Stargazer

Have you ever opened a constellation app to find out what was overhead, seen nothing but lines and unfamiliar names, and closed it again?

This app does one thing. Lift your phone toward the sky, and it tells you in one sentence what you are aiming at.

■ Point, and it answers
Just aim the camera at the sky. Whatever falls inside the reticle at the center of the screen gets named. You do not need to read constellation lines.

■ What is worth seeing tonight
Using where you are standing and what time it is, the app picks whatever climbs highest in the next six hours. You do not have to decide where to start.

■ Guide me there
Choose something you want to see and an arrow shows you which way to turn the phone. When it enters the reticle, the app tells you that you have arrived.

■ 200 stars, seven planets, the Moon and the Sun
Two hundred bright stars you can see with your own eyes, from Sirius and Vega to Polaris. Seven planets from Mercury to Neptune, plus the Moon and the Sun. Every star carries one line about itself.

■ Plain words, not jargon
Brightness is "a very bright star" rather than a magnitude number. Direction is "southwest" rather than an azimuth in degrees. Height is "just lift your chin a little." Distance is how long the light took to reach you.

■ Night mode that protects your eyes
When the sun goes down, the screen shifts to red. Your eyes take about twenty minutes to adapt to the dark, and one look at a white screen undoes all of it.

■ It runs on your phone
Positions are computed on the device using standard astronomical algorithms, and the star catalog ships inside the app. No account to create, and no hunting for a signal in the dark field you drove out to.

■ A nudge, if you want one
At a time you choose, the app mentions what tonight's sky holds. Change the time, or turn it off.

■ Why it asks for these
Camera, to show the sky you are pointing at.
Location, because the same moment looks different depending on where you stand.
Compass and gyroscope, to work out which part of the sky the phone faces.

Go outside on a clear night, lift your phone, and aim it at the sky.