DYC Polestar vs Daimyo Clock
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DYC Polestar
Generate detailed astrology charts using traditional Chinese methods. This app calculates natal, yearly, and decade cycle charts from birth data. It also includes extensive course notes and interactive lookup features for astrological auspiciousness.
- Polestar (Zi Wei) chart generation
- Natal, yearly progression, and decade cycle charts
- Solar birth data conversion to stems and branches
- PDF chart export
- Email and print chart functionality
- 300+ pages of class notes
- Interactive star auspice lookup
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This application generates Polestar (Zi Wei) astrology charts. Enter solar birth data which is then converted to the stems and branches system for chart calculation. The application can generate natal, yearly progression, and decade cycle charts. Charts can be converted to PDF and emailed or printed from within the application. DYC Polestar now includes over 300 pages of class notes and extensive star auspice information from Da Yuan Circle's Polestar Astrology course. The new "interactive text" function allows students and practitioners to quickly look up details when preparing charts.
Daimyo Clock
Experience traditional Japanese timekeeping with this app, which recreates a 17th-century mechanical clock. It accurately displays time divided into six equal periods for day and night, adjusting for seasonal changes in daylight.
- Traditional Japanese timekeeping
- Day/night divided into six equal periods
- Seasonal daylight adjustments
- Accurate solar noon calculation
- Location-based time display
- Twilight start/end calculation
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Daimyo clock is a recreation of a mechanical clock developed in the seventeen century based on western clocks but modified to show traditional Japanese time. Traditional Japanese time divides the day and night into six equal periods from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn respectively. Over the course of a year as the daylight and nighttime periods lengthen and shorten, the length of these six day or night periods change. Unlike Western clocks which are regulated by a single pendulum and run at a constant speed day or night, Japanese clocks incorporated two pendulums, and switched between them at dawn and dusk. Adjustment for the changing daylight and nighttime hours was accomplished by adjusting the effective length of the pendulums, normally done every two weeks, or twenty-six times a year. This kept the time shown on the clock reasonably close to the correct time, provided that the clock had been set correctly initially. This modern implementation is much more accurate and precise than the original clocks. In this implementation, the biweekly adjustments of the mechanical clock are made continuously, thus the day or night period length are always correct. Noon on the clock will, if location services are enabled, occur when the sun is at the zenith, or solar noon. Day start and end correspond to the beginning or end of twilight, and are calculated accounting for the refraction of the Earth's atmosphere. There are three situations where the clock my not show the local time in the Japanese manner: 1. If location services are off, Daimyo Clock will show the time for Tokyo, Japan. 東京 will be displayed on the clock face in this case. 2. While the application is obtaining an updated location after launch or returning to foreground. 3. Near the North or South poles the sun may either be above the horizon or below it for the entire day (24 hour period). In this case, the Japanese definition of time no longer applies, so the clock face will be shown without a clock hand.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Daimyo Clock at Free against DYC Polestar's $99.99. Daimyo Clock also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%) and device support (3 vs 1). DYC Polestar's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 7 months vs every 37 months). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
Daimyo Clock is free to download; DYC Polestar costs $99.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DYC Polestar holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of DYC Polestar's written reviews are positive against 100% of Daimyo Clock's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
DYC Polestar ships an update every 7 months, Daimyo Clock every 37 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DYC Polestar | Daimyo Clock |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $99.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better | 4.5 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months — better | Every 37 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Darren Gibbs | Douglas Hildum |
Customer experience
DYC Polestar
Daimyo Clock
In-app purchases
DYC Polestar
No in-app purchases
Daimyo Clock
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is DYC Polestar free?
Is Daimyo Clock free?
Which has better reviews, DYC Polestar or Daimyo Clock?
Do DYC Polestar or Daimyo Clock have ads?
Which is updated more often, DYC Polestar or Daimyo Clock?
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