Apple Watch App of the Year: Lumy, the Compelling Solar and Lunar Tracker
By putting the cycles of the sun and moon at a glance away, the award-winning app Lumy encouraged us to embrace the natural experiences that await when we step outside and look up.
Our love of photography first brought us to the innovative Lumy app, which quickly became an indispensable tool for aspiring photographers, amateur astronomers, and outdoor enthusiasts alike.
Like many budding photographers, we used this simple sun and moon tracker to make sense of light in all its forms. A quick glance at Lumy's Apple Watch complications helped us catch the fleeting glow of golden hour, the dramatic, geometric shadows cast at solar noon, and the wonder of morning's first light (which arrived, Lumy helpfully alerted us, 23 minutes before sunrise).
But Lumy didn't just make us better photographers. By connecting us to the subtly shifting rhythms of day and night, it also made us so much more: aspiring astronomers, early-morning hikers, and (to our surprise) enthusiastic admirers of the moon in all its phases.
Using Lumy's customizable Apple Watch complications, we personalized our watch face with the app's elegantly illustrated data. Seeing how far the sun had traveled on its arc across the sky each day inspired us to stop procrastinating in the afternoon. (There are fewer hours in the day than we realized.) Taking note of the moon's phase reminded us to take an evening stroll before it waned. And following Lumy's data motivated us to settle into golden-hour yoga sessions and cut our hikes short to make it back before last light.
Tapping a detail took us deeper into the data—revealing forecasted cloud cover or upcoming lunar phases, for example. Live Activities counted down to celestial events like astronomical twilight, that magical time after the sun has set but skies remain faintly illuminated, which creates the ideal moment to view planets or stars with the naked eye.
While using Lumy this year, it didn't take long for it to dawn on us: Living in sync with the solar system can be profound, and a gentle nudge might be all it takes to remember to look up.
Read more about the 2024 Apple Watch App of the Year winners
Quick Tip: Integrate Lumy with iOS 18 Health App
With your permission, Lumy can remind you to catch the sunset or give yourself a break outside, based on the moods you've logged in the Health app in iOS 18. To enable this, go to the settings menu in Lumy's iPhone app, then turn on "Use State of Mind" in the Health section.
Fun Fact: Lumy Creator's Background in Visual Effects
Before creating apps, developer Raja Vijayaraman worked as a visual effects artist on movies, including the 2010 Indian sci-fi hit Robot.
Meet the Creator of Lumy, the Award-Winning Apple Watch App
Raja Vijayaraman created Lumy to serve his own needs as a photographer. He learned to code using the free PDF book How to Think Like a Computer Scientist. His other apps include the Apple Design Award–winning calculator Calzy.