Comparison

Moonrise vs Day & Night Map

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

Head to head
About

Moonrise

Get accurate moon phase, sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset times for any location on Earth and any date between 1900 and 2099. Features crisp graphics, DST accounting, and offline calculations for precise astronomical data.

Highlights
  • Accurate moon phase data
  • Sunrise and sunset times
  • Moonrise and moonset times
  • Global location support
  • Date range 1900-2099
  • Daylight Saving Time accounting
  • Offline calculations
Features
Read full description

AVIA Moonrise is an application that presents an accurate moon phase and the official sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset times for any place on Earth and for any date between Jan 1,1900 and Dec 31, 2099. The application instantly shows the appearance and events for your iPhone's current location, and you can quickly check any location in the world using the map view. Perfect for fishing or hunting trips, or astronomers and astrologers. The calculations for events are accurate to a few minutes of the US Naval Observatory sun and moon calendars, and it doesn't rely on large astronomical data updates, nor on-line sites. In fact, it never accesses the Internet! This avoids any roaming charges from your operator. If you use the map function, you naturally need to have internet access. Special Features: - informative, at-a-glance views with crisp graphics - reports if the Sun or the Moon never sets or rises at a location on a certain day - accounts for Daylight Saving Time for use in any country and any date - map view supports planning trips ahead to "on-the-hour" timezones sharing the phone location's Daylight Saving Time - all algorithms have been updated to include the latest modifications, and verified against the US Naval Observatory and major astronomy sites. AVIA Moonrise is quick, easy to use, and universal!

About

Day & Night Map

Visualize the Earth's day and night cycles on an interactive world map. Select any date and time to see current illumination, or create animated GIFs of changing light patterns.

Highlights
  • Real-time day/night map
  • Selectable date and time
  • Animated GIF creation
  • Minute-by-minute updates
  • Global illumination visualization
Read full description

Day & Night Map shows you exactly which parts of Earth are in daylight and which are in darkness — right now, or at any date and time you choose. Watch the terminator move across the globe as hours and days pass. Explore sunrise, sunset, and twilight around the world. Perfect for travellers, astronomers, photographers, teachers, and anyone curious about time on our planet. KEY FEATURES • Live world map of day and night • Move through time with intuitive date and time controls • Jump back to the current moment with one tap • Pinch to zoom and pan across the map • Full-screen map view • Home Screen widgets in multiple sizes (including Extra Large on iPad) • Configurable widgets: sun, moon, moon phase, twilight, icon size, and more • Show sun and moon positions on the map • Display the current moon phase • Twilight zones: smooth shading or separate civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight • Equator and tropics lines • Show your current location on the map (optional) • Display time in local time or UTC • Light, dark, or system appearance • Share a map image by email, message, and more • Create animations over a chosen time range • Export animations as animated GIFs ANIMATIONS Pick a start and end date, set the step interval and speed, and watch the day/night line move over hours or days. Play the animation in the app or create an animated GIF to share. HOME SCREEN WIDGET Add the widget to your Home Screen and keep the current day/night map at a glance. Customize what is shown and how it looks directly when adding or editing the widget.

Screenshots

Moonrise4 screens
Day & Night Map4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Day & Night Map at 4.8 against Moonrise's 2.9. Day & Night Map also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and review sentiment (76% vs 45%). Moonrise's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 months) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Day & Night Map holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Day & Night Map has 1.4K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Moonrise's written reviews are positive against 76% of Day & Night Map's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Moonrise ships an update every 3 months, Day & Night Map every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Moonrise versus Day & Night Map: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMoonriseDay & Night Map
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (7 ratings)4.8 (1.4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews44.9% of reviews76.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings71.4K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAVIAVolker Voecking Software Engineering

Customer experience

Moonrise

All ratings7 ratings
Positive42.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative57.1%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive44.9%
Neutral8.7%
Negative46.4%

Day & Night Map

All ratings1,365 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive76.3%
Neutral10.2%
Negative13.6%

User reviews

Moonrise

From 7 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and clear display
  • 🚀 Fast loading times
  • 💡 Shows moon rise/set and sun rise/set
  • 👍 Easy to change dates and locations
  • 💡 Nice moon and sun imagery

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate moon times
  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Cannot set location
  • 🐛 Times are off by hours or days
  • 🐛 App is worthless without location

Day & Night Map

From 1.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app
  • 🚀 Useful for radio hams
  • 👍 Interesting to see sun/moon movement
  • 👍 Excellent for travelers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Widget issues (doesn't update, resizing)
  • 🐛 Crashes on some devices

Bugs and requests

Moonrise

Reported bugs

21 issues
  • App crashes when trying to set location
  • Moon rise and set times not displayed for first quarter
  • App closes immediately
  • App crashes every time anything is attempted
  • Location services not working
Show 16 more
  • Daylight saving time not accounted for
  • Time zone errors
  • Moon phase calculations are off by days
  • App does not work on iPhone 4s
  • App gives date and nothing else
  • App crashes when trying to pin location
  • App crashes when trying to set location
  • Location not working
  • No sunrise/sunset time displays
  • Manual setting of location is not working
  • App crashes when trying to do anything
  • App crashes when trying to set location
  • App crashes when trying to set location
  • App crashes when trying to set location
  • App crashes when trying to set location
  • App crashes when trying to set location

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add a "Today" button for date selection
  • Display the selected location on the main screen
  • Integrate tides
  • Show percentage of moon lit
  • Allow viewing moon in its actual inclination as seen in the sky
Show 1 more
  • Add a back and forward arrow to cycle to next full moon etc.

Day & Night Map

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Moon position not displayed on iPad
  • Daylight savings time not working properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Option to keep noon at center and have map move
  • Show analemma and sun position on it
  • 24-hour clock setting for widget
  • Improve moon position display on iPad

In-app purchases

None

Moonrise

No in-app purchases

None

Day & Night Map

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Moonrise free?
Moonrise is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Day & Night Map free?
Day & Night Map is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Moonrise or Day & Night Map?
Day & Night Map is rated higher. Moonrise averages 2.9 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Day & Night Map averages 4.8 from 1.4K ratings.
Do Moonrise or Day & Night Map have ads?
Neither Moonrise nor Day & Night Map shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Moonrise or Day & Night Map?
Moonrise ships an update every 3 months, and Day & Night Map every 7 months. Most recently, Moonrise was updated on October 29, 2026 and Day & Night Map on October 26, 2026.

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