Best sun position apps for photographers (2026): which ones count the mountains?

Which sun position apps are there?

Twelve apps cover most photographers' needs in 2026: Sunreach, PhotoPills, The Photographer's Ephemeris, PlanIt Pro, Sun Surveyor, Sun Seeker, SunCast, Sun Quest, Shadowmap, PeakVisor (Panorama 3D), ShadeMap, Lumos. They differ most in whether they know the terrain, and in moon and night-sky planning.

Checked on 28 October 2026 from each app's US App Store listing, help pages or website. We make Sunreach, so read our row with that in mind; every other row says only what the developer's own pages say.

What else do they do besides the sun?

Most add alerts, widgets or offline use; only Sunreach forecasts the aurora for a spot, and only Sunreach, PhotoPills and The Photographer's Ephemeris list a search for alignments.

From each app's US App Store listing on 28 October 2026. A dash means the listing does not mention the feature, not that the app cannot do it. ShadeMap is a web map and is left out.

Which sun apps account for mountains and terrain?

Sunreach and PeakVisor's Panorama 3D compute sun times from the skyline at a point; The Photographer's Ephemeris checks whether terrain blocks a rise or set. PhotoPills, Sun Surveyor, Sun Seeker and Lumos use flat-horizon times.

The difference can be hours. In the Great Soča Gorge the flat-horizon day on 21 December is 8 h 36 min, the time with sun on the gorge 2 h 50 min. Why sunrise time isn’t when the sun reaches you explains why every flat-horizon app shows the same, wrong-for-valleys sunrise.

PeakVisor added terrain-based sun and moon times in August 2026 (PeakVisor news); it does not publish the resolution of its terrain model. ShadeMap and SunCast draw shadows over an area, which shows where it is sunny at a given time, rather than when a given spot is.

Why choose Sunreach?

Choose Sunreach when the question is the light at one real place: the minute the sun reaches it over the mountains, the night the aurora clears its skyline, and what it will look like before you go. It answers with times and states the data it used.

• The minute the sun reaches your spot. Not a flat-horizon sunrise but the time the sun clears the real skyline, from 2 m lidar ground in supported countries across Europe and the USA and 40 m terrain elsewhere, with the source and an estimated accuracy (±1 or ±5 minutes) on every answer. In the Great Soča Gorge on 21 December that is 2 h 50 min of sun out of a 8 h 36 min day.
• The aurora for your spot, not just the Kp. NOAA’s live oval and forecast, turned into one answer: the Kp your own skyline needs toward the pole (on open ground a camera needs about Kp 2.6 in Edinburgh and Kp 4.9 in London), cloud and moon, the best hour of the night, a slider through the next three nights, spots within a drive that clear it tonight, and alerts when it is likely or visible now. It counts the red glow of big storms, which reaches much further south than the green.
• Stand there before you go. 3D at eye level over real terrain for any minute, lenses from 16 to 400 mm, a 3D city view with buildings and their shadows, and a drone camera up to 120 m.
• AR where you stand. The sun’s path and the terrain skyline over your camera, lined up on the sun or the skyline, on the 0.5× lens too; save a photo or a video with the path drawn in.
• Find the day it lines up. Alignment search for the sun or moon in a street, a notch on the ridge or behind a tower, with the terrain counted, next date first: Manhattanhenge or the sun behind the Eiffel Tower.
• The light around the sun. Which peaks keep the last light after your spot is in shade, a valley-fog outlook, where a polariser works best, the Apple Weather forecast, the Moon, the Milky Way and eclipses over the real horizon.
• Plans you can keep. A light report to share as a PDF, light alerts per spot, widgets, an Apple Watch app, offline region packs, 1,036 photo spots and 98 photo events on every continent.
• Fair price. Free for today and tomorrow, with no account and no ads. Sunreach Pro at launch: €24.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, or €3.99 a month.

Which is the best app for AR sun paths?

PhotoPills and Sun Surveyor have the most established AR views of the sun and moon paths. Sunreach's AR shows the sun's path and the terrain skyline where you stand, lines itself up on the sun or the skyline, and saves photos and videos with the path drawn in.

Which is best for the moon and the Milky Way?

PhotoPills, The Photographer's Ephemeris and PlanIt Pro. All three plan moonrise alignments and the Milky Way's position; Sunreach has moon phases, terrain-aware moonrise and moonset, dark-sky windows and the Milky Way core in the plan, 3D and AR.

Which app forecasts the aurora for your own spot?

Aurora apps such as My Aurora Forecast and AuroraCast show Kp, the solar wind and NOAA’s OVATION map. Sunreach adds the answer for your spot: the Kp it needs over its own skyline toward the pole, the best hour of the night, and the spots within a drive that clear it tonight.

It counts the red glow of big storms, which reaches much further south than the green, and the oval’s turn through the night. More in what Kp you need to see the aurora, what time the aurora is strongest and how to read an aurora forecast.

Which apps find the dates of an alignment?

PhotoPills (its alignments finder) and Sunreach. Sunreach’s alignment search counts the terrain skyline, so “sun setting in the notch” uses the real notch and marks days the terrain hides it.

Examples: Manhattanhenge along the street grid, and the winter mornings the sun passes behind the Eiffel Tower from Trocadéro.

Which app shows where a polariser works best?

Sunreach: its polariser guide shows where a polarising filter darkens the sky most for any spot and minute, how much of the effect the forecast cloud leaves, and the band in AR and 3D. None of the other eleven apps lists a polariser tool in its App Store description or feature pages (checked 26 October 2026).

The rule of thumb is the same everywhere: the effect is strongest 90° from the sun, so a low sun puts the bluest band overhead. See golden hour in the mountains for planning the low sun itself.

Which sun app is best on Android?

PhotoPills, PlanIt Pro, Sun Surveyor and Sun Seeker are on Android; PlanIt started there. Sunreach, SunCast, Sun Quest and Lumos are iOS only; Shadowmap also runs in a browser.

When is another app the better pick?

When you need Android, a one-time price, photo calculators or solar-panel numbers. Sunreach is for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch only, and it does not count trees or buildings in its sun times yet.

PhotoPills has the deepest set of exposure, depth-of-field and time-lapse calculators for a one-time $10.99, on Android too. The Photographer's Ephemeris and PlanIt Pro have years of refinement in map-based moon and Milky Way planning, KML import and offline elevation. Sun Seeker is a quick sun compass with a Watch app for a one-time price. Shadowmap models buildings and trees over whole cities and adds solar-panel analytics. Many photographers keep two: one of those for the toolbox, Sunreach for the terrain, the light on the spot and the aurora.

Which sun position apps are free?

ShadeMap's web map is free; Sunreach, SunCast, Sun Quest, Shadowmap, Lumos and PeakVisor are free with paid upgrades (Sunreach plans today and tomorrow for free; SunCast and Sun Quest only your location today). PhotoPills, TPE, PlanIt Pro, Sun Surveyor and Sun Seeker are paid up front.