Horizon Explorer
Augmented Reality Skyline
Free
1.20.2for iPhone, iPad
Age Rating
Horizon Explorer Screenshots
About Horizon Explorer
Horizon Explorer shows you the horizon and skyline around you & tells you what you're looking at.
Point your camera at a hill, village, lake or landmark and Horizon Explorer will tell you what you are looking at, how far away it is, and show you a map, and information about the point you're aiming at.
ARKit technology makes the labels and alignment much more stable than used to be possible.
Fly up high and see the terrain laid out below you to see what is over the hills around you, and get the lay of the land, then see the scale-model 3D map that you can walk around & explore to find out what's behind hills, or investigate up close.
Tracking works best on top of a hill with an unobstructed view of your surroundings (close up trees, buildings, rocks etc. can confuse the tracking). You can drag the terrain with your finger to line up with the camera if the automatic tracking is not working very well. Or try waving your phone around in the air in a figure 8 to calibrate the compass.
Point your camera at a hill, village, lake or landmark and Horizon Explorer will tell you what you are looking at, how far away it is, and show you a map, and information about the point you're aiming at.
ARKit technology makes the labels and alignment much more stable than used to be possible.
Fly up high and see the terrain laid out below you to see what is over the hills around you, and get the lay of the land, then see the scale-model 3D map that you can walk around & explore to find out what's behind hills, or investigate up close.
Tracking works best on top of a hill with an unobstructed view of your surroundings (close up trees, buildings, rocks etc. can confuse the tracking). You can drag the terrain with your finger to line up with the camera if the automatic tracking is not working very well. Or try waving your phone around in the air in a figure 8 to calibrate the compass.
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What's New in the Latest Version 1.20.2
Last updated on Aug 28, 2019
Old Versions
- Buildings can be enabled from the settings menu.
- Live Airplanes can be enabled for free from the settings menu. Enable, then point at a plane to see altitude, destination etc.
- Performance improvements, upgrades & bugfixes.
- Live Airplanes can be enabled for free from the settings menu. Enable, then point at a plane to see altitude, destination etc.
- Performance improvements, upgrades & bugfixes.
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Version History
1.20.2
Aug 28, 2019
- Buildings can be enabled from the settings menu.
- Live Airplanes can be enabled for free from the settings menu. Enable, then point at a plane to see altitude, destination etc.
- Performance improvements, upgrades & bugfixes.
- Live Airplanes can be enabled for free from the settings menu. Enable, then point at a plane to see altitude, destination etc.
- Performance improvements, upgrades & bugfixes.
1.15.0
May 10, 2019
- Other Languages! French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Hindi and English.
- Improved graphics & lighting when altitude slider is raised.
- Can load articles from other language Wikipedias (settings menu)
- Faster loading of map & reloading of failed tiles
- Decreased app download size by ~30%
- Several other small bugfixes
- Improved graphics & lighting when altitude slider is raised.
- Can load articles from other language Wikipedias (settings menu)
- Faster loading of map & reloading of failed tiles
- Decreased app download size by ~30%
- Several other small bugfixes
1.10.0
Jan 9, 2019
- Added an arrow & twist tips to aid with alignment during the tutorial.
- Tutorial can now be replayed by choosing it from the settings menu (tutorial will restart).
- Decreased delay between enabling planes or Wikipedia markers in settings & them appearing on screen.
- Placenames drop to the ground slowly as altitude slider is increased.
- Tutorial can now be replayed by choosing it from the settings menu (tutorial will restart).
- Decreased delay between enabling planes or Wikipedia markers in settings & them appearing on screen.
- Placenames drop to the ground slowly as altitude slider is increased.
1.9.0
Dec 22, 2018
City & Settlement names now appear hovering over the city on the camera view (configurable from settings menu).
Further away cities hover over the horizon in the direction of the city & distance is shown.
North / South / East / West pointers now appear over the horizon (turn on/off from settings menu).
Further away cities hover over the horizon in the direction of the city & distance is shown.
North / South / East / West pointers now appear over the horizon (turn on/off from settings menu).
1.7.2
Oct 30, 2018
Tutorial in the Swiss Alps
Increased airplane range to 160km because it's possible to see planes that are really far away.
Increased airplane range to 160km because it's possible to see planes that are really far away.
