Universal App Review: LightTrac

I will start this review by apologising for its delay.  I had planned writing about this app when it was re-released by its new owners Rivolu Pte Ltd, back on the 29th September.  Why am I apologising you may ask? well when this app was re-released, it hit the App Store at just £0.59/$0.99/€0.79, but since then it has several price rises and drops, first jumping to what I thought was an OK'ish price of £2.99/$4.99/€3.99, then jumping to what was a ridiculous price of £5.99/$9.99/€7.79, before dropping again to £1.19/$1.99/€1.59. If I am being honest, I hate developers that play with app pricing in this way.

Right, that's my apology and little rant out of the way, so what is LightTrac, how does it work, and is it any good?

LightTrac, the developers description: LightTrac helps photographers plan their outdoor photo shoots ahead of time by helping them find the perfect light conditions, time and location to photograph their subjects anywhere in the world.

The App

LightTrac is a new universal app that was originally developed by a developer going by the name of RLSP, however for reasons unknown this developer was unable to continue with the project and so passed the ownership and development to Rivolu Pte Ltd.  The original LightTrac app was an iPad only one, with a separate iPhone only app called Sunlight Tracker, however following the transfer of ownership and development, the two apps have become one, reemerged as a universal app.

Whether you use this app on an iPhone, iPad or even an iPod touch, being universal it will work in exactly the same.

The App Review

Launch the app for the first time, and it will ask you if you want to use the current location, saying yes adds your 'current location' as a favourite on the 'Locations' tap.  You will then be presented with a satellite map view of your current location, showing the current date and time, along with the sun rise and set times, along with the angle and elevation of the sun.  Below this information, or across the very bottom of the screen (depending on your iDevice's orientation), you will see a slider, which allows you to plot the position of the sun at any time during the day, and sliding this slider will adjust the displayed time, angle and elevation data.

Need to know where the sun will be at a given time on a given day? not a problem, just use the search feature, enter a location and then save as a favourite; then go to locations, select the favoured location, tap on home, and Bob's your uncle, you are now presented with suns position data for today, and if you want to know its position on another day, just tap on the little calendar icon next to the date, and select the date of your choice.

Add a Quick Favourite on Location

If you are out and about, and find a perfect view/location that you want to store as a favourite for future use, then this can be quickly and easily done by tapping the plus (+) symbol that will appear in the bottom right of the map/satellite view.

Sun and Moon

Now LightTrac does not just tell you the position of the sun, but also the moon, which you can toggle between by tapping the sun/moon icons found in the top left hand corner of the apps home screen, making this a very versatile tool for iPhoneographers and photographers alike.

So what do I think of LightTrac?

I've been using the original iPad LightTrac app for a while now, using it establish the position of the sun whilst pre-planning photo shoots, however this new universal version offers more versatility, and at its current price of £1.19/$1.99/€1.59, comes highly recommended.

App Store Link: LightTrac; Price: £1.19/$1.99/€1.59