Comparison

DayTime vs Magic Hour

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

Head to head
About

DayTime

This app brings sundial functionality to your device, calculating sun and moon positions, daylight length, and sunrise/sunset times based on your location. Plan outdoor activities, vacations, or simply stay informed about celestial events with detailed tracking and optional alarms.

Highlights
  • Sunrise and sunset time display
  • Daylight length calculation
  • Moonrise and moonset tracking
  • Global location support
  • Sun and moon position simulation
  • Optional alarms for celestial events
Features
Read full description

DayTime brings the sundial into the twenty-first century. Using your location, DayTime calculates the position of the sun, the length of your day and the exact times of sunrise and sunset, and optionally, moonrise and moonset. DayTime works worldwide, so you aren’t limited to tracking the sun at home. Whether you’re planning your vacation for postcard-worthy sunsets and moonrises or just making the most of the daylight hours, it’s never been easier than with DayTime. DayTime is free to download, with additional features available through in-app purchase— Free Features ◆ Solar Time: See the hours of the day along the edge of the solar clock, along with the length of daylight and times of sunrise & sunset. ◆ Location: Using your device’s location service, finds the nearest location to choose time zone automatically – DayTime always uses your exact location for its calculations. Or, choose from an extensive list of presets to tell the solar time around the world. ◆ Simulation: Input date, time and location to show the position of the sun on any day, anywhere. ◆ Qibla pointer. Extra Features (Available through In-App Purchase) To access the following features, you can buy a six month subscription to app extras, or buy All Features, Forever for access that never expires. ◆ Sun Events: exact time display and alarms for sunrise and sunset; Astronomical, Nautical, and Civil Twilight; sunrise, solar noon, sunset; and solar midnight. ◆ Moon Events: orbit position and phase of the moon; exact time display and alarms for moonrise and moonset. ◆ Animation: input time, date, and location, then speed up time and watch the daily dance of the sun and moon, or watch as day length changes with the seasons. ◆ Salah Events: exact time display and alarms for Imsak, Fajr, Sunrise, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha, and Islamic Midnight. Qibla pointer included. ◆ Shabbat Events: exact time display and alarms for the start and end of Shabbat. Notes DayTime is accurate for dates within 100 years of the present. Salah Events supports calculations based on Islamic Society of North America; Muslim World League; Egyptian General Authority of Survey; Umm al-Qura University, Makkah; University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi; Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran; and Shia Ithna Ashari, Leva Research Institute, Qum. Custom settings can be made. Adjustments may be specified for actual sunrise and sunset times at your location for even more precise Salah times. For detailed information please visit http://www.5Leaf.com Complete in-App features may be purchased outright or as an automatically renewing subscription. A note about the All Features Subscription: A 6-month subscription for all features of DayTime can be purchased. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; within 24 hours of the end of the current period, account will be charged for renewal. Renewal is at the same price. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when a subscription is purchased. Subscriptions may be managed and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the Settings App, iTunes & App Store, Tap your Apple ID, View Apple ID, Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: http://www.5leaf.com/privacyPolicy.html Terms of Service: http://www.5leaf.com/termsOfUse.html

About

Magic Hour

This app helps photographers and cinematographers find the optimal times for shooting around sunrise and sunset. It provides precise calculations for 'magic hour' based on your location and offers moon phase information. Optional in-app purchases unlock advanced features like location selection and calendar integration.

Highlights
  • Magic hour time calculation
  • Sunrise and sunset times
  • Moonrise and full moon alerts
  • Weather forecast integration
  • Customizable notifications
  • Location-based planning
Features
Read full description

Magic Hour (also called golden hour) is the time of day around sunrise and sunset when the light is great for photography and cinematography. It is typically when the sun is between 6 degrees below the horizon to 6 degrees above. This sunlight is evenly dispersed and helps you create great pictures. Magic Hour makes it easy for you to know when magic hour is coming and how much time you have left once it begins. The app takes your location along with the current day and calculates when magic hour will occur. If the weather forecast is available we give that to you as well. What other light is cool to photograph in? The moon, of course. And you want a full moon for that. Our Moon Watch section lets you know the next moonrise and when the next full moon will appear. In addition to this, you can set up notifications on and before magic hour begins. And with our in-app purchase you can select locations other than your current one, view future magic hour times, and create calendar events for them. Data that is used with the Magic Hour App (e.g. locations, notifications, calendar events, etc.) remain local to your device and are not transmitted nor remotely stored.

Screenshots

DayTime4 screens
Magic Hour4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Magic Hour at 77% against DayTime's 50%. Magic Hour also leads on ratings volume (5.2K vs 150) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). DayTime's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. DayTime sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per 6 months and Magic Hour sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Magic Hour holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Magic Hour has 5.2K ratings behind it against 150, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of DayTime's written reviews are positive against 77% of Magic Hour's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
DayTime versus Magic Hour: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDayTimeMagic Hour
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (150 ratings)4.8 (5.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews77.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1505.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS10.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFive Leaf Group LLCelfinda apps

Customer experience

DayTime

All ratings150 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.3%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral14.7%
Negative35.3%

Magic Hour

All ratings5,214 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews165 reviews
Positive77.0%
Neutral5.5%
Negative17.6%

Bugs and requests

DayTime

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Magic Hour

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • 🐛 Time way off
  • 🐛 Can't change location
  • 🐛 Crashes all the time
  • 🐛 Can't see future dates anymore
  • 🐛 Widget doesn't update
Show 3 more
  • 🐛 Keeps crashing
  • 🐛 Can't determine magic hour at another location
  • 🐛 App crashes

Requested features

7 requests
  • 💡 Moonrise notification
  • 💡 Notification when magic hour ends
  • 💡 Blue hour option
  • 💡 Allow users to set their own background photo
  • 💡 Ability to plan shoots in different locations
Show 2 more
  • 💡 Companion app for planning sunsets weeks in advance
  • 💡 Custom alert tones

In-app purchases

2 purchases

DayTime

Subscriptions1
  • Subscribe to DayTime$0.496 Months
One-time1
  • All Features, Forever$1.99
1 purchases

Magic Hour

One-time1
  • Add Locations Ability$0.99

Questions

Is DayTime free?
DayTime is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Magic Hour free?
Magic Hour is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, DayTime or Magic Hour?
Magic Hour is rated higher. DayTime averages 4.6 out of 5 from 150 ratings, while Magic Hour averages 4.8 from 5.2K ratings.
Do DayTime or Magic Hour have ads?
Neither DayTime nor Magic Hour shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DayTime or Magic Hour?
DayTime ships an update every 2 months, and Magic Hour every 2 months. Most recently, DayTime was updated on October 9, 2026 and Magic Hour on October 16, 2026.

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