1.6.0
Oct 8, 2018
- Live Airplanes can now be enabled from the settings menu (Requires in app purchase)
- Point at an airplane to see details (altitude, distance, origin, destination, speed & airplane type)
- Airplanes load worldwide, searches up to 60km from your location.
- This "What's new" modal.
- Various performance improvements, especially in cities - may be slightly slower to load, but performance should be better while loading.
- Minimap more zoomed out so you can see more.
- Hide red "strawberry" marker until button is pressed.
- Point at an airplane to see details (altitude, distance, origin, destination, speed & airplane type)
- Airplanes load worldwide, searches up to 60km from your location.
- This "What's new" modal.
- Various performance improvements, especially in cities - may be slightly slower to load, but performance should be better while loading.
- Minimap more zoomed out so you can see more.
- Hide red "strawberry" marker until button is pressed.
1.4.1
Aug 16, 2018
Add tall-building mode, using GPS altitude and allowing slider to adjust view altitude without obscuring camera.
Add settings menu button to main page
Fix bug where relative heights (+/- Xm) used roof / top GPS marker instead of ground-level.
Change to use Firebase Analytics
Fix never-show feedback button to never-show popup question again.
Add settings menu button to main page
Fix bug where relative heights (+/- Xm) used roof / top GPS marker instead of ground-level.
Change to use Firebase Analytics
Fix never-show feedback button to never-show popup question again.
1.3.0
Jul 16, 2018
Support for right-to-left languages for places pointed at with the crosshair.
Ability to disable Wikipedia markers from the settings menu (drop a red flag, and choose settings).
Feedback question prompt after using the app for a while (if you have feature requests or other comments, please email hello@horizon-explorer.com)
Ability to disable Wikipedia markers from the settings menu (drop a red flag, and choose settings).
Feedback question prompt after using the app for a while (if you have feature requests or other comments, please email hello@horizon-explorer.com)
1.1.9
Jun 19, 2018
Added point actions feature: Point somewhere and press a button to drop a marker, and optionally open that point with another maps app, get directions or see street-view
Drop markers in 3D Map mode and see them in AR mode or vice-versa
New green logo & splash screen
Smoother minimap movement
Fix bug where alignment was always set to 'north' when first opening the app, rather than the direction the camera was facing
Fix bug where green hill-peak markers didn't appear
Fix bug where name of point didn't get cleared after pointing away
Label the blue GPS marker
Drop markers in 3D Map mode and see them in AR mode or vice-versa
New green logo & splash screen
Smoother minimap movement
Fix bug where alignment was always set to 'north' when first opening the app, rather than the direction the camera was facing
Fix bug where green hill-peak markers didn't appear
Fix bug where name of point didn't get cleared after pointing away
Label the blue GPS marker
1.1.7
Apr 30, 2018
Usability Enhancements:
More visible crosshair in the center
Distance & altitude icons & use km when over 1000m
Modes selector to go to 3D map & back
Add crosshair to center of minimap
Loading message on minimap when pointing at an area that hasn't loaded yet.
Tooltip when first point at the white line: "Drag to align with camera horizon"
Wikipedia markers show up better against dark ground - white reflective outline
Add text to "auto align" button to better indicate what it does
Selector for map tile types show tile type previews
Increase maximum altitude to 10,000m (~33,000ft), close to the altitude of a passenger aircraft
Bug fixes:
Dismiss search now possible by pressing search button again
Yellow marker moves more smoothly
Fix bug where yellow marker jumped around at high altitudes
Fix position of Wikipedia article - move out from behind notch on iPhone X
More visible crosshair in the center
Distance & altitude icons & use km when over 1000m
Modes selector to go to 3D map & back
Add crosshair to center of minimap
Loading message on minimap when pointing at an area that hasn't loaded yet.
Tooltip when first point at the white line: "Drag to align with camera horizon"
Wikipedia markers show up better against dark ground - white reflective outline
Add text to "auto align" button to better indicate what it does
Selector for map tile types show tile type previews
Increase maximum altitude to 10,000m (~33,000ft), close to the altitude of a passenger aircraft
Bug fixes:
Dismiss search now possible by pressing search button again
Yellow marker moves more smoothly
Fix bug where yellow marker jumped around at high altitudes
Fix position of Wikipedia article - move out from behind notch on iPhone X
1.1.6
Apr 3, 2018
AR Wikipedia markers and articles displayed on screen (+link to Wikipedia), scrollable & pinnable.
