APP STORE AWARDS

Apple Watch App of the Year

Lumy

Sunrise, Sunset & Golden Hour

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By putting the cycles of the sun and moon a glance away, Lumy encouraged us to embrace the experiences that await when we step outside and look up.

– App Store Editors

Our love of photography first brought us to Lumy.

Like many budding photographers, we used this simple sun- and moon-tracker to make sense of light in all its forms. A quick glance at the app’s Apple Watch complications helped us catch the fleeting glow of golden hour; the dramatic, geometric shadows cast at solar noon; and the wonder of morning’s first light (which arrived, Lumy helpfully alerted us, 23 minutes before sunrise).

Count down to golden hour and moon set, see how far along the sun is on its daily journey and more.

But Lumy didn’t just make us better photographers. By connecting us to the subtly shifting rhythms of day and night, it also made us so much more: aspiring astronomers, early-morning hikers and (to our surprise) enthusiastic admirers of the moon in all its phases.

Using Lumy’s customisable complications, we personalised our watch face with the app’s elegantly illustrated data. Seeing how far the sun had travelled on its arc across the sky each day inspired us to stop procrastinating in the afternoon. (There are fewer hours in the day than we realised.) Taking note of the moon’s phase reminded us to take an evening stroll before it waned. And following Lumy’s data motivated us to settle into golden-hour yoga sessions and cut our hikes short to make it back before last light.

Tapping a detail took us deeper into the data – revealing forecasted cloud cover or upcoming lunar phases, for example. Live Activities counted down to celestial events such as astronomical twilight, that magical time after the sun has set but skies remain faintly illuminated, which creates the ideal moment to view planets or stars with the naked eye.

While using Lumy this year, it didn’t take long for it to dawn on us: living in sync with the solar system can be profound, and a gentle nudge might be all it takes to remember to look up.

Quick tip

With your permission, Lumy can remind you to catch the sunset or give yourself a break outside, based on the moods you’ve logged in the Health app in iOS 18. To enable this, go to the settings menu in Lumy’s iPhone app, then turn on Use State of Mind in the Health section.

Fun fact

Before creating apps, developer Raja Vijayaraman worked as a visual effects artist on movies, including the 2010 Indian sci-fi hit Robot.

Meet the creator

Raja Vijayaraman created Lumy to serve his own needs as a photographer. He learned to code using the free PDF book How to Think Like a Computer Scientist. His other apps include the Apple Design Award–winning calculator Calzy.