--- title: The Best Apps for the Solar Eclipse 2024 description: Here are the best apps for viewing and learning about the 2024 solar eclipse. canonical: https://time.com/6961535/solar-eclipse-apps-2024/ author: Will Henshall article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-04-04T11:05:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:37.862Z article:section: Science og:title: The Best Apps for the Solar Eclipse og:description: Here are the best apps for viewing and learning about the 2024 solar eclipse. og:url: https://time.com/6961535/solar-eclipse-apps-2024/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt553f70b88e90bbf7/698a5536d07533a2f8e709f8/EclipseApps.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Eclipse Apps og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Best Apps for the Solar Eclipse twitter:description: Here are the best apps for viewing and learning about the 2024 solar eclipse. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt553f70b88e90bbf7/698a5536d07533a2f8e709f8/EclipseApps.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Best Apps for the Solar Eclipse > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: How to Safely Watch the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse [Watch (HLS stream): How to Safely Watch the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Cm5dlQRH.m3u8) (6:15)  _Published 2024-04-02. Unsafe eclipse glasses were a significant problem in 2017, causing online retailers like Amazon to issue refunds and face a lawsuit by customers who purchased unsafe glasses. (The case was later dismissed in court.) Here’s everything you need to know about how to purchase solar eclipse glasses, get them for free—and avoid fakes._  by [Will Henshall](https://time.com/author/will-henshall/)  ## Will Henshall Apr 4, 2024 11:05 AM UTC   by [Will Henshall](https://time.com/author/will-henshall/)  ## Will Henshall Apr 4, 2024 11:05 AM UTC People all over the world are preparing for the [total solar eclipse](https://time.com/6958424/how-to-watch-solar-eclipse-safely/) set to pass across Mexico, the U.S., and Canada on April 8\. Many are set to travel to cities along the path of totality between Texas and Maine; others are reading and seeking to understand more about the celestial event that won’t be seen again from coast to coast for more than 20 years. There are apps that can help. While some organizations such as [NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/) have compiled useful guides for viewing the eclipse and learning more about it, others have developed mobile apps to gather all of the information and tools together in one place. These are the best eclipse apps that TIME tested. ## The Eclipse App The Eclipse App has a sleek, minimalist design, and allows users to see for how long and when a given location will experience total eclipse. But the coolest thing about The Eclipse App is that after selecting a community, users can see events happening in that area around the eclipse. For example, those viewing the eclipse from Burlington, Vermont, can attend “Total Eclipse at the Hearth,” an event hosted by the Burlington Hearth & Brewery, where a special Black IPA—the "Path of Totality"—is being brewed in celebration. **Read More**: [_How Cities Around the U.S. Are Celebrating the Eclipse_](https://time.com/6958432/how-us-cities-celebrate-solar-eclipse/) The app is free to download, but by paying $3 for the pro version users unlock cloud forecasts and a guided countdown that lets them know precisely when different eclipse phenomena will begin in their location. The Eclipse App is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. ## Totality Totality’s main feature is a nifty map that displays the path of the eclipse. Users can share their own location and see how complete the eclipse will be from where they are and at what time it will begin, or find the nearest point on the total eclipse’s track to their location. Besides that, it has resources for learning more about the eclipse—how to view it safely, what [types of eclipses](https://time.com/6882980/eclipse-types-lunar-annular/) there are, and a list of eclipse-related classroom activities. Totality is free, and is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. **Read More**: [_How to Use Your Smartphone to Take Photos of the Solar Eclipse_](https://time.com/6961530/how-to-photograph-solar-eclipse-smartphone/) ## OneEclipse OneEclipse, which has an old-school design, has a map that allows users to understand what the eclipse will look like from their location, though it lacks the other map-based features that Totality has. It has a brief viewing and safety guide, information on how to recycle [eclipse glasses](https://time.com/6958764/solar-eclipse-glasses-free-buy-fakes/), and offers users a way to share their eclipse story with Astronomers Without Borders, a nonprofit that runs astronomy-related programs. OneEclipse costs $1.99, half of which goes to Astronomers Without Borders. It’s available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. **Read More**: [_Where You Can Watch the Solar Eclipse_](https://time.com/6835995/how-to-watch-solar-eclipse-cities/) ## Total Solar Eclipse Total Solar Eclipse is essentially a collection of useful links to content on the website of Exploratorium, a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, California. While the content—which spans safety advice, watching tips, and eclipse education—is useful, the fact that users must leave the app to access it means that the experience is a little clunky. Total Solar Eclipse is free, and is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. ## Transcript A total solar eclipse is in most astronomers opinions the most spectacular thing you can ever see. It is a parade of color and changes and of feelings and experiences that unfold very quickly and very spectacularly. My name is Rick finder. I'm an astronomer and I am the project manager of the American Astronomical Society solar eclipse task force. So it's important to know that during the total phase of a