GoldCast · Sun Position + Weather

Best Sun Position App for Photographers

Sun position tells you when and where the light will be. GoldCast adds the missing layer: whether the weather conditions will make that light worth shooting when it arrives.

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iOS app: $2.99/mo · 7-day free trial · Cancel anytime

Sun position is only half the picture

Knowing Where the Sun Is Doesn't Tell You If It's Worth Going

Sun position apps tell you exactly when and where the sun rises, sets, and passes through golden hour for any location and date. That's genuinely useful. But a perfect sun angle with overcast sky, low cloud on the horizon, or high humidity still produces a mediocre shoot. GoldCast adds the weather layer on top of sun timing so you have the complete picture.

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Exact Golden Hour Start and End

GoldCast calculates the precise golden hour window for any location and date — when the sun is between 0° and 10° above the horizon. Duration varies significantly by season and latitude, from 20 minutes near the equator to 90+ minutes at high latitudes in winter. Not a rough estimate — an exact window for your location today.

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Sunset Quality Score on Top of Timing

Sun position is fixed and predictable. Weather is not. GoldCast scores cloud altitude, horizon clarity, and humidity together and combines them with golden hour timing into a single quality score. You see both when the light will be good and whether conditions will make it worth showing up.

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Moon Position for Night Shoots

StarCast in the same app shows moon rise, set, and illumination for any location — the equivalent of sun position data for night photography planning. Combined with night sky scoring, you know both when the moon is positioned favourably and whether transparency and cloud cover will deliver.

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Push Alerts When Conditions Align

Sun position is always the same on the same date at the same location — you don't need an alert for that. GoldCast alerts you when weather conditions align with the golden hour window — the moment when timing and quality are both right simultaneously. Exclusive to the iOS app.

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GoldCast Push Alerts

Set your location and score threshold once. GoldCast monitors weather conditions daily and alerts you when a high-scoring golden hour is forecast — so you find out before the window opens, not after it closes.

Common Questions

What is the best sun position app for photographers?

LightCast GoldCast. It calculates exact golden hour and blue hour timing for any location, and adds a sunset quality score based on cloud altitude, horizon clarity, and humidity. Sun timing plus weather conditions in one app. Free on web, push alerts in the iOS app.

What does a sun position app show?

Sun position apps show when the sun rises and sets, the golden hour window start and end, azimuth (compass direction), and solar elevation angle throughout the day. GoldCast shows all of this plus a weather-based quality score — so you know whether the light at that position will actually be worth shooting.

Do I need a sun position app and a weather app separately?

Not with LightCast. GoldCast combines both — exact sun timing and a weather-based sunset quality score — in one tool. The iOS app also includes StarCast (moon position and night sky scoring), DroneCast, CloudCast, FogCast, and TriCast.

Does LightCast show moon position?

Yes. StarCast in the same app shows moon rise, set, illumination percentage, and whether the moon is above the horizon during your planned shooting window. StarCast combines moon position data with night sky weather scoring — the same concept as GoldCast but for night photography.

What else is in LightCast?

Six tools: GoldCast (golden hour and sunset), StarCast (night sky and moon), DroneCast (drone flight conditions), CloudCast (cloud conditions), FogCast (fog prediction), and TriCast (camera calculators). $2.99/month after a 7-day free trial.