Corduroying app 02 · iOS
Stargazing without the maps.
Most stargazing apps hand you the whole sky and let you work out which part of it matters. Up There does the deciding: open it and get one verdict—Go, Maybe, or Skip tonight—with a single target, the direction to face, a time you will actually be awake for, and what to notice when you look. Then put your phone away.
Free for iOS · almost here
How it works
01
One primary target each night, plus a bonus when the sky is generous. A plain-language direction—“look west”—a height in fist-widths above the horizon, the way you'd point it out to a friend, and a time inside the hours you're actually awake.
02
Up There checks conditions and tells you whether the sky is clear, uncertain, or poor. When the forecast is stale or unreachable, it says so instead of inventing confidence—and “Skip tonight” is a real, occasional answer.
03
Tap through for where to start, how long to let your eyes adjust, and one sentence on why tonight's target was picked. Turn until the arrow points up and it follows your compass to the target. Mark “I found it” to close the loop, on-device only.
What it watches
The Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, plus the stars and shapes worth knowing by name—Sirius, Orion's Belt, the Southern Cross, Matariki, and the Milky Way core on a moonless night. Each gets its turn at the headline over a year. Naked-eye things you can genuinely see from an ordinary backyard in an ordinary town: no telescope, no deep-sky catalogue, no star chart to hold up and align.
Questions or feedback
Found a rough edge, or did the sky brief miss the mark? Send a note directly to the studio. There is no form or account—just a simple way to get in touch.
Email NanoPrivate by default
Astronomical positions are calculated on your device, and the place you pick comes from 170,935 cities held on the phone, so it is never sent anywhere. Your location goes to Apple Weather for the forecast, and nowhere else. An optional daily reminder nudges you to check tonight's brief, and follows you across time zones. Up There is free; there is a tip jar in Settings if you want to say thanks, and it changes nothing in the app.
Free · almost here