Top Sun Tracker Apps for Golden Hour Planning

If you want to take the most breathtaking photos of city skylines and natural landscapes, “golden hour” is the time to do it. Also known as the “magic hour,” it’s the time of day when the sun’s light is the warmest and softest, providing the perfect backdrop for your pictures.

However, to make the most of the golden hour, you have to know exactly when it’s going to happen. That’s where sun tracker apps come into play, and in this guide, I’ll introduce you to five of my favorite apps for tracking the sun’s position and planning your photoshoots.

The Beauty of Golden Hour

Before I get into the apps themselves, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what golden hour is and why it’s such a highly prized time for photographers around the world.

A common definition for golden hour is the first hour of light after sunrise and the last hour of light before sunset.

Technically speaking, however, it’s not quite as rigid as that; despite having the word “hour” in the name, golden hour doesn’t have a fixed duration. It can last significantly longer than an hour or far less (as brief as 15 minutes, in some cases), depending on your location and the time of year.

A clearer way to define golden hour, therefore, is the brief windows of time after sunrise and before sunset, when the sun is low down and close to the horizon, and the sky is filled with reddish and golden hues.

During these windows, the sun’s rays travel more deeply through the atmosphere and therefore become less intense. This leads to softer, gentler lighting, with shadows that aren’t as sharp or harsh as they would be at other times of day.

This provides wonderful conditions for capturing all kinds of exterior photographs, be they portraits, landscapes, romantic wedding pictures, and even action shots of athletes and entertainers.

What Are Sun Tracker Apps?

As the name suggests, sun tracker apps are mobile applications designed to track the sun's movements on any given day. Using geographic data and mathematical formulas, they can accurately predict the exact path the sun will follow across the sky.

Users can then use this data to plan their shoots ahead of time, identifying the right locations, dates, and times to take their photos with the specific light conditions they want to work with. Many professional photographers rely on these apps daily.

However, not all sun tracker apps are the same. Some are quite simple and merely tell the user what time of day the sun will rise and set, as well as letting them know when golden hour is expected to take place and when the sun will be at its highest point.

Others are significantly more advanced. They incorporate emerging technologies, like augmented reality (AR) via your phone’s camera to let you actually see the sun’s path of travel in the world around you. Some can even simulate shadows on 2D or 3D maps of your surrounding environment.

This is why it’s important to choose carefully when it comes to sun tracker apps, as I know from experience that some are far more useful than others. I also know that some can be a little overwhelming for beginners, so I encourage everyone to find an app that meets their specific needs.

The Benefits of Using Sun Tracker Apps

I know plenty of wedding, event, and nature photographers who would argue that sun tracker apps are essential elements of their photography kit, and here are just some of the reasons why:

• Precise Planning: The best sun tracker apps don’t merely provide rough estimations of sun timings and positions; they provide highly precise data about when golden hour will be and how a scene will look at any given moment on any given day. This makes it significantly easier to plan and prepare for your shoots in advance.
• Scouting Locations: Let’s say you’re planning to shoot in an unfamiliar location or you’ve been invited to photograph an event somewhere you’ve never been before. Sun tracker apps let you visualize that space, understand the topography, and identify the right times to capture your best shots.
• Increasing Efficiency: Without sun tracker apps, photographers may have to waste time physically scouting locations or relying on less accurate resources to understand the sun’s movements. With these apps, however, you can save yourself hours and focus more of your energy on other aspects of planning.
• Better Quality Photos: Ultimately, the end goal of using sun tracker apps is to take better photos, and these apps give you the data you need to plan your shoots to the minute, picking the right times and the right spots to capture pictures with beautiful shadows, golden skies, and dramatic silhouettes. This can lead to happier clients, more referrals, and increased revenue.

The 5 Best Sun Tracker Apps

Now you know all about how sun tracker apps work and what they have to offer; allow me to introduce five of my favorite apps. I’ll include a mixture of options for both Android and iOS devices, and even a web-based app you can use on your computer, too.

Sun Seeker

Sun Seeker is one of the most popular sun tracker apps among photographers. It’s not hard to see why, since it packs in a huge array of features to help you map the sun’s positions on any date, and in any location.

Available for both Android and iOS devices, this app lets you use augmented reality, via your phone’s camera, to see a live feed of the sun’s path across the sky above you. It also has a solar compass that shows the sun’s position and elevation at different times and dates.

You can find not only exact golden hour timings with Sun Seeker, but also details about how much daylight will be in any given day, when the sun will rise, peak, and set, its maximum elevation, and how long and large shadows will be as the day progresses, too.

In short, it delivers a massive amount of data, which can make it a little overwhelming for new users. Some users have also shared complaints about the app being slightly inaccurate at times and having to be recalibrated, but for the most part, it works well and is highly rated.

Pricing: Sun Seeker Lite is free in the Apple Store, but the Pro version is $29.99 In the Google Play store it starts $6.49.

Helios

Helios – Sun & Moon Tracker is an iOS-exclusive application aimed at photographers and cinematographers. Like other sun tracker apps, it’s designed to help you track the sun’s position in the sky in different locations and on different dates to prepare your shoots more efficiently.

It provides highly reliable data about when golden hour will be each day, as well as information about other popular photography periods of the day, like blue hour.

With Helios’ 3D mapping technology, users can even see accurate visualizations of how shadows and light will fall across a space. This is very helpful if you’re going to be taking pictures in an unfamiliar environment and want to identify the right places to position your camera and your subjects.

