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Sky Lock reads real stars, so it needs a genuinely dark sky. The three things that stop it most often:

1. It's not dark yet. Twilight looks dark to your eyes long before it is dark enough for a camera. Wait until at least 60 to 90 minutes after sunset; the app tells you when the sky is still too bright.

2. Pointing too low. Aim well above the rooftops and trees, ideally 40° or more above the horizon, at a patch of sky with several visible stars. Houses, streetlights, and the glow near the horizon give the camera bright spots that are not stars.

3. Not steady enough. Brace your elbows or lean against something and hold still for a few seconds while the aim coach counts down. A lock usually lands within about 5 seconds once the sky is right.

Moonlight, thin cloud, and heavy light pollution make it harder but not impossible. No tripod is needed.

It photographs the sky in front of you, identifies the star pattern against the Hipparcos catalog, and snaps the map onto exactly what you are pointing at. It also measures how far off your phone's compass was and keeps the star-derived heading for a while afterwards, so the map stays true after the lock. The app cannot change iOS's own compass; it corrects its own map.

That is the phone's magnetometer being pulled by nearby metal, a magnetic case or mount, a car, or a steel building. Step away from metal and roll the phone in a figure-eight to recalibrate; the app shows a notice when iOS reports low compass accuracy. At night, Sky Lock fixes it directly from the stars.

Which stars, planets, and satellites are above your horizon depends on where you are. Location is used on the phone; a rounded position (about 1 km) leaves the phone only inside diagnostics, as described in the privacy policy. Without location the app falls back to a default position and the sky will be wrong for you.

Nova Watch follows T Coronae Borealis, a recurrent nova expected to erupt. A watcher run by the studio polls public variable-star observations and, when the star brightens, sends a push notification to phones that have not turned off the app's notifications. iOS delivers the first alerts quietly, and you can keep them or turn them off from the notification itself. Alerts are best-effort: they depend on public reports, Apple's push service, and studio-operated services, so they can be late or missed.

Yes — the core of the app. The star catalog, ephemeris, artwork, and facts are on the phone. Satellite orbits ship with each build and go stale after a couple of weeks without an update. Alerts, purchases, and sending diagnostics need a network connection.

Not yet. The app is built on iOS sensor, camera, and push frameworks, and porting is on the list. Tell us you want it; the count matters.

In the app, go to Settings ▸ Privacy and tap Delete uploaded diagnostics: everything filed under your install code is deleted from our storage right away, and all sharing is switched off. Copies we had already downloaded for analysis follow within 90 days, or sooner if you email us. You can also email your install code (shown on that screen) to support@astrocompass.app; we delete everything tied to it within 30 days and confirm by reply. Switching a choice off in Settings ▸ Privacy stops sending and discards anything not yet sent; it does not delete what was already uploaded.

Plus is the paid tier, built for people who go out and observe. It adds unlimited Sky Lock, the deep sky (every galaxy on the distance dial, every tracked satellite, stars down to magnitude 9, and hundreds more nebulae and star clusters), rise alerts for anything you save, and every Nerd fact.

Without Plus you get the full sky map: stars to magnitude 8, the nearest 500 galaxies, the Messier objects, the bright satellites with pass alerts for them, all 88 constellations, eclipses, the current comet, the stargazing score, and the first 100 Nerd facts.

Every copy of the app includes three free Sky Locks. Only a successful lock uses one; an attempt that doesn't lock costs nothing, so you can try as often as the sky needs. The app shows how many you have left before each lock, and Settings shows the count too.

The monthly and yearly plans start with a free week, once per Apple Account. You can ask the app to remind you the day before it ends. Cancel at least 24 hours before the free week ends and you pay nothing; otherwise the plan starts on day 8 and renews until you cancel. Lifetime is a single purchase with no trial and no renewal.

Sign in with the same Apple Account, open Settings in the app, and tap Restore Purchases. Subscriptions and Lifetime both come back; nothing is tied to the phone itself.

All purchases go through Apple. Manage or cancel a subscription in your iPhone's Settings ▸ your name ▸ Subscriptions. Refunds are requested from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. Tips support the developer and unlock nothing.