Comparison

Sol vs Lightning Alarm

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

Head to head
About

Sol

Forecast sunrise, sunset, and twilight times for any location and date. Set smart alarms that adjust with the seasons and receive detailed solar almanac information. Plan your day around natural light, perfect for photography, outdoor activities, or maintaining sleep cycles.

Highlights
  • Sunrise and sunset time forecasting
  • Twilight period calculation (astronomical, nautical, civil)
  • Location-aware alarms that adjust seasonally
  • Global location search and GPS support
  • Detailed solar almanac information
  • Golden hour and magic hour identification
Currently charting
Read full description

What time is sunset today? Or sunrise tomorrow? When is the "magic hour" next March 20 in Paris? With Sol, you can check times and get reminders of solar events, at home or while traveling! Great for everyone looking to plan activities based on sunlight. Use it to remind you to walk the dog before dark, get up with the sun, or find golden hour time for that perfect photo. Sol: Sun Clock is the Swiss-army knife of sunlight tools with a design inspired by the simplicity of the sundial. Use it to plan your day, guide natural sleep cycles, get the best light for outdoor photography, make sure animals or kids are safe inside before dark, or to map out the best times to go running or fishing. * Be in tune: Sol will tell you when the golden hour is, how much sunlight you have left in the day or what time the next sunrise occurs. * Look to the future, travel around the world: Sol lets you find sunlight information for any date, anywhere on earth. * Find solar midnight and solar noon, and all three twilight (dawn and dusk) periods: astronomical twilight, nautical twilight, and civil twilight. Keep tabs on the next solstice and equinox. * Reminders and Alarms: Use Sol as a natural alarm clock that you can set to any event (like sunset, golden hour or solar noon), and the alarm or reminder time will adjust gradually as the days change with the seasons. * Automatic Location: Sol not only calculates the amount of daylight and sunrise and sunset times, but does so for any location in the world (both Northern and Southern hemispheres) by using your device's GPS... no network connection required. * Other locations: Optionally, use the built-in map to choose any location in the world by moving the pin, or search using the name of any city. * Optional location-aware alarms. Sol knows when you change with your location; and as you travel it will adjust any alarms you set relative to sunrise and sunset times. Create alarms for multiple locations around the world. * Detailed almanac information: Useful information about the day's length, sun's azimuth and elevation, equinoxes and solstices, and a friendly glossary that explains all the terms. Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. However, GPS runs in the background ONLY if you have set location-aware alarms.

About

Lightning Alarm

Receive timely notifications about approaching thunderstorms and lightning strikes in your vicinity. This app provides accurate lightning detection and displays real-time information on a map, ensuring safety during outdoor activities.

Highlights
  • Real-time lightning detection
  • Approaching storm notifications
  • Lightning distance display
  • Map view of lightning strikes
  • Textual storm information
  • Push message alerts
Features
Read full description

Always safe with Lightning Alarm. You will be notified if a thunderstorm is in your area. The lightning detection is very accurate and the (automated) notifications are essential for safe outdoor activities. At a glance you can see the nearest lightning. Displayed on the map and in text, you see the current distance from the thunderstorm to your location. You can even set up a push message, notifying you for approaching storms. This App is unique and a must for your safety during outdoor activities. The information is based on the detection network of Meteoplaza.com. With this network 98% of all lightning discharges are detected, resulting in a high quality of the warnings! Lightning Alarm, you have been warned! Lightning Alarm Premium can be purchased through iTunes for € 3.49 per year. € 3.49 will be charged within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Subscriptions are user-managed and auto-renewal can be turned off by going to Apple ID settings. By purchasing Lightning Alarm Premium you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Privacy statement: https://www.infoplaza.nl/en/about-us/disclaimer-privacy/ Terms of Service: https://www.infoplaza.nl/en/about-us/terms-of-use-lightning-alarm/

Screenshots

Sol4 screens
Lightning Alarm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Lightning Alarm at Free against Sol's $4.99. Lightning Alarm also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). Sol's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On ratings volume, update cadence 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

Lightning Alarm is free to download; Sol costs $4.99 up front. Lightning Alarm sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per year. Sol asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sol holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 898 and 889 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of Sol's written reviews are positive against 80% of Lightning Alarm's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Sol versus Lightning Alarm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSolLightning Alarm
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (898 ratings) — better4.5 (889 ratings)
Positive reviews93.2% of reviews — better80.5% of reviews
Number of ratings898 — better889
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#50 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB79 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJuggleware, LLCInfoplaza BV

Customer experience

Sol

All ratings898 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.7%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews220 reviews
Positive93.2%
Neutral2.3%
Negative4.5%

Lightning Alarm

All ratings889 ratings
Positive88.3%
Neutral5.2%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews533 reviews
Positive80.5%
Neutral5.3%
Negative14.3%

User reviews

Sol

From 898 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Accurate and reliable information
  • 💡 Useful for photographers, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts
  • 🌅 Helps users stay in tune with natural light cycles
  • ⏰ Customizable alarms and alerts

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
  • 🔋 Alarms don't work when device is muted
  • 🌙 Lack of moon phase information

Lightning Alarm

From 889 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐️ Excellent app
  • 👍 Works great
  • 🚀 Accurate and precise
  • 🔔 Helpful notifications
  • 🌩️ Tracks lightning effectively

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes or freezes
  • ⚠️ Inaccurate or unreliable
  • 🔍 Difficult to set location
  • 🔢 Metric units not preferred

Bugs and requests

Sol

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Date selection issue where it shows a month ahead
  • Notifications stop working after a few days

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add moon phase information
  • Allow alarms to work even when device is muted
  • Expand alert options beyond sunrise/sunset (e.g. solar noon, golden hour)
  • Provide more customization options for alerts and alarms

Lightning Alarm

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Notifications not working
  • Map tiles not loading properly
  • App crashing on launch

Requested features

4 requests
  • Option to switch between miles and kilometers
  • Add multiple locations to track
  • Improve map visuals and details
  • Customizable alert radius

In-app purchases

None

Sol

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Lightning Alarm

Subscriptions1
  • Lightning Alarm Premium$2.991 Year
One-time3
  • 1 month ad free$0.99
  • 3 months ad free$1.99
  • 1 year ad free$2.99

Questions

Is Sol free?
Sol costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Lightning Alarm free?
Lightning Alarm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sol or Lightning Alarm?
Sol is rated higher. Sol averages 4.8 out of 5 from 898 ratings, while Lightning Alarm averages 4.5 from 889 ratings.
Do Sol or Lightning Alarm have ads?
Lightning Alarm shows ads; Sol does not.
Which is updated more often, Sol or Lightning Alarm?
Sol ships an update every 2 months, and Lightning Alarm every 2 months. Most recently, Sol was updated on September 22, 2026 and Lightning Alarm on September 25, 2026.

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