Comparison

Magic Hour vs Super Simple Sunrise Sunset

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

Head to head
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.

About

Super Simple Sunrise Sunset

Displays clear, large text for sunrise and sunset times based on your current GPS location. It updates hourly and requires location access only on initial launch.

Highlights
  • Sunrise and sunset times
  • GPS location based
  • Clear, large text display
  • Hourly updates
  • Minimal permissions
Features
Read full description

This simple application shows the sunrise and sunset times based on your GPS location in clear and large text. It updates once an hour and only needs your location to be accessible when it first launches. I created this application because I was tired of applications that had this as part of their functionality and had advertisements or other features that delayed the ability to quickly and simply view the sunrise and sunset time. I hope you enjoy it. If you want to see improvements, please feel free to add your ideas as comments in reviews, and I will work to implement them iteratively over time.

Screenshots

Magic Hour4 screens
Super Simple Sunrise Sunset1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Super Simple Sunrise Sunset at none against Magic Hour's 1. Super Simple Sunrise Sunset also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). Magic Hour's advantage is ratings volume (5.2K vs 3) and review sentiment (77% vs 67%). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Magic Hour sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Super Simple Sunrise Sunset asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Magic Hour holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Magic Hour has 5.2K ratings behind it against 3, 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 67% of Super Simple Sunrise Sunset's.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Magic Hour versus Super Simple Sunrise Sunset: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMagic HourSuper Simple Sunrise Sunset
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (5.2K ratings) — better4.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews76.8% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings5.2K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS14.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLinda ByrketWayne Haber

Customer experience

Magic Hour

All ratings5,115 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews164 reviews
Positive76.8%
Neutral5.5%
Negative17.7%

Super Simple Sunrise Sunset

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

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
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

Super Simple Sunrise Sunset

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Magic Hour

One-time1
  • Add Locations Ability$0.99
None

Super Simple Sunrise Sunset

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Magic Hour free?
Magic Hour is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Super Simple Sunrise Sunset free?
Super Simple Sunrise Sunset is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Magic Hour or Super Simple Sunrise Sunset?
Magic Hour is rated higher. Magic Hour averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5.2K ratings, while Super Simple Sunrise Sunset averages 4.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Magic Hour or Super Simple Sunrise Sunset have ads?
Neither Magic Hour nor Super Simple Sunrise Sunset shows ads.

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