Shutter Speed

Light Conditions

Last updated: 2026-10-27

What it does

Shows the light for your location on any date: a 24-hour dial around solar noon, and a timeline from morning to night with golden hour, blue hour, the twilight phases, sunrise, sunset, and full dark.

What you need

A location. Pick one with the Location control at the top of the screen (Current Location or a saved location). Without one, the screen shows a note with a link to Settings to set your location. The times are calculated on your device, so no network is needed once your location is set.

How to use it

  1. Set your Location at the top.
  2. Read the dial under Current Conditions. It shows the light at the time you are looking at, and how long until the next change. Tap Settings in the note if no location is set.
  3. Under the dial, choose Hours or Days. Hours is the default: drag the ruler to move through the day in 10 minute steps. With Days, drag the ruler to move from one day to the next. With no location set, the switch is hidden and the ruler moves the date.
  4. To pick a date directly, use the date field beside the ruler.
  5. Tap Now (in Hours) or Today (in Days) to go back to the current time or today.
  6. Read the Light Forecast timeline for that date. The dial and timeline both follow the time you have moved the ruler to.
  7. Tap View on Map to open Location Planner at this spot and date, with the sun direction shown.

Live Activity countdown

On iPhone, the Live Activity card puts a countdown on your Lock Screen, and in the Dynamic Island on iPhones that have one. It is part of Pro.

  1. Set a location. In the card, choose a Window and what to Count down to.
  2. Tap Start countdown. On the Free plan the button reads Start countdown (Pro) and opens the upgrade screen. Under the button the app shows the first event it will count down to.
  3. Tap Stop countdown to end it early.
  • Window: Next event (whichever golden hour, blue hour, or twilight comes next), or a specific window such as Morning golden hour, Evening blue hour, or Evening astronomical twilight.
  • Count down to: Start counts down to the start of the window. End counts down to its end, for example the time left in evening golden hour. Chain counts down to the start, then lists each window after it (golden hour, sunset, blue hour, twilight) with its time. Open this screen to refresh the countdown.

Changing a choice while the countdown runs restarts it with the new choice. A countdown only starts when you tap Start while the app is open, and starting one replaces any other countdown that is running. iOS ends Live Activities after 8 hours, so a countdown that would run longer ends early and the card says so. If Live Activities are turned off for Shutter Speed in iOS Settings, the app tells you. Settings, Notifications, Live Activities shows what is running, with a Stop button, and has Open Settings if they are off.

Reading the results

  • Light dial: a 24-hour ring. The top is solar noon, when the sun is highest, so sunrise and sunset sit level on either side of it in every season. Faint tick marks show midnight, 6 AM, noon, and 6 PM. Sunrise and sunset are marked on the ring.
  • Center of the dial: the time you are looking at, the light at that time (for example Golden Hour, Blue Hour, Daylight, or Night), and how long until the next phase starts. With no time shown, it shows the date and the length of the day.
  • Light Forecast: each phase is a card with its start and end, such as Golden Hour or Blue Hour. Single moments are one-line rows: Sunrise, Solar Noon, Sunset, and the times full dark begins or ends. The row for the current time is tagged Now, or shows the time you have moved the ruler to. The card header shows Sun up and the length of the day.
  • Golden Hour runs from when the sun is 6° above the horizon to 4° below it, so sunrise and sunset fall inside it. Blue Hour follows, from 4° to 6° below the horizon.
  • No sunrise or sunset: on some dates at extreme latitudes, the timeline says so.

Tips

  • On iPhone, a compass card under Location shows your live heading and tells you which way to turn to face the sun, for example "Turn left to face the sun". When you are pointed at it, it reads "Sun is straight ahead" and its border lights up. If the sun is below the horizon, it says so. If it shows Tap for live heading, tap it to start. If it shows Allow location in Settings, location access is off. The card is labeled Now because it always points at the sun as it is right now, whatever date or time you are viewing. It is not shown on web.
  • For UV, see the Weather tool.
  • Moving the ruler does not change the calculation, only the time or date you are viewing. Tap Now or Today to see the light as it is.