Day & Night Map vs SunLocation
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Real-time day/night map
- Selectable date and time
- Animated GIF creation
- Minute-by-minute updates
- Global illumination visualization
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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.
SunLocation
This app displays the current sun's position and altitude, synchronizing with your device's compass. It also offers an optional add-on to hide ads and view moon positions, phases, and altitude graphs.
- Current sun position and altitude
- Compass synchronization
- Moon position and phases display
- Altitude graphs for sun and moon
- Distance graph for the moon
- Ad-free option with add-on
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SunLocation is an app that lets you know the current sun location and altitude. If there is a compass, the directions are synchronized. You might want to watch the Super Moon, take a photo, move, go out or look at the sky. If the position is different, the compass is interfering. Please adjust the position with the compass app and try again. The altitude is displayed in the center. Add-on (Add moon position and phases and hide ads) - The ad will be hidden. - You can display the month position and age. - Tap the center to switch between sun and moon altitudes at any time. - You can see the altitude graph of the sun and the moon. - You can see the distance graph of the moon. Enjoy !
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Day & Night Map at 78% against SunLocation's 12%. Day & Night Map also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). SunLocation's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 8 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads and device support 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
Both are free to download. SunLocation sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Day & Night Map asks for nothing beyond the download.
Day & Night Map holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Day & Night Map has 1.4K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Day & Night Map's written reviews are positive against 12% of SunLocation's.
Day & Night Map ships an update every 8 months, SunLocation every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Day & Night Map | SunLocation |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.4K ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.0% of reviews — better | 12.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.4K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Volker Voecking Software Engineering | Yoshitaka Watanabe |
Customer experience
Day & Night Map
SunLocation
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
SunLocation
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Day & Night Map
No in-app purchases
SunLocation
- Moon position and age, etc.$0.99
Questions
Is Day & Night Map free?
Is SunLocation free?
Which has better reviews, Day & Night Map or SunLocation?
Do Day & Night Map or SunLocation have ads?
Which is updated more often, Day & Night Map or SunLocation?
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