Perfecting your tan? This iPhone app lets you track the sun’s position throughout the day

Screenshots of the Sun Seeker app from the Apple App Store, showing the app working on an iPhone.
The Sun Seeker app helps you plan where the sun's going to be throughout the day. (Image credit: Sun seeker app/Apple app store)
Sun Seeker: Tracker and Compass

The Sun seeker app logo.

(Image credit: Sun seeker app/Apple app store)

iPhone / iPad / Apple Watch - $9.99/£9.99

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The Sun Seeker app for the iPhone isn’t a must-have for everyone. But if your job, travel or hobby requires you to know where the sun is and how much light you’re going to be getting at certain times of day in advance, it’s a valuable app for your toolbox.

Sun Seeker leverages the technology in your iPhone, including GPS, magnetometer, and gyroscope, to provide accurate solar positions and paths. Its 3D Augmented Reality (AR) view also overlays the sun's current position and its path with hour points that are marked directly onto your camera view. The app also includes a comprehensive map view showing solar directions and paths for any location and time chosen by the user – this is what makes it so valuable for planning in advance. 

What sets Sun Seeker apart from similar apps is its personalized notification system, which alerts you to important sun-related events. Whether it’s the ideal time for photography, the expected duration of twilight, or even specific sun angles, these notifications ensure you never miss a critical moment.

A perfect tool for photography, property and outdoor adventures

Because the Sun seeker app brings you detailed solar tracking, it’s ideal for any kind of visual or cinematic artistry. For example, if you want to know when ‘golden hour’ or ‘blue hour’ are – special times of the day when natural light is ideal for certain sorts of photos – then you can remove all of the guesswork. Because it serves up sunrise and sunset times, as well as sun directions throughout the day, it’ll ensure you can capture the perfect shot in the right lighting conditions, wherever you are. 

If you’re interested in buying a new property, or you work in property development, Sun Seeker is also a good tool. It’ll help you to quickly understand the sun’s impact on any property, no matter what time of day you visit. You’ll be able to determine how sunlight falls on different areas, which can influence a whole bunch of decisions, like whether the property is right for you, where you’ll place the garden, if you’ll add solar panels and more.

And of course Sun Seeker will be invaluable for anyone who plans on spending a lot of time outdoors, whether that’s because you’re tending your garden, you’re on a day long hike or taking an extended camping trip. You’ll be able to figure out the optimal route to take or place to begin your day based on sunlight and shadow patterns — ace if you're looking for the ideal lunging spot for topping up that tan. The app's detailed solar data assists in planning the perfect day out, ensuring that you can enjoy your activities in the best conditions possible.

Sun Seeker is $9.99/£9.99 and it's worth the price if you need a reliable way to know where the sun is now and at any other time of the day, providing a suite of features to help all sorts of people harness the power and better understand the light of the sun.

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Becca Caddy
Contributor

Becca Caddy is a contributor to iMore, as well as a freelance journalist and author. She’s been writing about consumer tech and popular science for more than a decade, covering all kinds of topics, including why robots have eyes and whether we’ll experience the overview effect one day. She’s particularly interested in VR/AR, wearables, digital health, space tech and chatting to experts and academics about the future. She’s contributed to TechRadar, T3, Wired, New Scientist, The Guardian, Inverse and many more. Her first book, Screen Time, came out in January 2021 with Bonnier Books. She loves science-fiction, brutalist architecture, and spending too much time floating through space in virtual reality. Last time she checked, she still holds a Guinness World Record alongside iMore Editor in Chief Gerald Lynch for playing the largest game of Tetris ever made, too.