Cosmic Watch
© 2015 Celestial Dynamics Ltd c/o niu GmbH
Had the inventors of the sun dial had a tablet, she or he would've made an app like this one. The idea is to turn the solar system (shown from an Earth-centric point of view) into a working clock. According to the publisher, this app combines several types of mechanical solar systems from the past (search on terms like antikythera mechanism, orrery or armillary sphere) with the ability to speed up time. There's also a GPS function, so you can see where you are on the Earth as you spin. We liked that you can freely spin or zoom in/out on the globe, although some of the control panels are hidden and hard to find. The clock face is built in the ecliptic and around the planet earth. Note that this is a "one trick pony" app that could be used by teachers to help students understand the relationship between time, clocks and the celestial dynamics.
$3.99, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Android
Teaches: science, time, geography, astronomy, planets, earth, sun, moon, the orbits
CTR Rating: 90%