Semicircular minimap.
Make cursor "see through" buildings if pointing at an AR marker behind building.
Semicircular minimap.
Make cursor "see through" buildings if pointing at an AR marker behind building.
1.1.5
Mar 11, 2018
You can now rotate the horizon line to match the camera using 2 fingers.
Add wikipedia point markers to small map.
Better control of the altitude through a logarithmic slider
Fix issue where horizon line was rendered over the top of foreground markers.
Fix really slow rendering & missing markers when in cities (too many buildings)
Fix hill markers for hills over 1000m high
Add wikipedia point markers to small map.
Better control of the altitude through a logarithmic slider
Fix issue where horizon line was rendered over the top of foreground markers.
Fix really slow rendering & missing markers when in cities (too many buildings)
Fix hill markers for hills over 1000m high
1.1.1
Feb 20, 2018
Add search button to small 3D map to allow you to view anywhere in the world.
Ability to drag & rotate the 3D map.
Different tilesets for the model map.
Fix GPS marker to reposition after searching / moving small map.
Improve screenshots & app previews in store listing.
Ability to drag & rotate the 3D map.
Different tilesets for the model map.
Fix GPS marker to reposition after searching / moving small map.
Improve screenshots & app previews in store listing.
1.1.0
Feb 8, 2018
Tapping on the minimap now brings up a 3D map of where you're pointing.
Includes hill peak markers, landmark names, and terrain.
Walk to / point at the edge of the small map to load more.
Includes hill peak markers, landmark names, and terrain.
Walk to / point at the edge of the small map to load more.
1.0.9
Jan 31, 2018
Buildings between 50m and 500m can now be pointed at and details will be displayed.
Display Unnamed POIs ("school", "forest", "park" etc.) if given name is not known.
Manual alignment improvements - Alignment will reset less often.
GPS Accuracy increased when user walks some way after starting the app.
Fix bug where the app crashed on restore from background.
Display Unnamed POIs ("school", "forest", "park" etc.) if given name is not known.
Manual alignment improvements - Alignment will reset less often.
GPS Accuracy increased when user walks some way after starting the app.
Fix bug where the app crashed on restore from background.
1.0.8
Jan 24, 2018
Add hill markers: All hills within 20km, visible hills up to 80km away
Fix bug where it doubled the distance you walked
City/town/district names
Lake names
Yellow marker where pointed
Blue "you are here" GPS marker when elevated
Fix bug where it doubled the distance you walked
City/town/district names
Lake names
Yellow marker where pointed
Blue "you are here" GPS marker when elevated
1.0.7
Jan 16, 2018
Show all terrain including foreground hills for easier alignment & easier to see lines on any background
Replace small map with an altitude slider to allow peeking over hills & aiming at distant landmarks
Fix issue where minimap jumped around / was unstable despite phone being held steady
Workaround for missing Mapbox terrain tiles
Prevent install on non-ARKit devices
Replace small map with an altitude slider to allow peeking over hills & aiming at distant landmarks
Fix issue where minimap jumped around / was unstable despite phone being held steady
Workaround for missing Mapbox terrain tiles
Prevent install on non-ARKit devices
1.0.6
Jan 9, 2018
Fix issue where everything "inside" of a bend in a road / river was labelled as the road/river.
Increase range from 20km to 80km (mountains are big, and can be seen from really far away)
Cleverer tile loading - fewer unnecessary tile loads
Shrunk apk size by 15.8%
Increase range from 20km to 80km (mountains are big, and can be seen from really far away)
Cleverer tile loading - fewer unnecessary tile loads
Shrunk apk size by 15.8%
1.0.5
Jan 3, 2018
Fixed crosshair misalignment on iPhone X
Updated to show a line for the horizon (rather than toggle-able tiles)
Updated to show a line for the horizon (rather than toggle-able tiles)
1.0.4
Dec 31, 2017
Horizon Explorer FAQ
Click here to learn how to download Horizon Explorer in restricted country or region.
Check the following list to see the minimum requirements of Horizon Explorer.
iPhone
iPad
Horizon Explorer supports English