One of the obvious downsides to this app is that it’s iOS only, so Android users can’t enjoy the benefits. That aside, it’s a well-made app that runs well, even on older iPhones, and offers a clean, neat interface, too.

Pricing: Free to download, with premium features starting at 99 cents per week or $99.99 for a lifetime license.

PhotoPills

PhotoPills isn’t your average sun tracker app. It’s more like a comprehensive photoshoot planning app, letting photographers on both Android and iOS devices track the sun, moon, and stars, scout locations, and time their shoots to perfection.

It offers a map-based interactive planner tool that you can use to check sunrise, sunset, and golden hour timings in specific locations, as well as AR features to let you see the exact paths of celestial bodies in the sky over your head.

You’ll also find exceptionally precise and in-depth calculators and algorithms to help you fine-tune your camera settings, like exposure and depth of field, to suit the conditions of the moment, plus helpful guides and tutorials, too.

Overall, this is one of the most in-depth sun tracker apps on the market. It’s a little more expensive than most others, and you might not need to use all of its features, but for seasoned, intermediate photographers, it’s almost a must-have.

Pricing: $10.99 on both Android and iOS.

Lumos: Sun and Moon Tracker

The Lumos: Sun and Moon Tracker app is another Apple exclusive, which sadly means that Android users won’t be able to work with this tool. If you’re in the iOS ecosystem, however, Lumos is certainly worth considering, since it’s effectively two apps in one: a sun tracker and a moon tracker.

This makes it well-suited to those who are interested in golden hour photography but also like to work at night, capturing images beneath the stars.

It works similarly to many other sun tracker apps: you can use 3D AR views via your camera to chart the courses of celestial bodies above you, or use a map and compass view to see how the sun’s position will change in other places all around the world.

A downside to this app is that many features are locked off to premium subscribers, so you’ll have to pay to get the most out of it. However, with prices starting as low as 99 cents, it’s one of the more affordable entries in my list.

Pricing: Free to download, premium features unlocked from 99 cents.

The Photographer’s Ephemeris

Finally, for something a little different, meet The Photographer’s Ephemeris. This app has the unique advantage of being available not just on Android and iOS devices, but also in the form of a web app that you can access via a browser on your laptop or computer.

It provides both sun and moon tracking capabilities and is packed full of features and data, letting you know when the sun will rise and set, when golden hour will take place anywhere in the world, and even letting you visualize light and shadow across different regions.

Having used this app myself on numerous occasions, I feel like it has actually given me a much deeper understanding of how light and shadow work, while also making it much easier for me to plan my shoots and liaise with clients in advance about locations and timings.

The downside is that it can feel quite complicated when you first start, especially the map view, which has so many buttons and bits of data to sift through and understand. Master this app, however, and you’re almost guaranteed to become a better photographer.

Pricing: In the Apple Store, it’s $9.99 with in-app purchases. There’s also a web version. Free to try.

How to Choose a Sun Tracker App

There you have it: five of the best sun tracker apps you can use today. There are plenty of others on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, as well, and it can feel a little overwhelming when you’re trying to choose between them. To help out, keep these tips in mind:

• Check the Reviews and Ratings: Before downloading any sun tracker app (or any other photography app, for that matter), it’s worth checking to see what existing users think of it. Read through reviews to get a feel for the pros and cons.
• Think About Your Budget: As you can see from my list, some sun tracker apps have free trials or limited free versions, but you often have to pay for full functionality. Prices can vary, so decide how much you’re willing to spend to narrow down your options.
• Start Simple: I recommend beginners stick with simpler apps to start off with, before working their way up towards a more complicated option. This is simply because some of these apps can feel quite confusing with their various maps, features, and overlays.
• Review the Features: Read the descriptions to see exactly what each app has to offer before you decide to download it. Don’t assume that they’re all more or less the same, as some can work very differently from others.

Additional Golden Hour Photography Tips

Knowing when golden hour is going to happen is just the first piece of the puzzle. The following tips and best practices will help you actually make the most of this magical time of day to capture the prettiest pictures:

• Get to your photoshoot location ahead of time so you can familiarize yourself with the layout and identify some good areas and angles to take your pictures.
• Try to position the sun behind or slightly behind your subjects if you want the most dramatic backlights and intriguing silhouettes.
• Shoot in RAW format so that you can make adjustments to the color warmth and shadows more easily later on in your editing software.
• Take a large number of photos, since golden hour can move quickly and conditions may change from minute to minute.
• Consider using flashes or reflectors to light up the shadows of your subject’s face while still capturing the red and orange hues of the golden hour.
• Make the most of the “blue hour,” which occurs just before sunrise and just after sunset, to take some cool blue shots to contrast with your golden hour images.

More: Blue Hour Photography: ESSENTIAL Settings, Ideas & Tips

Get More From Golden Hour With Sun Tracker Apps

Photographers around the world agree that golden hour is one of the best times to take pictures, and with a sun tracker app installed on your mobile device, you’ll never need to worry about missing this magical moment again.

These apps are reasonably affordable and highly effective, providing the time and location data you need to plan your shoots with precision. While some can be a little complicated, they’re all generally reliable and useful.

Even if golden hour photography isn’t of major interest to you, it’s still worth considering one of these apps to help you understand the sun’s movements and how light and shadow can change throughout the day.

With that in mind, I encourage all photographers to consider adding a sun tracker app to their digital photography kits.