Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Personalized picks at your fingertips

Get the mobile app on iOS and Android

Get the app
Parents' Guide to

Solar System for iPad

By Marc Saltzman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Well-written interactive book with lots of multimedia.

App iPad Books
Solar System for iPad Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Solar System for iPad App: Screenshot #1
  • Solar System for iPad App: Screenshot #2
  • Solar System for iPad App: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

See all
age 7+

Based on 1 parent review

kellymorrison
kellymorrison Parent of 5 and 7-year-old
July 15, 2013
age 7+

Stunningly beautiful app for space enthusiasts

This app is absolutely beautiful. Both of my kids--even the pre-reader--have spent hours going through it just to look at the rendered and animated images of the planets, stars, and other celestial bodies. I do wish there were a voice-over option for pre-readers and kids with reading difficulties, because the info here is really dense, but the app is so well done that I think the publisher should widen the net to include enthusiastic younger space nuts. That's the only reason it gets four stars instead of five in my book.
See all 1 parent review

What’s It About?

Solar System for iPad lets kids explore the universe by reading articles and facts about our solar system -- be it the rings of Saturn or the atmosphere of Mars -- as well as viewing hundreds of photos, artist illustrations, videos, and animation sequences. Kids touch the iPad screen to interact with the content, such as zooming in and out of Uranus or Jupiter, or to flick through interactive portions, such as "How to spot a planet?"

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

SOLAR SYSTEM FOR IPAD is an extraordinary – and extraordinarily attractive -- resource for amateur astronomers with text provided by best-seller author (and former radio astronomer) Marcus Chown, along with interactive 3D imagery of the sun, planets, moons, and more. You can "touch" Saturn's rings (based on images from NASA's Cassini mission), flick through the icy rubble of the Kuiper Belt (rocky bits left over from the birth of planets), or pinch and zoom into Earth to study the continents from above (with or without cloud cover). Along with an opening song set to space imagery, this app features dozens of articles; high-resolution galleries; extensive videos and animated sequences; and key data for each planet or moon (diameter, mass, volume, gravity, atmosphere, and so forth). While relatively pricey at $13.99 as of the time of this review, Solar System for iPad is an out-of-this-world pick.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Visit a local planetarium, observatory, or air and space museum to learn more about astronomy.

  • Consider buying or borrowing a telescope and looking at the stars with your kids. Or spend some time stargazing together with the naked eye on a clear night.

App Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended app lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate