Sunrise. Sunset. Sometimes the sky lights up with amazing color, other times.. not so much. MySunset provides a sunrise & sunset forecast for the next 5 days as well as notifications for great forecasts. Don’t miss the next great sunset!
About the app
MySunset is an iPhone and android app that uses weather data provided by darksky.net to calculate the potential for color for upcoming sunrises and sunsets. The calculation is based on cloud cover, chance of precipitation, and more. The best sunrises happen when there is 50-75% cloud cover, but low cloud cover beyond the horizon where the sun is rising.
Location List
The main screen is a tabular view showing a list of custom locations, and is most people’s favorite view. Each location displays a percentage and corresponding color representing the quality of the sunrise/sunset as well as what time the sun will rise and set. Tapping on a day will show you weather data related to the sunrise/sunset. Here you can see cloud cover, chance of precipitation, temperature, and more. Keep in mind that the forecast changes multiple times per day. Today’s forecast will be more accurate than 3 days from now.
Notifications
Get a notification sent to your phone when a sunrise or sunset is predicted to be great! Notifications are configurable per location. Choose how high of a threshold you want to be notified and how soon you want to be notified – anywhere from 1 to 36 hours prior to sunset.
Interactive Map
The final screen is an interactive map with an overlay showing the forecasted quality of upcoming sunrises and sunsets. By default, your current location is shown on the map. The next sunrise or sunset will be shown. If today’s sunset has already happened, it will automatically change to tomorrow’s sunrise. Use the days at the top of the screen to view future sunrises/sunsets.
Data Quality
Just like weather forecasts, sunrise and sunset forecasts are far from perfect. However, when the forecast is high, there is a good chance the sunrise or sunset will be amazing. Some of the best sunrises and sunsets I have captured have been due to this data.
Tips & Tricks
The forecast shows how the sky will light up at a specific location. If you are using the app for photography, you will want to know the sunset prediction for your subject, not your location. For example, Vermillion Lakes is a popular location to shoot in Banff National Park. However, the main subject is Mount Rundle. Instead of using “Vermillion Lakes” as a location, I would use “Mount Rundle”. This will show the predicted quality of the sky over the mountain.
What do the numbers mean?
- 0-25%: Little to no color, with precipitation or a thick cloud layer often blocking a direct view of the sun.
- 25-50%: Some color for a short time, with conditions ranging from mostly cloudy, or hazy, to clear, with little to no clouds at all levels.
- 50-75%: A fair amount of color, often multi-colored, lasting a considerable amount of time. Often caused by scattered clouds at multiple levels.
- 75-100%: Extremely vibrant color lasting 30 minutes or more. Often caused by multiple arrangements of clouds at multiple levels, transitioning through multiple stages of vivid color.
Pamela
16 Nov 2017Hello, I put your app on my SAMSUNG 8+ phone today and paid for the UPGRADE for sunset alerts. It shows the payment went through but nowhere do I show where to get the alerts, how to set it up, etc. Can you please advise.
Thank you!
Emily
16 Nov 2017Hi Pamela! The alerts can be enabled on the Locations screen. Here are the steps to enable the alerts:
1 – Add a location to the Locations tab
2 – You should see three dots on the right side of the screen next to the location – tap on that
3 – A menu should appear with some options. One of those options is “Configure Alerts”. Select that.
4 – You should see options to enable alerts for sunrise or sunset, as well as options for the alert threshold and how many hours prior to the sunset you would like to be notified.
5 – Once alerts are enabled, it will say “Alerts ON” on the main locations tab
That’s it! Please let me know if you have any issues. And thank you for your support!
Pamela
19 Dec 2017Hello, I have been using your app since last month, really enjoy it. I have noticed the last week or so, the map is not working (reads data 0) and all the numbers seem so off, so low, all over the place! Also, when I go to set up my alerts, every time I hit the 3 dots on my location screen, it pulls up the map over button over top of it and nothing else. I have shut off my phone to reboot, same issues.
