As a professional astrologer I’m always asked for recommendations of astrology software programs. Until now there has been a huge gap between the so-called “horoscope” apps that provide fun but useless “horoscopes” based on sun sign only, especially for the Iphone. (I use the word “horoscope” in quotes here because a horoscope is actually the actual natal chart rather than the predictions it has come to signify.)
I use the Solar Fire professional software program in my day-to-day astrology practice, so when their Iphone version came out I purchased it right away. At $29.99 the app is not cheap, but it is certainly handy to be able to whip out the phone and immediately calculate the position of your progressed Moon.
The folks at Astrograph sent me an offer to review their Iphone app so of course I took them up on it. They also have a free app which I highly recommend.
The Time Passages free app provides everything you need to cast your own birthchart, and even gives you a real “horoscope” showing the effect of the current planetary positions on your own birthchart. This is a great way to learn about astrology and the effect of the planets on our personal lives. If you want the option to show a transit wheel or progressed chart, you can purchase this and other options for a very modest fee ($.99).
The paid Time Passages app naturally has more features. You can view biwheels with the natal and progressed charts, or natal and transit charts. (I suppose it would be difficult to view a triwheel on an Iphone, but that would be a great feature at some point in the future.) The app does include a “compatibility meter” which I am not crazy about, anything that we do to “dumb down” astrology in this way rankles me, especially in a professional application like this. But I’m sure it will be very popular.
I’m frankly not sure if the differences between the paid app and the free app are worth the $29.99. Unless I’m missing something you can purchase the additional features you would use on a daily basis (transits, progressions) for only $.99 each.
AstroGold is the Iphone app from the folks that brought us the Solar Fire family of software programs. Because it’s geared towards professionals it does offer a wider range of options such as the type of Black Moon and over 25 house systems. I confess that although I have been an astrologer for about 30 years I use only a fraction of the features of my Solar Fire package, and most of these extra options will certainly be lost on the average user.
Most of my readers will be quite pleased with the free Time Passages app and pay for the upgrades for the transits and progressions, and Henry Selzer’s excellent interpretations are a great learning tool as well.
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Loved your email & all the info.
Just wondering when or if any of these apps will be available on the android market as android is taking over from apple very fast & i only have an andriod and would love any one of these apps.
Thank you
Melissa, just email the app developers, they will let you know.
Wow great info. I do have a few “horoscope” apps on my iPhone and they are pretty lame. Thanks for sharing an honest appraisal of astrology apps that we can use now.
Sue
Hi Lynn,
Thanks so much for this run-down of iPhone apps. I wasn’t aware there were truly legit apps out there. Every time I surf thru the “lifestyle” section of iTunes for astro stuff, I have been less than impressed. Also, a recommendation from me: Lunarium has iLuna, Hours (a planetary hours app), and several others (which are definitely astrology lite). iLuna is a monthly calendar that gives you sign, phase, void periods, and the Hours app calculates planetary hours for your location or any other you specify. Very handy for horary astrologers especially. Descriptions & info available at: http://www.lunarium.co.uk/software/iphone.jsp
Julia
Thanks for the interesting article. Do you know which house system the Time Passages Pro uses? Can you email reports on the Solar Fire or just email file info to Solar Fire on PC? I really want to get one of these, but am not sure which one I want. I wish Matrix had one since I use Winstar on my PC.