Comparison

Sun Facts vs Aurora Expert

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Sun Facts

Get precise sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight times for your location. Track celestial events like solstices and equinoxes, and view the sun's path. An optional pro version unlocks detailed moon phase and eclipse information.

Highlights
  • Sunrise and sunset times
  • Solar noon calculation
  • Twilight and golden hour tracking
  • Sun path visualization
  • Solstice and equinox dates
  • Widget for home screen
  • Eclipse event notifications
Features
Read full description

Calculate times of sunrise, sunset, moonrise (pro), moonset (pro) and more for your location at any given date. * Provides the following information: - Sunrise - Sunset - Solar noon - Twilight times - Blue hour - Golden hour - Equation of time - Declination - Azimuth of sunrise and sunset - Altitude of sun at noon - Sun Path during the day - Solstice and Equinox dates - Widget for displaying sunrise and sunset times on the Today screen - Date and time of next solar eclipse Pro Version (In-app-purchase): - Moon rise - Moon transit - Moon set - Declination - Azimuth of moon rise and moon set - Altitude of moon during transit - Date of next new/full moon - Moon Path during the day - Date and time of next lunar eclipse * Location from : - GPS receiver - map - list of more than 30000 cities - WGS-84 coordinates

About

Aurora Expert

Features
Read full description

Live data from NOAA’s new solar wind sentinel SOLAR-1: Aurora Expert tells you whether you can see the aurora tonight – at your place, with clouds, darkness and the moon. FREE • Tonight’s chance at your place, in five levels from “Very low” to “Very likely” – and every value says when it is from. • Why this verdict? Tap ⓘ: the factors behind the chance and the Kp it takes where you are. • Forecast for up to three nights: Kp, how far the aurora reaches, and the clouds when Apple Weather provides them. • Globe with a time scrubber: NOAA’s aurora oval twelve hours back and ahead, with the day and night side. For both hemispheres. • An alert for your home when the aurora activity there reaches the threshold and it is dark – with a test alert, so you know it arrives. • Red light and field mode for outside: compass and the key values, and your eyes stay adapted to the dark. • Live Activity and widgets for the Lock Screen and StandBy. • Journal with a season summary: for each place, from your own answers, how often you saw the aurora at each forecast level. • At Kp 7 or more, the storm cockpit is open for one night without Aurora Pro. AURORA PRO – ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION • Place alerts: alerts for every saved place within aurora range, your own threshold of 25, 50 or 75%, wake for strong activity. Save unlimited places. • Trip planner: the best spot for every night of your trip, with route and leave-by reminder. • Tonight from here: clearer places within a 30 to 90 minute drive. • Your best nights: season calendar and widget. • Storm cockpit: Deep Dive with solar wind, Kp history and raw data, substorm tracker, CME outlook and live tiles in field mode. • My nights: photos for your nights, a gallery and export as CSV or JSON. DATA Aurora activity (OVATION), Kp and storm warnings from NOAA SWPC, solar wind from NOAA SOLAR-1 / ACE at the Lagrange point L1, clouds from Apple Weather. No ads, no tracking.

Screenshots

Sun Facts4 screens
Aurora Expert4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Aurora Expert at none against Sun Facts's shown. Aurora Expert also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Sun Facts sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Aurora Expert sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sun Facts ships an update every 2 months, Aurora Expert every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Sun Facts versus Aurora Expert: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSun FactsAurora Expert
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (296 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews97.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings296 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.618.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVolker Voecking Software EngineeringMark Baumann

Bugs and requests

Sun Facts

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Time is not displayed correctly
  • Map is outdated
  • Map is cluttered with lines
  • Widget and location settings don't work well
  • App became unstable and crashed
Show 3 more
  • Street map is out of date
  • Lower culmination times not displayed
  • Card feature sometimes reacts slowly

Requested features

9 requests
  • Make Sun Facts Pro free
  • URL-scheme for app launch
  • Display WOZ (true local time)
  • More visual effects for solar/lunar events
  • 3D view on map
Show 4 more
  • AR function for sun/moon position
  • Visual representation of moon phases
  • Add altitude of the sun to largest widget
  • Add time charge in min and seconds for sunrise/sunset differences to widget

Aurora Expert

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Sun Facts

One-time1
  • Sun Facts Pro$4.99
1 purchases

Aurora Expert

One-time1
  • Aurora Export Pro Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is Sun Facts free?
Sun Facts is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Aurora Expert free?
Aurora Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sun Facts or Aurora Expert have ads?
Sun Facts shows ads; Aurora Expert does not.
Which is updated more often, Sun Facts or Aurora Expert?
Sun Facts ships an update every 2 months, and Aurora Expert every 6 days. Most recently, Sun Facts was updated on October 24, 2026 and Aurora Expert on October 23, 2026.

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