# Focalware — user reviews > 49 indexed App Store user reviews of Focalware by Warner Photography, Inc., rated 5.00/5 from 6 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focalware/id299490222/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focalware/id299490222.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 4 · 4★ 0 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 0 ## Newest reviews (10 of 49) ### 4/5 — Used for years *2015-09-19, version 2.3* I have used this app for many years and it works very well for the information about where the sun and moon will be for photography just about anywhere in the world. You don't need to be on line so that's great for remote locations. Has just about all the major cities preloaded and is easy to add new cities or locations by using you phone service to locate you. Or by you adding the Lat and Lon and creating a custom name and location. ### 4/5 — Good tool for photographers and astronomers *2013-03-22, version 2.2* This works really well, and allows sun and moon predictions with ease. Two suggestions for improvement though: 1. It would be nice to see the sun and moon together in a different mode, to gauge how close they are in the sky. 2. I'd also like to be able to see the sun and moon together on the screen when they are below the horizon. Basically I want the thing to work more like a full orrery :) This app is nicely complemented by Sun Seeker, which shows a map view with sun beam direction overlaid. I recommend getting both of them. ### 4/5 — Definitely fun to play with *2011-04-16, version 2.2* I had no idea how to use this when i first got it so i emailed customer service. And i got the person who designed it to explain it to me. I thought that was pretty cool. As to how it works. I find it is decently accurate. Not perfect 100% of the time but pretty much dead on most of the time. At least so far. Yesterday i went out to a few of my favorite locations and saved them in my favorites. This is very cool cause i will be able to predict when i can go to anyone of these places when the sun or moon is in the perfect position for a shot i may be visualizing. Granted, you do not have to physically go to these places to add to your favorites - you can simply use the map to hone in on a spot and save it that way too. But i like knowing that if i go to a spot to save it, it is in the exact area i want to shoot and i can visualize the shot better. Either way is fine. I am giving this 4 stars instead of 5 because of the few instances i have seen it be off. Otherwise, I am more than happy to have this app in my arsenal of goodies for photography. ### 3/5 — Great app for videography *2010-11-26, version 0* When paired with the Theodolite app, this is a location scouting dream come. Augmented reality to show with the camera the path of the sun/moon would make this a five-star app, easily. ### 4/5 — Cool app!! *2010-08-04, version 0* This is a great app for the photo enthusiast or for anyone in general. You can see at what position the sun will be in the sky at different times throughout the day...awesome! I would like to see a note taking feature added to this app, so that a person can record notes about a specific location for photography purposes, in particular. I give it four stars. There is room for improvement. ### 4/5 — Elegant and simple *2010-02-22, version 0* A somewhat pricey but elegant and simple app that will tell you the position of the sun and moon in the sky for anywhere on the globe and at any time. Use the compass to tell you the time the sun/moon will be at a given position to plan your shots. The use of "EST" instead of EDT or AEDT is likely to throw users in Eastern Australia but the position, rise/set times are accurate. The help text also refers to use of a separate compass which is redundant with the 3GS. ### 5/5 — Nice! *2009-11-27, version 0* Very, very, very helpful! Thank you! I'd have to pay $20 more to get something remotely like this. I use an iPod Touch and I was debating whether or not I should buy this app because of the Touch not having a compass but I definitely made a good choice. I think this is gonna be awesome for learning more about lighting regarding photography. Thank you again!! ### 3/5 — great app *2009-09-16, version 0* works as advertised, good value for the price. however, needs 3GS compass integration to stay competitive with similar products. ### 4/5 — Great for photographers... *2009-08-02, version 0* Excellent tool for a photographer. Loses one star for being slightly overpriced, and could also benefit from the previous reviewer's suggestion for date input. ### 5/5 — Very well executed iPhone app. *2009-07-30, version 0* I downloaded this for a friend who's a professional photographer and videographer who was asking if an app existed which showed the sun's position at a given date/time and location. Low and behold, here it is. He shoots a lot of weddings and it can be tricky to get the right lighting for outdoor weddings. I think this app alone will be enough for my friend to take the plunge and buy an iPhone. It's very well executed and has a clean well organized UI. Nice job Focalware! