Sky Live: Heavens Above Viewer Reviews

by Night Sky Shooter

SkyLive seems to be a nice looking, peek into the current conditions at your location, I’ll give it that. The BIGGEST HINDERANCE is that there is such limited searchable locations, it basically cripples SkyLive . If you need to travel to “X” location (possibly hours away), but want to check star gazing, weather, and visibility conditions beforehand? Better make sure you’re only going to a location available on their list. Otherwise, you’ll find you cannot search for common towns, locations, areas, or even GPS coordinates and get their relative info (at least in the US, I have not tried other countries). This has issue has been reported by other users over a year ago and still has not been fixed. This one issue alone makes it NOT WORTH IT to get SkyLive for the .99 cents it costs for the “pro” features, heck it makes it not worth it for the free one either. But I guess, in theory, if you’ve done research on other better apps/services and then, got on-location to view magnificent night skies, this would do a good job to tell you once you got there that you’ve got “great stargazing conditions.”

by Orlockorlok

The is a great app. It is excellent on letting you know stargazing conditions as well as timing for certain sky objects. The issue with SkyLive is if you try the ad supported versions of other Vito tech apps and then upgrade the to full via in app purchase the apps don’t recognize each other as full versions. I contacted support and was told they were aware of the issue and it will be fixed in the next update, it now has been over a month since and no update to resolve the issue

by AstroZamboni

No indication of what the notifications DO, Just asks you if you want them. Does not display any specifics for seeing and transparency, just a one-word judgement of whether the conditions are good, fair or poor. Confusing interface, no clear way to bookmark multiple locations and no apparent way to choose a location from a map if you need to travel to observe. Just a terrible, mediocre app that hides features behind a paywall that aren't even remotely worth paying for. Download a free clear sky chart app and learn how to read it. It'll be infinitely more useful than this piece of garbage.

by TheMormonKiwi

Realized after I paid the $1 for pro that location couldn’t be chosen manually. Have to either be at the location or choose from one of the available locations which is extremely limited. The whole point of SkyLive for me was to see what stargazing conditions are like so I know if I should bother traveling out to darker skies. Seems like such an easy feature to fix that the lack of communication on why this “feature” isn’t available or the plans for the update warrant a 1 star review.

by Wder15243

Mostly useless information. Paid the $0.99 for it, didn’t do anything for that buck that it didn’t already do, nothing. I can swipe a few days ahead to see “weather viewing percent” but SkyLive falls short on everything.
Other than the home app page, the only other page was manual that gave some background information on parts of SkyLive that for the most part doesn’t exist.
Keep you money and space. Waste of time.

by JMeg8237

I really liked the way SkyLive worked but my recent experience is it’s not very accurate. Maybe it needs some time ranges, instead of one number that covers the entire evening. But tonight, for example, we got clouded out by 8pm after Sky Live said 81% clear tonight. Maybe it will be 81% clear in a few hours, but it certainly isn’t now. There’s potential, but it’s not there yet.

by Miguelito's

I bought this program because it seemed better than Star Walk 2.It seem that it was until version 10. The change in the color of the sky versus the stars make this program difficult to use, especially during the day. There don’t seem to be any granular control for this.

by Von Shigler

Would be 5 stars but you can’t manually choose a specific location...instead they have a 100 different locations all over the world to choose from, which is pointless if you’re trying to plan a stargazing trip to see if the seeing conditions will even be worth the trip; so SkyLive is pretty much useless for me unfortunately:(

by Surfrac

SkyLive works great if you’re physically at your stargazing location. For those that need to travel away from city lights SkyLive is not accurate. With set searchable city locations it isn’t practical for use in planning stargazing trips. If locations could be searched by GPS entry (like the current location) it would easily earn 5 stars.

by Animegirrl

I love SkyLive. I’ve been using it off and on for years. It’s a great way to just learn interesting space events, and to tell what’s going to be visible in your area. Sadly SkyLive hasn’t been updated in a few years, which while understandable (the stars don’t change much after all) it would be neat to see SkyLive with IOS 14 functionality. It would make great widgets.

by CPE03

Overall, SkyLive is great for using in your current location but is very weak for looking into places you may be traveling to. It can not locate common locations - at least in the US - nor will it allow you to enter in a GPS location. This would be the best “tweak” the developer could make at this time imo.

