Comparison

Day & Night Map vs Solstice

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

Solstice

Track daily daylight changes in your location and see monthly projections. Explore daylight variations across different global locations and over time. Receive notifications and use widgets to stay informed about upcoming daylight.

Highlights
  • Daily daylight change comparison
  • Monthly daylight projections
  • Time Travel feature
  • Multi-location comparison
  • Daily notifications
  • Widgets
Features
Read full description

Solstice shows you how much more or less daylight there is in your location today compared to yesterday, as well as how much to expect each month as the year goes by. Use Time Travel to see how the daylight changes throughout the year, and compare it to multiple locations around the world. Enjoy daily notifications and widgets to look forward to brighter days.

Screenshots

Day & Night Map4 screens
Solstice4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Day & Night Map at none against Solstice's 3. Day & Night Map also leads on ratings volume (1.4K vs 80) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.5). Solstice's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 8 months) and device support (5 vs 3). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Solstice sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Day & Night Map asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Day & Night Map against 4.8 for Solstice. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Day & Night Map has 1.4K ratings behind it against 80, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of Day & Night Map's written reviews are positive against 85% of Solstice's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Day & Night Map ships an update every 8 months, Solstice every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on September 27, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Day & Night Map versus Solstice: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDay & Night MapSolstice
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.4K ratings)4.8 (80 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.0% of reviews85.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.4K — better80
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.5
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVolker Voecking Software EngineeringDan Eden

Customer experience

Day & Night Map

All ratings1,357 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral8.5%
Negative13.6%

Solstice

All ratings80 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral2.5%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews74 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral8.1%
Negative6.8%

User reviews

Day & Night Map

From 1.4K App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

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

Solstice

From 80 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Beautiful and clean design
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 💡 Informative and detailed data
  • 🚀 Fast and seamless performance
  • 🎁 Free and privacy-respecting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Widgets not displaying correctly
  • 🐛 Notifications not sending
  • 🐛 Inaccurate information (longest/shortest days inverted)
  • 🐛 App hangs on cold open

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

Solstice

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • App crashes when sliding bar
  • App crashes when holding any location
  • Square widget displays white square with grey bars only
  • Widget options not showing
  • Lock screen widget progress ring shows incorrect progress
Show 2 more
  • Morning sunlight notification doesn't work
  • Longest and shortest days are inverted

Requested features

10 requests
  • Add a month view
  • Add equinox measurements and widgets
  • Remember multiple locations
  • Compare data for two places on the same screen
  • Add automatic push notifications for sunset
Show 5 more
  • Countdown of sunlight left in a day
  • Track increases to sunset time and earliest/latest times
  • Compare locations for sunlight differences
  • Manually add and save locations
  • Ability to use worldwide (if not already)

In-app purchases

None

Day & Night Map

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Solstice

One-time3
  • Small Tip$1.99
  • Medium Tip$5.99
  • Large Tip$11.99

Questions

Is Day & Night Map free?
Day & Night Map is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Solstice free?
Solstice is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Day & Night Map or Solstice?
Solstice is rated higher. Day & Night Map averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.4K ratings, while Solstice averages 4.8 from 80 ratings.
Do Day & Night Map or Solstice have ads?
Neither Day & Night Map nor Solstice shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Day & Night Map or Solstice?
Day & Night Map ships an update every 8 months, and Solstice every 5 weeks. Most recently, Day & Night Map was updated on September 27, 2026 and Solstice on September 27, 2026.

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