through it?!

The alerts could use another option--e.g., an hour before time of the ISS pass. Sometimes 30 minutes is NOT enough time to get one's household and family organized--delay dinner, put on coats and boots, get oriented to the sky, etc.

RECOMMENDATION FOR OTHER USERS

Explore your current astro apps as many have little known or buried satellite features! For example, Sky Safari Plus can show you the ISS (and other satellites) with their path among the constellations --and you can zoom in, too.

In looking at my other apps, I also discovered that Starmap 3D+ (not to be confused with Starmap2 or Starmap Pro by a different developer) provides a full list of passes on one page -- great-- and mini sky charts, to boot!

CONCLUSION

Bottom line: GOISSWATCH is a good app for catching ISS passes! Definitely download this and give it a whirl.

by Daniel K K

1) Adding a new location doesn't update the "passes" list, so I can't find out when the ISS will pass over any other area than the one I'm in currently.
2) "Passes" list should have a filter to let you select only passes that are at a certain angle or duration.
3) "Satellites" list implies that it could include other orbiting objects, but none can be added.

by ChrisX050501

So so glad you updated and enhanced GoISSWatchISSTracking! Been a long time coming....

by Svenry

In the "Passes" view, it lists start & end times, peak altitude, peak time (the time when ISS is at peak altitude), and the range (closest distance to the viewer reached).

But the listed magnitude is not the maximum magnitude. Instead, it is the magnitude seen at the end of the pass (determined by the minimum, viewable elevation set in the preferences).

Why is this? Wouldn't the maximum magnitude be a much more valuable piece of information?

Also, I wish the world map was of a higher resolution. Currently, it is not of much use other than to determine the general location of the ISS.

An option to remove the ISS icon and display a simple dot instead would be welcomed.

This is my favorite tool for planning and carrying out sightings of the ISS, but these issues (specifically the useless, listed magnitude in the "Passes" view) can be quite disappointing.

by Stretch12121

GoISSWatchISSTracking provides several features that give the user a whole new perspective on ISS flybys. I really like GoISSWatchISSTracking , however, it crashes a lot. I hope you guys can get it fixed. Crashes happen while in the 3d mode when rolling the orbits ahead or back. Maybe it's just a memory deficiency on my iPhone 4, don't know. I'm going to keep this on my phone, tho, and hope for some good updates in the future that might address this problem.

by Nicknameofevil

Used this twice and the ISS was where it said at exactly the right time. Kids very impressed and think I'm some kind of genius....

by Kevin_in_cs

I refuse to give five stars to an app, no matter how nice, that insists on ads that have to be removed every time it's opened, nor will I keep it on my phone. I even considered paying for the $10 upgrade but could find no mention that the ads would be removed. Since one of the ads is for another of your apps that I already have, I’m wondering if upgrading would even get rid of the ad for upgrading! I’ll likely delete the other app as well. I almost hate to do it, but I’m limiting myself to ad-free apps, even if I have to pay for them.

Update: I’ve changed my rating to five stars. GoISSWatchISSTracking Store description of GoSatWatch (the upgrade) didn’t mention anything about the ads being gone in it. But in GoISSWatchISSTracking Store description of GoISSWatch, where it mentions the upgrade, it DOES mention that the upgrade would have no ads. For your own sake, I’d mention that selling point in BOTH places. Thanks.

by 4happyhomes

I installed every ISS tracking app available (for free) and started using them and keeping track of my favorite features. I was frustrated that my favorites were in different apps. Then I got to checking GoISSWatch out and there all my favor features were, and in one app. I promptly deleted all the other apps.

I use it to track position for radio contact. I like that it will show me all passes, not just the nighttime ones, distance from me to the satellite, the approximate visibility circle, my location on the map and the ability to run time fast-forward or fast-backward.

Improvements: A higher res image of earth would be nice.

Well done!

by ApexQ5

Downloaded app just a few minutes before the space station would become visible. App worked flawlessly. Just point your device towards the sky and you know exactly where to look! Lots of other cool features too.

by Dpwe

Slick and feature-rich app has helped me spot the ISS twice in two attempts - spot-on and flawless in my experience. I'm a little surprised I had never noticed this bright and fast moving star before, but I guess it really helps to know when and where to look.

by Psymatics

More could be done to make GoISSWatchISSTracking look nicer, but it does what it does and it does it well. That's the important part and that's what its go.

by BongoBarry

I noticed a few reviews saying the timing was off as I downloaded GoISSWatchISSTracking, but in the 36 hours I've had it, it's right on, even down to the SECOND the ISS came into sight on the most recent pass (about 10 minutes ago). I have it set for a 2 minute warning, and I've watched 3 passes tonight with the most recent being only 23 miles off from straight up! (Literally an awesome sight.) Excellent app!

by Cesar_Muralles

Great app!
It has everything you need to find the international space station!
Easy and fun to use

by Distar97

I’ve been using GoISSWatch for some time now. Support is much better than expected.

Recently GoISSWatchISSTracking failed to start properly, only to show for a few seconds before disappearing.

The developer got back to me immediately with very specific instructions on how to fully delete and reinstall.

It turns out that IOS 14.2 has an offload app option that may prevent a full delete before reinstall.

Thanks Richard

by Tombstone59

-about our planet and rotation. If you use the completely hidden feature to look into the future- several days- or months, GoISSWatchISSTracking has the tilt shadow 100% accurate at any location and the poles.

Oh - I’ve never missed the ISS. App is 100% dead on.

by Punskinismealt

This is such an amazing app I’ve seen the iss so many times now thanks to the there still could be a few changes with calibration but otherwise it’s amazing there is a problem though one of my friends got GoISSWatchISSTracking and it was only a black screen but it’s still a good app

by R Istre

Only 4 stars because it has potential. As a former ISS Flight Controller, I used a product called BEV (Birds Eye View) that looked very similar to this. One thing this needs to be added is the approximate area of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). Please consider adding that in a future build.

by Pup1111

This is the best iss app I have found thank u so much highly recommend 5 star from me