SolanderSun and moon planner for photographers

Know the light
before you go.

Solander works out the sun, the moon and the dark for the spot you’ll stand on, with Apple Weather’s cloud hour by hour on the same dial. It tells you how much of tonight is dark and clear.

Seven days free, then £2.99 a month or £19.99 a year.

Download on the App Store How it compares

For iPhone · iOS 18 or later · English

Sky

01

Every moment of light, with its cloud.

Golden hour, sunset, blue hour and dark, to the minute, for the spot you’ve chosen. Each one carries the forecast cloud for its hour, and a tap moves the whole app there.

02

Is tonight worth going out?

When to shoot weighs the light against the forecast and answers plainly: go tonight for the North America Nebula, 19:57 to 04:27, best at 20:17. If the cloud wins, it says so and names the next good window.

Solander’s Sky tab at Durdle Door on Tuesday 6 October: golden hour at 18:03, the run of light from 17:53 to 07:19 with each moment’s cloud, and tonight’s arc with 7h 34m of dark. When to shoot, scoring the North America Nebula (NGC 7000): go tonight, 19:57 to 04:27, best at 20:17, with 8% cloud, the moon down and 12 km/h wind.

Map

See where the sun goes down.

Drop a pin where you’ll stand, or search for a place. The day’s paths of the sun and the moon are drawn round it as true bearings, with the time each rises and sets.

Turn the wheel and the sight line swings with the hour, so you can see where the sun will set behind your subject before you leave home.

Astro

01

One ring for the whole day.

Noon at the top, midnight at the bottom. The light runs round the face by the sun’s height, with cloud in three greys, rain in blue and the moon in violet while it’s up.

02

Green is the dark you can use.

It’s the night’s dark with every hour of 35% cloud or more cut out: 7h 34m tonight at Durdle Door. The moon is shown, not subtracted: you decide.

03

The next five nights, side by side.

The week reads each night the same way. Thursday and Friday are clouded out; Saturday is clear for 9h 20m. Tap a night and every tab moves to it.

Solander’s Astro tab at Durdle Door: the day ring with its key, 7h 34m of dark, gauges reading 13% cloud, 0% rain, 15 km/h wind and a 16% moon, and the week from Tuesday to Saturday.

Kit

Exposure worked out for your own camera.

Pick your camera and lens from a catalogue of 1,453 pieces of kit, and Spot Stars gives the longest exposure before the stars start to trail: 10.8 seconds with this camera at 20mm.

The old rule of thumb, 500 divided by the focal length, says 25 seconds, and the stars would streak.

Shoots

01

Save the night, and its run sheet is ready.

A shoot keeps the spot and the minute. Its run sheet counts down to the light and shows the day’s sky ring and its moments, with Live view, Map and Route to hand.

02

Plan a fortnight, or a whole trip.

Shoots sit on a fortnight calendar and in a list, soonest first. A trip gathers a few nights in one place under its own colour, like a Purbeck weekend.

The run sheet for Stars over Durdle Door: a countdown of 1:58:14 to the dark from 20:26 to 05:30, Live view, Map and Route buttons, the day’s sky ring and the day’s light. The Shoots tab: the fortnight from 6 to 19 October, and five shoots coming up, three of them on the Purbeck weekend trip.

And out there

Five more things for the night out.

Hold it up to the sky

Live draws the sun’s and moon’s paths, the stars and the constellations over the camera, for any minute on the wheel. It lines itself up with the real sun, or the moon at night.

An aurora watch

When NOAA forecasts a storm of Kp 5 or more, its hours go on the ring in magenta and that night is marked in the week.

On your Home Screen

Widgets for the run of light, tonight’s arc and the week, and a Lock Screen countdown while a window runs.

What’s up tonight

All 110 Messier objects and 50 more showpieces, graded for the night and your lenses, with meteor showers and eclipses to plan.

Field mode

Red on black with big numbers: the clear dark left tonight and your longest exposure, for the small hours.

How it compares

Beside the planners you know.

Of the sun, moon and Milky Way planners for photographers in our UK App Store searches on 15 October 2026, The Photographer’s Ephemeris, PhotoPills, Ephemeris (Vito) and Planit Pro had the most ratings.

See the full comparison

  • Cloud on the dialSolander shows Apple Weather’s cloud hour by hour. None of the four lists an hourly cloud forecast in its iPhone app. Planit’s maker now recommends its newer PlanIt Earth, which lists cloud forecasts with PlanIt+.
  • A number for the nightSolander gives tonight’s clear dark in hours and minutes, and a verdict. We didn’t find either listed for the other four.
  • Where others do moreTPE, PhotoPills and Planit Pro allow for hills on the horizon and run on iPad. Solander uses a flat horizon and is for iPhone only.

Price

Seven days free, then one price for everything.

Monthly

£2.99 a month

Renews each month

  • Every tab and every tool
  • Cancel any time in your App Store settings

Yearly

£19.99 a year

About £1.67 a month, renewing each year

  • Every tab and every tool
  • Your shoots stay on your iPhone if it lapses

The free week is for new subscribers: Apple takes the first payment when it ends, and the subscription then renews until you turn it off at least 24 hours before the period ends.

Questions

What people ask first.

Does it work with no signal?

The sun, the moon and twilight are worked out on your iPhone, so they work anywhere. The cloud forecast and the map need a connection, so read the forecast before you lose it.

Where does the cloud forecast come from?

Apple Weather, hour by hour for the exact spot, from the low, middle and high cloud together, up to seven days ahead.

Does it count the moon against the night?

No. Cloud decides the number and the verdict. The moon is drawn on the ring, so you can see when it’s up and judge it yourself.

Can I plan a spot I’m not at?

Yes. Search for a place and every tab moves there, on that place’s own clock; or long-press the map where you’ll stand.

Does Solander send my location anywhere?

Only to Apple, to fetch the forecast and draw the map. There’s no account, and Mirentha never receives your location or your plans.

Which iPhones does it run on?

Any iPhone with iOS 18 or later. Live needs a camera and a compass. The app is in English.

SolanderSun and moon planner for photographers

Read the sky before you set off.

On the App Store, for iPhone.

Download on the App Store