This is what a government app should be: no monetization nonsense, no ads, just pure educational content delivered beautifully. The NASA app is essentially a portal to humanity's space exploration efforts, and it's completely free.

The AR features are legitimately cool—pointing your phone at the floor and seeing a Mars rover appear in your living room at scale is the kind of thing that makes kids (and adults) go 'whoa.' The 21,000+ images are stunning, and the daily updates mean there's always something new.

Common Sense Media's main critique is valid: there's SO much here that kids might not know where to start. But that's a good problem to have. Spend 10 minutes exploring together and you'll find your kid's entry point—whether that's the ISS tracker, the Mars mission updates, or just scrolling through jaw-dropping space photos.

For space-obsessed kids, this is essential. For everyone else, it's still worth having—if only to get an alert when the ISS is overhead and run outside to wave at astronauts.