total solar eclipse when the moon is completely blocking the sun's bright face and this only happens if you're in the path of totality it is perfectly safe to look at the sun without any eye protection because the totally Eclipse sun when the sun's outer atmosphere the corona shines forth is only about as bright as a full moon. So it's just too safe to look at but it any other time during the partial phases that precede and follow totality and the entirety of a partial solar eclipse, which is all you'll get if you're outside the path, you must use some kind of safe I protection because the sun even if it's only a thin sliver is so very bright that looking at it for more than a second or so is going to cause damage to your retina. So we recommend that people equip themselves with Eclipse viewers. They come as in the form of cardboard. Framed eyeglasses or plastic frame eyeglasses also cardboard handheld viewers sometimes thick cardboard and they have special filters in that are supposed to meet a certain International standard called ISO. 12312 Dash to You'll often see that number printed on these products that if if a product meets that standard them it is perfectly safe to use to look directly at the Sun the iso 12312 - 2 standard is both a standard of what makes all of you are safe. But also what makes us older viewer usable it specifies the maximum amount of light that can get through not just in visible light also in ultraviolet and also Indian free solar eclipse glasses. Viewer is at least a thousand times darker than the even the dark Brittany sunglasses. So if you can see anything through it other than the sun you should be concerned what I tell people is look around in the house. If you can see things you see detail in the house your glasses aren't dark enough if they pass the indoor test take them outside. Don't look at the sun. Just look at the landscape again, if you can see the landscape through the glasses. They're not dark enough. Now if you passed that test you looked inside the house, you looked outside the house and you don't basically anyting take a brief glance at the sun on a sunny day. Don't wait for April 8th, if the sun looks round and sharp-edged and comfortably bright your glasses are almost certainly safe. The reason I say almost certainly is because genuinely safe eclipse glasses will also block most of the sun's ultraviolet and infrared radiation. We only see the visible light but there is ultraviolet light Moschino can damage your corny is one of the reasons we end up with cataracts Too much exposure to solar ultraviolet and infrared radiation is heat radiation. So the last thing you want to do is cook your rent the last thing I want anybody to do if they haven't been able to get their hands on eclipse glasses. There other solar viewers is to decide if there's no safe way to view the eclipse so they have to skip it. There are other safe ways to view a solar eclipse the most common one is what we call pinhole projection a bit of a misnomer because you can use holes that are bigger than the made by a p in a very simple pinhole projector is just to take your hands and create a little Waffle pattern and then Projection is done with the Sun at your back. So you put the Sun at your back and you look at the shadow of your hands with the CrossFit on the ground and you'll see little crescents sons in between the shadows of your fingers. Are you created pin holes with your fingers another great pinhole projector is a colander from your kitchen or a perforated spoon that you would use to strain soup anything with a bunch of small holes in it makes a great pinhole projector at the only time can heal projection doesn't work is if you happen to be in the path of totality during the few minutes when the sun is completely blocked by the moon the sun in total eclipse is faint enough that it's not going to create a pinhole images through any of these projectors that I was describing but during a partial face are you can use pinhole projection to see an image of the sun. There's no denying that seeing a total solar eclipse is a very emotional experience and it's partly because it's so beautiful. Partly because things happened so fast that the pace is breathtaking and it's hard to keep up how fast things are changing as the moon finally covers the Sun and then again a few minutes later as the moon begins to uncover it and what you see in between those two morons is just you know, unbelievably spectacular as soon as the eclipse is over you want to see another one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6961535/solar-eclipse-apps-2024/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6961535/solar-eclipse-apps-2024/"},"headline":"The Best Apps for the Solar Eclipse","datePublished":"2024-04-04T11:05:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:45:37.862Z","description":"Here are the best apps for viewing and learning about the 2024 solar eclipse.","url":"https://time.com/6961535/solar-eclipse-apps-2024/","keywords":["Solar Eclipse 2024","Tech","Explainer","Eclipse","News desk edits"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt553f70b88e90bbf7/698a5536d07533a2f8e709f8/EclipseApps.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Henshall","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-henshall/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt553f70b88e90bbf7/698a5536d07533a2f8e709f8/EclipseApps.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Eclipse Apps","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/solar-eclipse-2024/","name":"Solar Eclipse 2024"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6961535/solar-eclipse-apps-2024/","name":"The Best Apps for the Solar Eclipse"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How to Safely Watch the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse","description":"Unsafe eclipse glasses were a significant problem in 2017, causing online retailers like Amazon to issue refunds and face a lawsuit by customers who purchased unsafe glasses. 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