by CAERWENT500

Love SkyLive. Just a click and I know whether to go to my telescope or not. It’s useful even in daytime hours since I like to test my GoTo scope to see if I’m being blessed with a sky clear enough to spot Mercury, a real test of clear skies.

by Lulu's Mom & Dad

I have several tools in my arsenal for projecting sky conditions and other related observing information. But, this is the first one I hit, often several times a day. It's got a simple user interface, is accurate and updated frequently and has no quirks. A pleasure to use in all respects.

by Ddalix

Great app. Very simple, very accurate. Exactly what I needed. The $.99 upgrade is worth it. However, my only request would be that you could put multiple locations in. Like any weather app has. I’d like to switch back-and-forth from my home in Salt Lake City to my cabin up in the mountains, regardless of where I am standing at the moment.

by Dangalangadingdong

I lead Astronomy and Cosmology study groups as an employee of Oakland Community College and stargaze on my own time as well. I use Sky Live (and Stellarium freeware) in tandem when planning stargazing sessions and when aiding students in learning the night sky. I have used at least 20 different apps over the last 4 years, but Sky Live is the ONLY stargazing app that resides at the ready on my iPhone’s first screen. I recommend buying the full version to know at a glance when the ISS will grace your stargazing sessions with its presence.

by ForWillieZ

Even though SkyLive has weather. There is no way to know when they will be clear other than a percentage for the whole day like 7:00pm or 5:00am. SkyLive needs to have a lot of work to even close to SkyLive for androidss

by G-PA 1

I like it when I see “Fair” ! I love it when I see “Good” ....I’m ecstatic when I see “Great” !
The downside is I hate it when I see “Poor” especially a string of them, as if SkyLive was somehow responsible....lol
But seriously, it provides everything I need to plan my week, before the telescopes come out and does not disappoint! It’s simple and accurate and does not overwhelm the user with information overload! That said , I do use other more technical apps, but this is always the one I check 1st , so It’s a perfect on the go app !
The only thing I would like to see is a few more days tacked on, but I get why you don’t! The Hubble photos each day are also a nice touch !

Highly recommend it!

by Jax630

Sky live is a really cool app, and very helpful for determining whether or not the night sky is good for viewing that night.
It informs you of the time of sunset and sunrise, any unique events happening in the sky, and any objects visible that night. I would recommend it for anyone interested in stargazing

by SinisterBigboi

I bought the pro version and I've been satisfied with the purchase. Allows me to check what planets are visible and tells me if the night is even good enough for stargazing. A must have app for serious star gazers and for the novices that just want to watch a meteor shower.

by Nova ;)

I love SkyLive so far it’s amazing and reminds me of the weather app. I enjoy looking out at the stars (though I can’t when I’m near my home) and SkyLive helps me know when that’s best to participate in. I also am kept up on the nearest full moon for crystal cleansing.

by Zzziippyyy

Nice app has features others dont but the location search is limited to places already built into SkyLive . I tried searching by state city and gps coordinates. None would work so therefore SkyLive is useless to me for anning locations. Perhaps I am usimg it wrong but I did spend some time trying.

by Emma Dede

It always gives me the correct viewing conditions and I only w when the best times are. Even when there’s no WiFi it still gives me decent information

by Abanks10

Use SkyLive to plan stargazing up to one week out and it is usually spot on. Not sure on those nights where it rates the conditions high with 100% cloud cover. But if you focus on the projected cloud cover, you should not be surprised.

by EIC Lady

I check SkyLive every day to see what's happening in the night sky. Its strength is its focus on real time data for star gazing. Planetary conjunctions, daily rise and set times for the planets and the ISS, and stellar location for each planet - what's not to like!?

by Ff1964

SkyLive is kind of a Gimmick. The weather part of it is a joke. The wind came up as 1 mile an hour and we are having 60mph gusts. Best thing just look outside or check the weather in the area you want to observe.

by Altair Abdul Khabir (Kyle)

I do astrophotography and SkyLive is absolutely indispensable!!! It's accurate, colorful, and informative. It's really helped me determine the best times to image and far quicker and easier to use than pulling up the sky charts online! Thanks Vito Technology!