Comparison

Day & Night Map vs Golden Hour!

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

Head to head
About

Day & Night Map

Visualize the Earth's day and night cycles on an interactive world map. Select any date and time to see current illumination, or create animated GIFs of changing light patterns.

Highlights
  • Real-time day/night map
  • Selectable date and time
  • Animated GIF creation
  • Minute-by-minute updates
  • Global illumination visualization
Read full description

Day & Night Map shows you exactly which parts of Earth are in daylight and which are in darkness — right now, or at any date and time you choose. Watch the terminator move across the globe as hours and days pass. Explore sunrise, sunset, and twilight around the world. Perfect for travellers, astronomers, photographers, teachers, and anyone curious about time on our planet. KEY FEATURES • Live world map of day and night • Move through time with intuitive date and time controls • Jump back to the current moment with one tap • Pinch to zoom and pan across the map • Full-screen map view • Home Screen widgets in multiple sizes (including Extra Large on iPad) • Configurable widgets: sun, moon, moon phase, twilight, icon size, and more • Show sun and moon positions on the map • Display the current moon phase • Twilight zones: smooth shading or separate civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight • Equator and tropics lines • Show your current location on the map (optional) • Display time in local time or UTC • Light, dark, or system appearance • Share a map image by email, message, and more • Create animations over a chosen time range • Export animations as animated GIFs ANIMATIONS Pick a start and end date, set the step interval and speed, and watch the day/night line move over hours or days. Play the animation in the app or create an animated GIF to share. HOME SCREEN WIDGET Add the widget to your Home Screen and keep the current day/night map at a glance. Customize what is shown and how it looks directly when adding or editing the widget.

About

Golden Hour!

This app helps you find the perfect lighting for photography by providing precise golden hour times for any location worldwide. It also includes a five-day weather forecast and allows you to track the sun's position during these optimal periods.

Highlights
  • Golden hour time calculation
  • Five-day weather forecast
  • Location search
  • Sun position during golden hour
  • Multiple location notifications
  • Today tab widget
Features
Read full description

Get golden hour times with this simple, easy to use app. Easily view golden hour times for any day and any place, anywhere in the world. Features: * Get a five-day weather forecast for cities around the world. * Search for a specific location by city name. * Determine the sun’s position during the golden hour. * Receive notifications about the golden hour for multiple locations around the world. * See the golden hour times for your current location on the Today tab in Notification Center.

Screenshots

Day & Night Map4 screens
Golden Hour!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Day & Night Map at Free against Golden Hour!'s $3.99. Day & Night Map also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (1.4K vs 4). Golden Hour!'s advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 7 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support 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

Day & Night Map is free to download; Golden Hour! costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Day & Night Map holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Day & Night Map has 1.4K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Day & Night Map's written reviews are positive against 60% of Golden Hour!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Day & Night Map ships an update every 7 months, Golden Hour! every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Day & Night Map versus Golden Hour!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDay & Night MapGolden Hour!
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.8 (1.4K ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews76.3% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.4K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVolker Voecking Software EngineeringKinetic Stars

Customer experience

Day & Night Map

All ratings1,365 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive76.3%
Neutral10.2%
Negative13.6%

Golden Hour!

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%

Bugs and requests

Day & Night Map

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Moon position not displayed on iPad
  • Daylight savings time not working properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Option to keep noon at center and have map move
  • Show analemma and sun position on it
  • 24-hour clock setting for widget
  • Improve moon position display on iPad

Golden Hour!

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Day & Night Map

No in-app purchases

None

Golden Hour!

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Day & Night Map free?
Day & Night Map is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Golden Hour! free?
Golden Hour! costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Day & Night Map or Golden Hour!?
Day & Night Map is rated higher. Day & Night Map averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.4K ratings, while Golden Hour! averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Day & Night Map or Golden Hour! have ads?
Neither Day & Night Map nor Golden Hour! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Day & Night Map or Golden Hour!?
Day & Night Map ships an update every 7 months, and Golden Hour! every 6 weeks. Most recently, Day & Night Map was updated on November 6, 2026 and Golden Hour! on November 6, 2026.

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