Magic Hour vs GVM LED
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Magic hour time calculation
- Sunrise and sunset times
- Moonrise and full moon alerts
- Weather forecast integration
- Customizable notifications
- Location-based planning
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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.
GVM LED
Control photography lamps via Bluetooth connection. Adjust settings and manage your lighting equipment directly from your mobile device.
- Bluetooth lamp control
- Photography lighting management
- App-controlled lighting
- GVM product integration
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This is a software that can control the photography lamp. The app controls the photography lamp product with app function under GVM through Bluetooth connection.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Magic Hour at 77% against GVM LED's 22%. Magic Hour also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (5.2K vs 4). GVM LED's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Magic Hour sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. GVM LED asks for nothing beyond the download.
Magic Hour holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Magic Hour has 5.2K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Magic Hour's written reviews are positive against 22% of GVM LED's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Magic Hour | GVM LED |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (5.2K ratings) — better | 3.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.0% of reviews — better | 22.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5.2K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | elfinda apps | 丹丹 陈 |
Customer experience
Magic Hour
GVM LED
User reviews
Magic Hour
From 5.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great overview of the entire Magic Hour
- 👍 Fantastic in every way
- 👍 All the info you need to plan, especially for photographers
- 👍 Sleek and easy to use
- 👍 Perfect for photographers and cinematographers
Room to improve
- ⏰ Time way off
- 🔍 Can't change location
- 🐛 Crashes all the time
- 💰 Forced in-app purchase
- 🔍 Can't see future dates anymore
GVM LED
From 4 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and intuitive control interface
- 🚀 Fast Bluetooth connection when working
- 🎨 Good color control and lighting customization
- 💡 Responsive developers who implement feature requests
- 🔧 Ability to rename lights for easy identification
Room to improve
- 🔐 Mandatory account registration and login requirement
- 🐛 Frequent Bluetooth connection failures
- 📧 Verification code delivery delays and failures
- ❌ Cannot control multiple lights independently at once
- 📱 App crashes during device syncing
Bugs and 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
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- 🐛 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
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- 💡 Companion app for planning sunsets weeks in advance
- 💡 Custom alert tones
GVM LED
Reported bugs
12 issues- Login credentials rejected despite correct password
- Verification code times out before use
- App crashes during device synchronization
- Cannot connect more than one light at a time
- Bluetooth connection drops unexpectedly
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- App freezes on main page or navigation tabs
- Password matching validation fails despite identical entries
- Login fails when using non-.com email addresses
- App requires WiFi for login despite Bluetooth-only operation
- In-app message/problem form always returns 'FAILED' status
- Incompatibility with iPad Pro color adjustment
- Recent update broke previously working connections
Requested features
10 requests- Remove mandatory login requirement for local Bluetooth control
- Enable independent control of multiple lights simultaneously
- Expand scene customization options beyond 8 presets
- Add keyboard shortcuts and Stream Deck integration for streaming
- Improve color wheel with more granular color selection
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- Add dark mode option
- Create desktop/PC version with better controls
- Allow grouping of lights for synchronized control
- Implement offline mode for Bluetooth-only operation
- Add light naming persistence across app sessions
In-app purchases
Magic Hour
- Add Locations Ability$0.99
GVM LED
No in-app purchases
