# Day & Night Map vs Buoy Map

The clearest difference is price: Day & Night Map at Free against Buoy Map's $1.99. Day & Night Map also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 33%) and ratings volume (1.4K vs 1). Buoy Map's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Day & Night Map is free to download; Buoy Map costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Buoy Map holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Day & Night Map has 1.4K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 76% of Day & Night Map's written reviews are positive against 33% of Buoy Map's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Day & Night Map ships an update every 7 months, Buoy Map every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Day & Night Map | Buoy Map |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $1.99 |
| Rating | [4.8 (1.4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/day-and-night-map/id741375889/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/buoy-map/id1437659960/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **1.4K** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | **76.3% of reviews** | 33.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | **Every 5 months** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Size | 48 MB | 0 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | **17.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Volker Voecking Software Engineering](https://appshunter.io/developer/390175341) | [Joel Lisenby](https://appshunter.io/developer/1437659959) |

## What reviewers say

### Day & Night Map

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/day-and-night-map/id741375889)

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

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great app
- 🚀 Useful for radio hams
- 👍 Interesting to see sun/moon movement
- 👍 Excellent for travelers

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Widget issues (doesn't update, resizing)
- 🐛 Crashes on some devices

**Reported bugs**

- Moon position not displayed on iPad
- Daylight savings time not working properly

**Requested features**

- 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


### Buoy Map

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/buoy-map/id1437659960)

Visualize real-time ocean and lake buoy data, including wave height, wind conditions, and water temperature. Access historical graphs and detailed sensor readings to stay informed about marine environments.

**Highlights:** 48hr wave height graphs, Wind speed and direction, Air pressure and trend, Air and water temperature, Wave period and direction, OpenStreetMap integration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Day & Night Map free?

Day & Night Map is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Buoy Map free?

Buoy Map costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Day & Night Map or Buoy Map?

Buoy Map is rated higher. Day & Night Map averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.4K ratings, while Buoy Map averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Day & Night Map or Buoy Map have ads?

Neither Day & Night Map nor Buoy Map shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Day & Night Map or Buoy Map?

Day & Night Map ships an update every 7 months, and Buoy Map every 5 months. Most recently, Day & Night Map was updated on October 14, 2026 and Buoy Map on October 9, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*