Comparison

Sunlight vs Open Window

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

Head to head
About

Sunlight

Features
Read full description

Every winter, the days get shorter and the darkness feels endless. But then, quietly, the light starts coming back. One minute more. Then two. Then five. Sunlight shows you that change. A beautiful solar dial tracks the full arc of your day - sunrise, sunset, dawn, dusk, golden hour - and tells you exactly how much daylight you gained or lost. On the darkest days, seeing "+1 min 47 sec" is a small reminder that the light is returning. What you get: - Daily daylight change tracking - see the days getting longer or shorter - A beautiful interactive solar dial showing the full day cycle - Sunrise, sunset, dawn, and dusk times - Golden hour time ranges for photography - Moon phase and illumination - Sun elevation with peak altitude - Aurora forecast with local visibility probability - Civil, nautical, or astronomical twilight - Save up to 10 locations with full timezone support - Home screen widgets in three sizes - Daily notifications with your daylight update - Dark and light themes - Tablet-optimised layout Completely private. No accounts, no tracking, no data collection. Your location never leaves your phone.

About

Open Window

Read full description

Practical weather information for the day. Open Window uses the forecast to answer everyday questions: what to wear, whether to take an umbrella, when to open a window, and what changes to expect. Included Features • Current weather guidance for outfit, umbrella, ventilation, and outdoor comfort • Temperature, air quality, wind, humidity, rain, and UV details • Current-location weather that updates as you move when location access is allowed • The main current-weather screen remains available after the preview ends 3-Day Preview • Today's weather summary at 3 a.m. and a remaining-day summary at 4 p.m., based on the selected place's local time • Important weather-change alerts for your current place • A basic Home Screen widget Open Window Plus • Continued weather alerts and widgets after the 3-day preview • Custom summary times and quiet hours • Up to four saved places with sorting and place-specific alerts • Detailed hourly views for temperature, air quality, wind, humidity, rain, and UV • Up to 10 days of forecasts, including today • Widgets for multiple places • Direct access to the matching place from an alert or widget • An option to skip repetitive default summaries when there is no meaningful weather change (In-App Purchase) Plus is available as a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription. Price and any available offer are shown before purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled in your Apple account settings. Location and Privacy • No account is required • Weather data comes from Apple Weather • Air-quality details may be supplemented by the Open Window server where available • Location is used only for app features and optional alerts, not for tracking Device Support • Supports iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro • Feature availability varies by platform - Contact: help@paran.app - Terms of Use: https://paran.app/open-window/terms - Privacy Policy: https://paran.app/open-window/privacy/

Screenshots

Sunlight4 screens
Open Window4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sunlight at none against Open Window's 2. Sunlight also leads on ads (none vs shown). Open Window's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks) and device support (5 vs 2). On price 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Open Window sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Sunlight asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sunlight ships an update every 2 weeks, Open Window every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 2 level
Sunlight versus Open Window: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSunlightOpen Window
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBenjamin Edward Newman WhiteParan

In-app purchases

None

Sunlight

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Open Window

Subscriptions2
  • Open Window Plus$2.991 Month
  • Open Window Plus$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Sunlight free?
Sunlight is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Open Window free?
Open Window is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sunlight or Open Window have ads?
Open Window shows ads; Sunlight does not.
Which is updated more often, Sunlight or Open Window?
Sunlight ships an update every 2 weeks, and Open Window every 5 days. Most recently, Sunlight was updated on October 5, 2026 and Open Window on October 16, 2026.

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