Universe Sandbox alternatives on Android and Vision Pro (2026)
Universe Sandbox isn't on Android, iPhone or Apple Vision Pro. Here are the closest alternatives on each, from gravity sandboxes where you build and smash solar systems to galaxy mergers and black holes you can touch, plus two ways to run the real thing. An honest comparison, each app described from its own store listing, by the maker of one of them.
Universe Sandbox isn't on Android or Apple Vision Pro; it runs on Windows and macOS through Steam. The closest alternatives on Android are Solar System Simulator, Milky Way: Cosmic Playground and Pocket Galaxy for building and smashing systems, Gravity Simulator for changing gravity itself, and Everdust for ready-made galaxy collisions and black holes. On Vision Pro, Everdust, Celestia XR and Space Vision come closest.
I make Everdust, one of the apps below, so read this with that in mind. Universe Sandbox is a wonderful program, and nothing below replaces all of it. I've described every app by what its own Google Play or App Store listing says, and I say plainly where another app is the better pick. Prices are US prices, and everything was checked on October 27, 2026.
The short answer
- Is Universe Sandbox on Android or Vision Pro? No. It's on Steam for Windows and macOS. Its FAQ says a mobile version for phones and tablets is in the works, with no release date yet.
- Closest on Android, to build and smash solar systems: Solar System Simulator, Milky Way: Cosmic Playground or Pocket Galaxy.
- On Android, to change the law of gravity itself: Gravity Simulator by TestTubeGames.
- On Android, for galaxy collisions and black holes with nothing to build: Everdust.
- On Vision Pro: there's no build-anything gravity sandbox like Universe Sandbox. Everdust runs live gravity simulations you can put your hands in; Celestia XR lets you roam a 3D universe; Space Vision moves the real planets through time.
- To run the real Universe Sandbox with a Vision Pro: run it on a Mac and use Mac Virtual Display (details below).
- On PC or Mac instead: SpaceEngine ($29.99 on Steam, Windows) flies you through the whole universe at real scale; Gaia Sky (free, open source) and Celestia (free) explore real star and galaxy data. None of them is a build-and-smash sandbox like Universe Sandbox; the galaxy simulator apps guide compares them on every platform.
What people want from Universe Sandbox
Universe Sandbox's Steam page describes a "realistic physics-based space simulator": collide planets, boil away oceans, "bend the laws of gravity", fire space lasers and build planets from materials. It costs $29.99. Nothing on a phone or a headset does all of that, so the honest question is which part you want:
- Build a system and break it: place planets and stars, then collide them.
- Change the physics: stronger or weaker gravity, different laws.
- See the big things: galaxies colliding, black holes bending light.
- Explore the real universe: fly to real planets, stars and galaxies.
The sections below sort the alternatives by those four.
On Android
Solar System Simulator: build and break
Solar System Simulator by WPCons is, in its listing's words, a real-time gravity sandbox built on Newton's laws and real astronomical data. You add, move or destroy planets, moons, asteroids and comets, and every orbit is recalculated live, with impact craters, particle rings and real eclipses. It's free, contains ads and offers in-app purchases. Its sibling, Space Crash Simulator, focuses on planet collisions built from interacting particles.
Pick it if you want the closest thing to Universe Sandbox's solar-system side.
Milky Way: Cosmic Playground: build, break and merge galaxies
Milky Way: Cosmic Playground (listed on Google Play as "Milky Way") says every body obeys Newtonian gravity and collisions use smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). Its listing describes planet collisions, meteor impacts, growing planets from a spinning disk, black holes and merging galaxies in 3D, including the Milky Way and Andromeda. It's free with in-app purchases, and the listing doesn't show ads.
Pick it if you want one app that covers impacts, orbits and galaxies.
Pocket Galaxy: a calm 3D sandbox
Pocket Galaxy: Space Sandbox by Pocket Labs Ltd lets you spawn planets, stars and gas giants under real gravity, then heat, freeze or smash them. It costs $2.49, with no ads or in-app purchases. A free version, Pocket Galaxy: Cosmos Sandbox, contains ads.
Pick it if you want to tinker with orbits without a learning curve.
Gravity Simulator: change the rules
Gravity Simulator by TestTubeGames LLC lets you launch stars and planets, and also change the law of gravity itself, or switch on General Relativity. It costs $3.99, with no ads or in-app purchases.
Pick it if "bend the laws of gravity" was your favorite part of Universe Sandbox.
Solar Smash: the spectacle
Solar Smash by Paradyme Games is about destroying planets with lasers, meteors and black holes, with a Solar System Smash mode for building systems. It's free, contains ads and offers in-app purchases.
Pick it if the space lasers were the point.
Celestia: explore the real universe
Celestia is the free 3D space simulator from the desktop, on Android: visit planets, star clusters and galaxies from any point in space and time. Free with in-app purchases, no ads shown on the listing.
Everdust: galaxies and black holes, ready to touch
Everdust is the one I make, and it isn't a sandbox: you don't place every object. It's ready-made live simulations, not videos, that you turn, push and play with:
- a galaxy collision of up to about a million stars, each pulled by the galaxies' gravity;
- black holes: a binary black hole merger, a black hole that bends the light behind it, and Black Hole in Your Palm, a touch toy;
- physics games built on the same gravity, such as Black Hole Golf, Feed the Black Hole and Topple;
- narrated stories, where every chapter is a live simulation. The Story of Everything is free in full.
