Sol: Help

By default Sol shows your current date, time, and location.

Change the date by tapping on the date at the top of the screen. Swipe horizontally across the date area to flip to forward or back a day.

The name of the current daylight period (in this case "Morning") is also displayed beneath the date, along with its start and end times.

iPhone only*: you can swipe this area horizontally to get more solar information about today, such as sunrise and sunset times, the equinox and solstice, and the current position of the sun in the sky (elevation and azimuth).

* This information is always on-screen on the iPad.

The time is displayed in the middle of the screen. If the word <now> appears above the time, it is displaying the present time (and date) and the wheel will turn slowly automatically. Below the time, a red arrow points to a section of a color coded wheel that corresponds to the current daylight period. Each section represents a period of the day and has its own color.

Here we see that the current time is 17:22:15 CST (or 5:22:15 PM depending on your phone's international settings) and the arrow is pointing to Civil Dusk, the first twilight period after sunset.

iPhone only*: Pinch-to-zoom on the screen to zoom out and see the whole 24-hour view for the day. The arrow at the top points to the current daylight period and the time appears in the middle of the earth.

Reverse (un-pinch) the gesture to zoom back in.

* The iPad version fits everything on screen when zoomed in, so it does not zoom out.

Spin the wheel with your thumb to look at other parts of the same day (works in either zoom mode).

...or tap the rewind and fast-forward buttons on the bottom toolbar to go to the next event/period transition.

If you've rotated the wheel by either of the above methods, the word <now> will disappear from above the time, and the wheel will no longer automatically progress slowly. You can return to locking the wheel to the present time by clicking the reset button on the toolbar.

The current location is shown under the red pin. If Sol is able to connect to the Internet location server, it will display the city name (presuming the database contains one); otherwise you will see the latitude and longitude.

The red pin has a spinner at its base to show that location services are enabled and will update as you move.

Tap anywhere on the green planet to turn off GPS mode and change the location to a manual setting; a map will show (internet connection required). Enter a city name or drag the pin to change location. The map can be zoomed out using the pinch gesture.

Tapping the "Reset" button in this view will move the pin back to your present location and put the app back in automatic location (GPS) mode.

New in version 2.0 is the Bookmarks feature. Tap the Bookmarks icon in the search bar to bring up the bookmark list. Use the (+) button to add the current location to your list. Tap any location in the list to set it. Swipe across an entry to delete it.

Return to the present time and/or location by pressing the reset button in the middle of the bottom toolbar.

If you have changed both a dialog will appear asking if you wish to reset the time to the present, the location (turns GPS on), or both.

You can also change the time zone if you want to see what time it is elsewhere. By default, the time zone will change with your location, but you can over-ride that manually by tapping the time zone display.

A list of regions will come up allowing you to find your desired time zone. Pick "Device Default" to keep it set to the same zone as your device.

Resetting the time using the reset button on the toolbar will also return the time zone to Device Default.

The button at the far right of the toolbar lets you set alarms.

Alarms can be set relative to any daily sunlight event at any location. They can be set for a specific day or to repeat indefinitely. They can repeat on certain days of the week, or all of them. Tapping this button brings up the Alarms panel. Tap the + symbol at the top right to add a new alarm or reminder.

Set the date you want to start with (default is today); then pick which daylight event you want an alarm for, e.g. "Sunset"; then pick the offset, e.g. "10 minutes before".

The location will default to your current location, or you can also set an alarm for a different city by tapping on the "Location" indicator, if you want to call your sister in London at sunset, for example. If you are traveling, you can have your alarm times change as you move around the planet by setting "Travel Mode" to on!*

The options screen lets you pick one of our custom sounds for your alarm (or you can use the iOS default sound), what days (if any) it should repeat, and an optional label to remind you why you set that alarm. "Persistent Alarm" should only be used when you don't want to miss the alarm — to wake you up in the morning for instance — it will go off every minute until you resolve it by opening the app. Make sure your device's sound is loud and the mute switch is not engaged or you will not hear the alarm.

* Please note: Setting an alarm to "Travel Mode" requires the app to use location services and periodically run in the background. We have made an effort to have it only register for large enough distances that would affect the time by at least a minute — which is usually more than several kilometers, depending where on the earth you are and whether you are traveling latitudinally or longitudinally (the app takes care of that calculation too!). This is a neat feature we're proud of, but if you don't plan on going anywhere, you're better off leaving this setting off.

To delete an alarm, swipe across it in the alarm list and click the Delete button. You can also delete a non-repeating alarm by setting it to occur in the past.

Click the button on the left side of the toolbar to open Sol's settings.

The Settings panel allows you to decide which transitional daylight periods you want to see. Golden Hour can be turned off here if it's not useful to you. The definition of "Golden Hour" varies, so we have made it possible for you to change it from the default of 10 degrees above the horizon to a greater angle (causing a longer "hour") or to a smaller angle (results in shorter "hour").

You can chose to show one of three levels of detail for twilight, or none at all. Choosing Astronomical will show all three levels and is the default; while choosing Civil will show only Civil Twilight.