Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) vs Lightphase
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon)
This app helps photographers, filmmakers, and other professionals plan shots by visualizing sun and moon paths, predicting celestial events, and analyzing light conditions. It offers augmented reality views, interactive maps, and detailed ephemeris data for effective location scouting and planning.
- Augmented reality sun and moon path projections
- Interactive map with Street View
- Golden hour and blue hour prediction
- Milky Way and star trail planning
- Sun shadow length calculation
- Offline location saving and loading
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Sun Surveyor takes the mystery out of the sunrise, sunset, and moon phases, allowing photographers and filmmakers to scout the best locations, plan effectively, and get the perfect shot. The Live Camera View, Interactive Map (with Street View), 3D Compass, and detailed Ephemeris provide a wealth of information about the largest natural light source in the galaxy, as well as the moon, and milky way: - View augmented reality projections of the sun and moon paths, pinpoint the time the sun or moon will be at a particular location in the sky - Predict and plan for the golden hour, blue hour and every sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset - Prepare night photography shots with the Milky Way & star trail features Solar Industry (PV) Professionals, architects, real estate agents, and gardeners will also find a wealth of empowering interactive features: - Show clients the quality and quantity of seasonal sunlight at a given location - Understand potential shade of surroundings and discover any obstructions - Create images of the summer and winter Solstice & Equinox paths for a site Additional features: - Photo Opportunities - an interactive listing of critical times to help inspire and generate shot ideas; including the full moon looming low in the sky during magic hour, total darkness for stargazing, and more - Position Search - an extremely powerful tool to search for sun, moon and milky way center positions within various constraints, for the perfectionist planner - Widgets - plenty of configurable widgets for your home screen and today view (iOS 14+) - Visual time machine - take a quick glance at the light for a day, or dial in desired compositions easily - Moon distance, age, apogee, perigee, super moon predictions - Sun shadow information - calculate the length of shadows cast by objects - Helpful video tutorials show how to use all of the app's modules and how to shoot specific types of scenes - Share details and locations with clients and colleagues - Offline usage (excludes Map View, Street View) - enter coordinates, save & load locations with no data connection or GPS available - Measure distance, and difference between elevations, and vertical angle differentials with the Map view - Import and export Google Earth .kmz/.kml locations - Magnetic declination compensation - "Today" Widget - (for the pull-down notification center) shows rise and set times for the current location and the next upcoming sun event - Languages: English, Deutsch, Français, 日本語, Italiano, Español, Català, русский, Norsk (Bokmål), Dansk, Nederlands, 中文 (繁體), 中文 (简体), 한국어, čeština, Türkçe, Português (Portugal & Brasil), Polski
Lightphase
This app predicts and displays the timing of various light phases, including golden hour, civil twilight, and astronomical twilight. It helps photographers and outdoor enthusiasts plan their activities around optimal lighting conditions, offering detailed information and countdowns.
- Predicts golden hour and twilight times
- Counts down to next light phase
- Displays six distinct light phases
- Visualizes the day's light curve
- Interactive scrubbing through the day
- Watch complications and widgets
- Offline functionality
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Lightphase is a clock for natural light. It tells you which light you are standing in, the minute it changes, and how long you have left. Shooting the overlook at golden hour? Lightphase gives you the minute it starts and the minute it ends. Hiking back after sunset? It tells you when Civil Twilight runs out, the last light you can walk by without a headlamp. Waiting for a dark sky? It shows when night begins, which is often more than an hour after sunset. Every phase of light, named Lightphase divides the day by the sun's angle into the phases photographers and hikers plan around, and names each one in plain words. Daylight. The sun is high, the light is flat and the shadows are short and hard. 35° Window. Low enough for directional light, with fuller color and more contrast than golden hour. The long, workable stretch of morning and afternoon. Golden Hour. Warm, low sun from the horizon to 6 degrees up. Long shadows and raking side light. Civil Twilight. The sun has set and the sky is still bright. Enough light to walk by, or to shoot handheld. Nautical Twilight. Deep blue sky over a faint horizon. Most of what people call blue hour happens here. Astronomical Twilight. The last glow before full dark. The stars are out, and a long exposure still picks up the horizon. Night. Full dark, with no usable light from the sun. The answer comes first The top of the screen holds the answer: the light you are in, when it began and ends, and how much of it is left. Below it sit the next golden hour and the next sunrise or sunset, with the time it gets dark or the first light before it. See the whole day at once Behind the answer, the screen takes the color of the sky at the sun's height where you are, with today's light drawn as a curve across it. Drag the sun along the curve and every reading follows your finger. Find out what the light will be doing at six before you decide where to be at six. Plan the light anywhere Search any place by name and choose any date, and Lightphase reads the light there, on that place's own clock. Save the spots you return to, so a trailhead or a favorite beach is one tap away. Searching needs a connection; saved places do not. Glance without opening anything The Home Screen widget shows the sky, the light you are in and how long it lasts. The medium size adds the next golden hour. On the Lock Screen, a widget shows the phase and when it changes. On your wrist, too The watch app comes with three complications. One names the light you are in and when it changes. One counts down to a light you choose, with a ring that empties as it runs. One draws today's arc with the sun where it stands right now. Readable in direct sun A light palette for bright sun and a dark one for dusk. Every phase is spelled out in words, so you never have to tell one color from another. Times that match the almanac Sunrise and sunset are timed to the sun's upper edge meeting the horizon, and the twilights use their standard angles. Almanacs use the same definitions, so the times agree with the ones you already trust, and the app shows where every number comes from. Works where the signal does not Lightphase works out the light on your iPhone from where you are and the time of day. It keeps working in airplane mode, in a canyon, and anywhere the bars run out. Your location stays on your iPhone, where only the latest position is kept for your widgets and complications. One price, everything in it One purchase covers the iPhone app, the watch app, every widget and every complication. There is no subscription and nothing to buy inside. The sun does not charge a monthly fee, so neither do we. Every light Lightphase tracks Sunrise, sunset, golden hour, blue hour, first light, last light, civil twilight, nautical twilight, astronomical twilight and night.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Lightphase at every 2 weeks against Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon)'s every 3 months. Lightphase also leads on price ($4.99 vs $9.99) and review sentiment (100% vs 82%). Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon)'s advantage is ratings volume (282 vs 4) and chart position (#62 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) costs $9.99 and Lightphase $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Lightphase holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) has 282 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon)'s written reviews are positive against 100% of Lightphase's.
Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) ships an update every 3 months, Lightphase every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) | Lightphase |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (282 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 81.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 282 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #62 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 16 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adam Ratana | Onyx Mueller |
Customer experience
Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon)
Lightphase
In-app purchases
Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon)
No in-app purchases
Lightphase
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) free?
Is Lightphase free?
Which has better reviews, Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) or Lightphase?
Do Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) or Lightphase have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sun Surveyor (Sun & Moon) or Lightphase?
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