It's free to download, with no ads and no account; Everdust Plus, an optional in-app purchase, unlocks the rest of the stories and game levels. It needs Android 10 or later and Vulkan 1.1 graphics.
Pick it if you want the "see the big things" part of Universe Sandbox without building anything.
To try the physics before installing anything, the galaxy collision simulator runs in a web browser, and photo to particles turns any picture into particles you can stir.
More Android options, from The Powder Toy to rocket builders, are in physics sandbox and simulation apps for Android.
On Apple Vision Pro
I looked through the visionOS App Store on October 27, 2026, and found no build-your-own gravity sandbox in the mold of Universe Sandbox. These come closest, each to a different part of it.
Everdust: live gravity you can reach into
Everdust runs its simulations live on the headset, in your room or in full immersion. Stand next to a galaxy collision of up to about a million stars and stir it with your hands, walk up to a spinning black hole that bends light, or play hand-tracked physics games such as Black Hole Golf, Galaxy Billiards and Lightfold. It's free to download, with no ads and no account. The Story of Everything and five of the headset games are free in full; Everdust Plus, an optional in-app purchase, unlocks the rest. Since version 1.1 it also has Everdust's Night Sky, the real sky around you with flights to the planets and into nebulae and galaxies built from telescope photographs, and Solar System to Scale, a walk from the Sun to Neptune at true sizes and distances; both are free.
Pick it if you want to feel gravity at work at arm's length. You can't build a solar system from scratch in it.
Celestia XR: go anywhere
Celestia XR, listed under Linfeng Li, brings Celestia to Vision Pro: visit any object in its database, from planets and moons to star clusters and galaxies, from any point in space and time. Free, with no in-app purchases.
Pick it if you want to explore the real universe, for free.
Space Vision: the real solar system through time
Space Vision by Visionly drives its solar system with NASA JPL ephemeris data, lets you travel a century forward or back, and flies real missions. Free to download, with an optional SV+ subscription for more missions.
Pick it if you want accurate orbits rather than invented ones.
Run the real Universe Sandbox, two ways
- With a Mac: Universe Sandbox runs on macOS, and Vision Pro's Mac Virtual Display shows your Mac's screen as a large window in the headset. It's the full program on a flat screen, not a 3D or hand-tracked version.
- With a PC VR headset, an older version only: its makers ended VR support with Update 35 in February 2025. If you own it, the last VR build, Update 34.1.1, still runs on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets on a PC, but it gets no new features.
On iPhone and iPad
The same picture holds: Universe Sandbox isn't there yet. Milky Way: Cosmic Playground, Solar System Sim, Pocket Galaxy and Celestia are all on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Everdust is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad too, free.
Side by side
| What you want | Android | Apple Vision Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Build a system and break it | Solar System Simulator, Milky Way: Cosmic Playground, Pocket Galaxy | No close match; Universe Sandbox on a Mac through Mac Virtual Display |
| Change the physics | Gravity Simulator | No close match |
| See galaxies collide and black holes bend light | Everdust, Milky Way: Cosmic Playground | Everdust |
| Explore the real universe | Celestia | Celestia XR, Space Vision, Everdust's Night Sky |
For Universe Sandbox and Everdust feature by feature, see Universe Sandbox vs Everdust; for Universe Sandbox against SpaceEngine on a computer, see SpaceEngine vs Universe Sandbox.
Questions people ask
Is Universe Sandbox on Android? No. Universe Sandbox runs on Windows and macOS through Steam, and its FAQ says a mobile version for phones and tablets is in the works with no release date. On Android, the closest gravity sandboxes are Solar System Simulator, Milky Way: Cosmic Playground and Pocket Galaxy.
Is Universe Sandbox on Apple Vision Pro? No. There's no visionOS version. You can run the Mac version on a Mac and view it in the headset with Mac Virtual Display. Native Vision Pro alternatives are Everdust for live gravity simulations you can touch, Celestia XR for exploring the universe and Space Vision for the real solar system.
What is the best free alternative to Universe Sandbox? On Android, Milky Way: Cosmic Playground and Solar System Simulator are free to download, and Celestia is free for exploring. On Vision Pro, Celestia XR is free with nothing to buy, and Everdust is free to download, with its galaxy collision, black holes and The Story of Everything free.
Is there a Universe Sandbox for iPhone? Not yet. Milky Way: Cosmic Playground, Solar System Sim and Pocket Galaxy are gravity sandboxes on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
Can I collide galaxies on my phone? Yes. Milky Way: Cosmic Playground describes merging galaxies in 3D, and Everdust on Android runs a galaxy collision of up to about a million stars. For more, see galaxy simulator apps on every platform.
Sources
- Universe Sandbox: Steam page and FAQ, checked October 27, 2026
- Each app's own Google Play or App Store listing, linked in its section, checked October 27, 2026
- Apple: Use your Mac with Apple Vision Pro