Sun & Moon Path support
Sun & Moon Path helps you explore Sun and Moon directions, sunrise, sunset, golden and blue hour, Moon phases and darker nights. It requires iOS 18 or later. Live AR needs a supported iPhone with a compass and camera/location access; no LiDAR is required.
Getting started
Tap View in AR to explore the sky at your current location, or choose a place to make a plan. The Location control above the Sun and Moon tabs contains location selection, saving, editing and import. You can use your location, search, choose on a map, or enter decimal coordinates and an IANA timezone. South and west coordinates use negative numbers.
Choose Sun or Moon in the top tabs; both use the same place, selected time, saved places and time-format preference. Choose a date and move the time slider. Tap sunrise, sunset or a light period to inspect that event. Now returns to the current time. Each mode begins with AR, date/time and map/dial; the Moon calendar follows the dial.
Why does AR use a different location?
AR always shows directions for where you are physically standing. If you were planning another location, its plan stays intact when you close AR. AR starts at the current time in live mode, even when you selected noon or another time in the planner. Use Adjust time inside AR to explore another moment. Your original planner time is retained for your return.
The AR direction looks wrong
Move outdoors, away from cars, magnets and large metal objects. Move the phone gently and allow tracking to settle. Hold briefly while Finding true north is shown. The view continues checking north and can correct a sustained mismatch without reopening. At night, start in lit surroundings with visible texture. Tap the tracking-status panel and choose Recalibrate. Approximate direction means the sensors cannot currently provide dependable alignment.
AR predicts astronomical direction and does not account for hills, buildings, clouds or weather. A below-horizon Sun is not visible sunlight. Moon paths remain continuous through noon and midnight, show the next passage when below the display horizon and fade at open polar ends.
The Moon calendar and night view
The four-week calendar begins on your selected planning date in the displayed timezone. Change the date above to explore another four-week period. Daily shapes use local noon; tapping a day selects noon, while phase milestones select their exact event times. The detailed phase and illumination follow your selected time. Opening AR always starts at now.
The night ahead runs from local noon to the following noon. Astronomical darkness means the Sun is more than 18° below the horizon. Moon-free darkness is the overlap with the Moon below a standard horizon. Some summer nights have no astronomical darkness. The midnight phase/brightness estimate is separate from your selected time.
Brightness is estimated relative to a reference full Moon and may exceed 100% when the Moon is close. It is not ground illumination and excludes atmosphere, weather, light pollution and eclipses.
Importing places from Moon Path
Choose Location → Import saved places, then select Moon Path’s places.json in Files. Existing places and settings are retained, the source file is not modified, and repeat imports avoid identical duplicates. iOS does not automatically transfer another app’s private files. Existing Sun Path places stay in the same app when you install the combined update.
Using the app offline
The Sun and Moon dials, calculations, saved places and manually entered coordinates work offline when the timezone is confirmed. Maps, search and automatic timezone lookup need a connection. If a timezone cannot be resolved, choose it manually rather than relying on provisional UTC.
AR keeps the screen awake while open and restores normal auto-lock on exit or when inactive. iOS still controls automatic brightness and thermal dimming.
Permissions
Camera and location access can be changed in iOS Settings. The planner works with manual coordinates even when permission is denied. Sun & Moon Path requests foreground location only.
Saved-place recovery
The Files app exposes the app’s saved-place JSON and previous-file backup. If the app cannot read a saved file, it preserves the original and pauses further writes. Keep a copy of the affected files before attempting recovery, then contact support.
Contact
Use the form below to ask a question or report a problem. Include your iPhone model, iOS version, app version and the steps that led to it. A screenshot can help; remove precise locations or other personal details you do not wish to share.