Solar Walk Updated, Gets Even Better — iPad App Review
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PadGadget wrote about Solar Walk, Vito Technology’s 3D Solar System model application, when it debuted last year. Now the company, who also makes the uber-cool Star Walk, just gave Solar Walk a major upgrade. Solar Walk now includes short educational movies, search capabilities, and it lets you send a captured image easily to Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, or a printer.
The app begins at the galaxy’s outer edge, then zooms in to focus on Earth. The user can choose between the true-to-scale or Orrery view of the solar system. Even if you don’t know a lot about astronomy, it’s easy to get engrossed using Solar Walk. The app lets users fly between planets, in a manner similar to Google Earth. You can zoom from a view of the earth and moon to a view of the entire galaxy in mere seconds. More knowledgeable users will appreciate Solar Walk’s attention to detail. For example, as you fly through space in true-to-scale mode, the distance scale changes automatically as you zoom from miles, to au (Astronomical Units, 1= the distance from the earth to the sun) to light years.
Solar Walk has obvious didactic uses. The movies teach so effortlessly, that soon any child or adult who owns an iOS device will be able to spot a Waxing Gibbous moon in the night sky. There is an informational section brimming with facts about each planet, including a cross-section of the planet’s core. Information on each planet’s moons are also included. Even Pluto is included, as a dwarf planet.
Solar Walk does so many things, all of which are educational, but are also just downright cool. It will put a pin in your location. You can then see if any of Earth’s main satellites pass over your house. It will show you where the moon is right now in relation to the earth. Solar Walk can also show you where things were. Want to know what the heavens looked like on the day you were born? Change the clock to whatever date you choose, and the app will oblige.
Solar Walk sells itself as 3D, but, this is the old-school, anachrome red and cyan 3D. You must supply your own glasses, and the kind you snagged after watching Thor 3D last weekend won’t work.
What I liked: Solar Walk was educational and entertaining. The app made the planets in the solar system seem more accessible by making information and images readily available, yet reminded me how astonishly far away they are. I loved that the developers included satellite information in the app. I would have loved even more information about what each satellite does. I don’t know how often I would share images from the app, but it was very easy to do.
What I didn’t like: I don’t think the 3D function adds much to Solar Walk. It is already such a robust application with amazing graphics. I don’t even know how taken children will be by the 3D option since seeing movies with polarized 3D glasses is now quite common.
To buy or not to buy: Anyone from a pre-schooler to an astronomy enthusiast will find something to like about Solar Walk. While everyone may not use every facet of the app, there is more than enough to keep most users engaged and help us all be more educated about our solar system.
App Name: Solar Walk- Version Reviewed: 1.7
- Category: Education
- Developer: Vito Technology Inc.
- Price: $2.99
- Score:
