Lightphase
Golden hour, dusk & last light
$4.99 · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
Know the minute golden hour starts, when last light runs out, and when the sky is truly dark. Lightphase works it out on your iPhone, with no signal needed.
Lightphase is a clock for natural light. It tells you which light you are standing in, the minute it changes, and how long you have left.
Shooting the overlook at golden hour? Lightphase gives you the minute it starts and the minute it ends.
Hiking back after sunset? It tells you when Civil Twilight runs out, the last light you can walk by without a headlamp.
Waiting for a dark sky? It shows when night begins, which is often more than an hour after sunset.
Every phase of light, named
Lightphase divides the day by the sun's angle into the phases photographers and hikers plan around, and names each one in plain words.
Daylight. The sun is high, the light is flat and the shadows are short and hard.
35° Window. Low enough for directional light, with fuller color and more contrast than golden hour. The long, workable stretch of morning and afternoon.
Golden Hour. Warm, low sun from the horizon to 6 degrees up. Long shadows and raking side light.
Civil Twilight. The sun has set and the sky is still bright. Enough light to walk by, or to shoot handheld.
Nautical Twilight. Deep blue sky over a faint horizon. Most of what people call blue hour happens here.
Astronomical Twilight. The last glow before full dark. The stars are out, and a long exposure still picks up the horizon.
Night. Full dark, with no usable light from the sun.
The answer comes first
The top of the screen holds the answer: the light you are in, when it began and ends, and how much of it is left. Below it sit the next golden hour and the next sunrise or sunset, with the time it gets dark or the first light before it.
See the whole day at once
Behind the answer, the screen takes the color of the sky at the sun's height where you are, with today's light drawn as a curve across it. Drag the sun along the curve and every reading follows your finger. Find out what the light will be doing at six before you decide where to be at six.
Glance without opening anything
The Home Screen widget shows the sky, the light you are in and how long it lasts. The medium size adds the next golden hour. On the Lock Screen, a widget shows the phase and when it changes.
On your wrist, too
The watch app comes with three complications. One names the light you are in and when it changes. One counts down to a light you choose, with a ring that empties as it runs. One draws today's arc with the sun where it stands right now.
Readable in direct sun
A light palette for bright sun and a dark one for dusk. Every phase is spelled out in words, so you never have to tell one color from another.
Times that match the almanac
Sunrise and sunset are timed to the sun's upper edge meeting the horizon, and the twilights use their standard angles. Almanacs use the same definitions, so the times agree with the ones you already trust, and the app shows where every number comes from.
Works where the signal does not
Lightphase works out the light on your iPhone from where you are and the time of day. It keeps working in airplane mode, in a canyon, and anywhere the bars run out. Your location stays on your iPhone, where only the latest position is kept for your widgets and complications.
One price, everything in it
One purchase covers the iPhone app, the watch app, every widget and every complication. There is no subscription and nothing to buy inside. The sun does not charge a monthly fee, so neither do we.
Every light Lightphase tracks
Sunrise, sunset, golden hour, blue hour, first light, last light, civil twilight, nautical twilight, astronomical twilight and night.
The answer now comes first. The top of the screen shows which light you are in, when it ends and how much is left, with the next golden hour and the next sunrise or sunset below it. The light you are in stays at the top while you scroll through today, and scrubbing the sky shows clock times. The Home Screen widget shows the same answer, and the medium size adds the next golden hour.
The developer, Onyx Mueller, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Onyx Mueller
- Size
- 5.2 MB
- Category
- Photo & Video
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later. - Apple Watch
Requires watchOS 10.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Onyx Mueller