Please advise, thank you,
Pam
Emily
22 Dec 2017Hi Pam! I’m really glad you’ve been enjoying it. I’m sorry you’ve been having issues! Can you by chance send me a screenshot to show exactly what happens when you hit the 3 dots? I’m not sure I understand what is happening (you can send it to my email – emilyjeppson@gmail.com).
As for the data issues, I have had a lot of new users trying it out lately and it has overloaded the system. The app is working sometimes, but once it exceeds a certain amount of data, it doesn’t work for anyone. I’m currently working on a fix for that and hope to have it out soon.
Thanks for your support! -Emily
Terry
29 Apr 2020Hi Emily,
I’ve been using the app for a couple months. At the moment I’m in So. Cal. At this time of year, morning coastal fog is very common. Over the past two weeks I’ve been shut out of what the app predicted of at least 85% sunrises (94% this morning) because of the fog. Is this common phenomenom being taken into account in the prediction because it sure doesn’t seem like it?
Emily
30 Apr 2020Hi Terry, thanks for the feedback! You are correct, the app currently doesn’t do well with fog, especially in coastal regions. I recently added humidity details within the weather pop-up, since that’s usually a good indication of fog. The high forecast could also indicate that if you were to get above the fog, the light could be pretty good. I realize that not all costal regions have the ability to get above the fog, but it does make the prediction trickier.
What part of So. Cal are you located? I’ll definitely look into the specific weather details for the last few days to see how it can be improved.
Terry
1 May 2020Hi Emily,
Thanks for the quick response. I’m in Orange County, but our “June Gloom” as it’s commonly called is prevalent all along the So. Cal. coast. As you mention, getting above the fog could make for some great shots but but fog layer is too deep for that option to be available without heading to our local mountains.
Patrick Hulley
21 Feb 2021Emily,
Just wanted to complain to you about your app. It once again dragged me from my sleep out before sunrise to capture what was rated to be an 89% sunset and I would say it was closer to 89.5% 🙂 …your app is fricking awesome…use it all the time. Love It!
Robert W
21 Aug 2022Since the last update, all my locations (except current) are gone. I still get notification for them, but can’t see them anymore. I can’t add new Locations either. Please fix this.
Cathy Freestone
19 Feb 2023Hi Emily
I live in South Australia & have the basic version of your app on my IPhone. I have been enjoying the accurate sunrise/sunset forecasts for my photography until recently when the app has stopped giving me any forecast info on my locations loaded. The locations are loaded with date & times of last update but without any forecast information. I have tried reloading the app & update to latest version but without any changes to the problem I have. I noticed the weather forecast used to be powered by Dark Skies & is now from Apple Weather & not sure if these changes have anything to do with this problem I have.
Thanks & look forward to your reply.
Emily
20 Feb 2023Hi Cathy, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed using the app! I’m sorry it’s quit working for you. You are correct that it now uses Apple Weather for the data. There was a problem with the data last week, and I released a new version. The latest version is 3.0.0 for iphone or 3.1.2 for android. You can check your version by going to the “Settings” tab – the version shows at the top. I’d be curious what version yours shows? If that still doesn’t solve it, would you mind sending me a screenshot via email (emily.sallstrom@gmail.com)? (I don’t have access to your email through here.)
Cathy Freestone
22 Feb 2023Thanks Emily I have sent you an email
Cathy Freestone
16 Apr 2023My Sunset App is finally working again after months of no data. Thank you 😃
Nick
29 Sep 2023I’ve really enjoyed the pro version of the app for the past few years, but now for a couple of months it no longer stores any of my locations. No matter how many times I add them, they are gone next time I open the app. Only my “current location” shows when I open it. I’ve deleted and reinstalled, and this hasn’t changed over multiple iOS versions and several months. Any other reports of this, or ideas how to fix?