Solar Book vs Solar Eclipse Live
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Solar Book
This app provides detailed information about solar eclipses, including timings for different phases based on your location. It allows you to view sequential images and star charts for planning and observation.
- Solar eclipse phase timing
- Location-based eclipse calculations
- Sequential eclipse image display
- Star chart visualization
- Past and future eclipse planning
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The Solar Book is an app for smart-phones and tablets for a solar eclipse. The Solar Book shows at what time each portion of the Sun is covered by the Moon during a solar eclipse. The beginning time of a solar eclipse, time of the maximum phase of the solar eclipse and the ending time of the solar eclipse will change depending on the location of your observing area. The Solar Book will show you the eclipse phases at your location. Your location for observing the solar eclipse can be designated with use of the location setup dialog box. This allows you to plan in advance the progression of the eclipse. Sequential images of the solar eclipse will be displayed in the appropriate order when you tap on the eclipse thumbnail images icon on the lower right of the screen. Solar eclipses can be displayed by designating the date of a solar eclipse in the past or the future if you cannot find it in a list of the selection. The Solar Book will show you a star chart of the sky at your place of observation if the solar eclipse is not selected.
Solar Eclipse Live
Explore all solar eclipses until the year 2200 for any location on Earth. Preview eclipses from your current or a selected location with highly accurate NASA ephemeris data. A countdown widget keeps you informed about the next celestial event.
- Explore solar eclipses until 2200
- Location-based eclipse previews
- Accurate NASA ephemeris data
- Countdown to next solar eclipse
- Home screen widget
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This app lets you explore all solar eclipse until the year 2200 for any location on Earth. You can preview each eclipse from your current location (or select a location manually). The app uses the most accurate research-grade NASA ephemeris data (DE440) to calculate the most accurate eclipse timings possible. The predictions have an error of less than one second. A new home screen widget shows you a countdown to the next solar eclipse based on your current location.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Solar Book at none against Solar Eclipse Live's 1. Solar Book also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). Solar Eclipse Live's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 14 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, ads, monetization model and device support 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
Both are free to download. Solar Eclipse Live sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Solar Book asks for nothing beyond the download.
Solar Eclipse Live holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Solar Eclipse Live has 20 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Solar Book ships an update every 14 months, Solar Eclipse Live daily. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Solar Book | Solar Eclipse Live |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (20 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 20 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 14 months | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vixen Co.,Ltd. | Hanno Rein |
Customer experience
Solar Book
Solar Eclipse Live
In-app purchases
Solar Book
No in-app purchases
Solar Eclipse Live
- Developer Appreciation Coffee$1.99