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Once worked perfectly... not any more: broken app *2017-01-24, version 2.5* In ios8, the app cannot read the iPhone time. Always position itself on the sunrise time. So in the evening you cannot navigate through the night because the app think you are in daytime. For the same reason you cannot get the current coordinates by shaking the iPhone because the app always position itself at sunrise time. Too bad because it was the better app of its kind a few years ago. Now there are better apps and this one doesn't even work anymore. ### 1/5 — Doesn't work.....:( *2016-04-27, version 2.3* Sorry, but can't find ANY location on my iPhone 6 with latest system upgrade. Really disappointed. Hopefully they can get this corrected. ### 1/5 — Can't find my location, so semi-worthless *2016-04-25, version 2.3* I was excited to see this app, but it cannot find my location. I don't want to constantly have to type in my gps coordinates manually to get this to work. Very disappointing. ### 1/5 — Ok. But *2016-04-24, version 2.3* Appears to work well, but why does it need to know my location when I am not using it? ### 1/5 — No altitude after sunset. *2012-07-23, version 2.2* Sun altitude is not available after sunset (no negative altitude), and by mistake shows 0 altitude. Nice interface, but little too few information. Also the altitude is only shown in real numbers without any decimal digits. Not worth it for 4.99! ### 1/5 — Great but could be better for the price *2009-09-01, version 0* A great start, but for the money this should be a much more serious app. - How about Dusk and Dawn times also listed along with sunrise and sunset times. - The locations list is very limited! Looking up coordinated for a city is one thing but not having a whole country listed is a little ridiculous. - I think it would be more useful if the homepage read the current time altitude and azimuth and not the sunrise data, that way we know what we are looking at when we are on location at that particular moment. Let the user adjust from there if they want. - Would love to have the ability to take a snapshot with the phone camera and have the app stamp it with the current data. ### 2/5 — Updated design? *2013-09-15, version 2.3* :-/ It is just letterboxed differently now. It looks VERY MUCH like an iOS 6 or previous app. Plus it has me as in New York, and it’s not easy to find how to have it choose where I am. I’m unsure why this was JUST updated to something that runs on iOS 5 and later. 6 could easily be the minimum bar in this day and age. ### 2/5 — Working compass would be nice... *2011-12-12, version 2.2* The built-in compass in Focalware is not working on my iPhone 4 running iOS 5.0.1, and it is annoying. I'm not alone. I was told it's a known bug, and that it may be fixed in the next update. In the mean time it make this application, in my opinion and experience, a second grade application. If you intend to use it on the same setup than mine (iPhone 4 & 5.0.1) you may want to consider waiting for the upgrade, and check if it fixes this problem. ### 2/5 — Not too great! *2009-11-09, version 0* Compass functionality absent when downloaded to iPod - requires external compass. This lack of functionality makes app too expensive for iPod users. ### 3/5 — Compass does not point north *2016-04-24, version 2.3* - nice interface, but the compass does not point north (just up) ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Essential *2017-01-17, version 2.4* Great app that gives me sun/moon rise/set info I need wherever I am, even in locations without cell or wifi connectivity. I've relied on this app for many years to plan virtually all of my photography shoots. ### 5/5 — Beautiful, incredible, worth every penny! *2016-04-24, version 2.3* You can tell an artistic person designed the GUi for this app because it's just absolutely beautiful. Reminds me of some of the cutting edge App design during the renaissance of the Macintosh desktop publishing era prior to OSX. It Seems like Most current day GUI design in iOS looks like something out of a Fisher-Price design studio, But not this app! At only 4.5 MB,the coding for this app also is incredible; heck, you'll even be able to fit this baby on a 16 MB iPhone!! Great job! Keep up the good work! Your creativity glorifies the designer/coder,The Branch of Jesse, of your DNA, big time!🏁🌌🎆🌅 ### 5/5 — Great tool for photographer *2012-07-30, version 2.2* Works well for what it promises. You can choose your location or enter a new one with gps data and it gives you the set and rise for sun & moon as well a moon size. A great purchase! JD ### 5/5 — FocalWare *2010-05-26, version 0* This app is so cool & functional it's what every geek needs to check the position for the sun etc. Very sweet graphics. I may not ever be a professional photographer but now at least I can look like one. ### 5/5 — Great photography / cinematography tool. *2010-05-23, version 0* Simple and easy to use! Extremely handy being able to change locations and date with ease and view sun / moon rise + set times.. ### 5/5 — Brilliant... *2010-04-12, version 0* I've had this sitting on my iPhone for a while and just started using it to shoot translights for stage sets. It's so easy to look smart when I can tell my clients what the light is going to be at what time at each location while I'm still in the meeting. This is very easy to use and it sets up locations using google maps - just tap the location on the map and FocalWare sets the Latitude and Longitude. I'm happy. Thanks! ### 5/5 — Perfect *2010-04-10, version 0* Saves time (money) in scouting locations. Content, functionality, and ui design are expertly combined to make an intuitive, and very useful, application for photographers. ### 5/5 — Real Nice App and worth the money *2010-01-19, version 0* A little sceptical at first but after trying it, I am amzed how accurate it is. Great addition to my iPhone Photorgaphy Bag.... ### 5/5 — fantastic app *2009-12-16, version 0* I used to have an app called RiseSet on my treo that worked almost as nice as FocalWare This one (focalware) has better graphics and ease of use cheers! Steve Lott ### 5/5 — Perfect, Couldn't ask for more! *2009-12-02, version 0* I shoot weddings and portraits and prefer a certain sun elevation. This program allows me to find ideal times for a location and date with ease. The best feature, by far, is the ability to stand at a specific location with a live display of where the sun will be. As you change position the compass and chart update in real time - AMAZING! I will never need to pull out my printed sun chart and compass again! For Landscape and Portrait Photographers this is a MUST HAVE. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*