About astronomy apps for amateur stargazers

Today there are these wonderful apps with which you can apparently do the same as with a planisphere, and on the smartphone you always carry with you! So why bother about taking a 25 cm large,12 dollar/10 pound costing planisphere with you?

Luckily for us such apps are nowhere near a fine planisphere when we talk about learning about and having fun observing the night sky. The app is more useful for people who already know the starry sky and want a quick update of the current situation.

For the layman it is just another superficial gadget without any clue to use it correctly. Of course, you can quickly see that that bright orange star is Arcturus, but asked about this famous star just five minutes later and you will probably have forgotten the name. And because you can see only a small part of the night sky on your screen, you will not have a complete overview of what you can see at a certain moment. The app is like using the Navigator on your smartphone to explore a city you visit for the first time.

The Planisphere invites you to explore the night sky by yourself, with family, friends and a pair of binoculars. You can follow the course of a lesser familiar constellation like Draco all the way as it runs among other constellations near the North Pole Star. You will not only learn to know Draco, but also the two Dippers and the other constellations in this part of the sky! You will learn how to find the North Pole Star forever, and you will never forget the fun you experience!

For more information, please see this article Planispheres (Star Maps): Paper or Electronic?
Here is the Word version of it.