Day & Night Map is a solar and lunar visualization tool for iOS and Android that displays the real-time day/night terminator line across the globe.
The App DNA
What makes this app unique?
The app removes the cognitive friction of calculating global light cycles, which ham radio operators and photographers require for planning communication and lighting conditions.
For Travellers, astronomers, photographers, and educators interested in solar and lunar positioning.
What does it look like?
Key features
Real-time visualization of the terminator line across the globe with pinch-to-zoom and pan controls.
Interactive date and time sliders allow users to view historical or future solar positions.
Generates shareable animated GIFs showing the movement of the day/night line over a custom time range.
How much does it cost?
The freemium model uses ad-supported access to drive volume, with a Pro upgrade path to remove ads and unlock geographic map overlays.
Velocity
Maintenance developmentperformanceUX improvementsopaqueShow more...
The app currently operates at a maintenance cadence, with only two releases identified in the recent window. The latest release arrived 14 days ago, following a pattern of infrequent updates focused solely on minor bug fixes and performance improvements. There is no evidence of new feature development or live operations, as the release notes remain generic and opaque. Development appears to be in a stable maintenance phase with no significant feature additions.
Who built it?
Volker Voecking Software Engineering
9 apps tracked · Weather
User Sentiment
What do users think recently?
Review voice lately leans thrilled. Users appreciate visualizing the day and night terminator line helps radio enthusiasts plan long-distance communication propagation and clean interface design allows users to easily track solar and lunar positions without excessive advertising, but report occasional ui layout conflicts on specific devices prevent users from accessing the date adjustment controls.
How are ratings & reviews evolving?
What users say, by theme
- Visualizing the day and night terminator line helps radio enthusiasts plan long-distance communication propagation
- Clean interface design allows users to easily track solar and lunar positions without excessive advertising
- Educational utility provides a clear perspective on global daylight cycles for students and casual observers
- Occasional UI layout conflicts on specific devices prevent users from accessing the date adjustment controls
60 of 80 recent reviews analyzed · high confidence · Thrilled overall
Read the full review analysisUnlock 2 more frustration themes and 2 user requests, each backed by review evidence.
Access the full report for freeCompetition
Competitive landscape for Day & Night Map
How's the Weather market?
Day & Night Map maintains a 4.74 average rating across 3,960 total reviews, signaling strong product-market fit within its niche. The lack of recent major feature updates, however, risks ceding ground to more active competitors in the astronomical utility space.
Read the market outlookThe rivals identified
Unlock the deeper market read.
Access the full report for freeThe Analyst's Read
Key takeaways for Day & Night Map
Where is it heading?
The astronomical utility market is consolidating around tools that offer deeper integration with local time and city data. Day & Night Map remains stable due to its niche ham radio following, but the lack of active feature development leaves it vulnerable to rivals that offer more automated, background-synced experiences.
- Inconsistent background refresh cycles force manual interaction, which erodes the utility of the real-time map for power users.
- The latest release focuses exclusively on stability fixes, confirming a maintenance-only development cadence that lacks new feature expansion.
The SWOT
- Terminator line visualization enables precise gray-line propagation planning for ham radio operators
- Integrating city-specific data and local time zones would improve utility for international scheduling
Next best moves
Audit UI layout on small-screen devices because date adjustment controls are inaccessible → improve conversion to Pro
+ 1 more prioritized moveThe counter-intuitive read
The app's lack of geographic labels is a feature, not a bug…
Read the full takeBottom line
Day & Night Map provides essential utility for radio enthusiasts, but the current maintenance-only cadence leaves persistent UI and sync issues unaddressed. Resolving these technical frictions would secure the core user base against more active, modern alternatives.
Unlock 1 critical friction, 1 market threat, 1 more prioritized move and the analyst’s take.
Access the full report for freeFAQ
Is Day & Night Map suitable for ham radio planning?
Does Day & Night Map work offline?
What is the difference between the free and Pro versions?
Sources
Report last updated