LightPlan is the free TPE alternative that runs everywhere TPE doesn't. TPE for Android is gone, TPE has no Mac app, and its 2D, 3D and web versions are separate products. LightPlan is one free app on Android, iPhone, iPad and Mac, with the marker and lines TPE users know, on real 3D terrain and buildings you can stand in, and a clean interface that's easy to pick up.
Why photographers switch from TPE
A real Android app
TPE for Android was withdrawn in 2021, and TPE Web doesn't run on phones. LightPlan is native on Android phones and tablets.
One app, every device
Not three products bought separately. LightPlan is the same app on Android, iPhone, iPad and a native Mac app, with saved spots synced across Apple devices.
Stand where you'll shoot
Observer View puts you at eye level, with a 14–600 mm lens, on your phone. TPE's photorealistic first-person view needs TPE Web MAX.
Buildings in 3D, free
Photorealistic 3D with Google's buildings and trees is in LightPlan's free version. TPE 3D shows terrain only, without buildings or satellite imagery.
Blue hour, and the glow after sunset
TPE's golden hour stops at sunset and it doesn't show blue hour. LightPlan times both, by the sun's angle.
Free to start
TPE for iOS is $9.99 and TPE 3D $11.99, bought separately. LightPlan is free, with AR Sky View included; Pro is optional.
Easy from the first minute
LightPlan is built so you can plan a shot without a tutorial. Your first plan takes three steps:
- Put the marker on your subject. Search for a place, or tap the map.
- Pick the day and time. Tap Date, then drag the timeline to the hour.
- Read the light. The lines point to the sun and moon, and a chip on the map says when it's golden or blue hour.
There are no panels to decode before you start. Times are always in the place's own time zone, the timeline is coloured like the light, and Product Tour replays the tips on the real controls whenever you want a refresher.
TPE's interface is often described as crowded, particularly on small screens, and seeing a plan in 3D means switching to the separate TPE 3D app or to TPE Web.
Where TPE runs today
- TPE for iOS (iPhone and iPad): $9.99 once, with Skyfire sunset forecasts as a separate in-app purchase.
- TPE 3D (iPhone and iPad): $11.99 once. 3D terrain at about 30 m resolution, without satellite imagery or buildings.
- TPE Web (browser, on computers and tablets, not phones): Free, Supporter, PRO and MAX plans. The web subscription doesn't include the mobile apps, or the other way round.
- Android phones: nothing. TPE for Android was withdrawn in 2021, and TPE 3D was never released for Android.
- Mac: no app; the developer recommends TPE Web.
LightPlan is one app on Android, iPhone, iPad and Mac, and the free version is the same on all of them.
The same lines, now in 3D
If you've used TPE, LightPlan will feel familiar from the first minute. From a marker, lines point toward sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset, and toward the sun or moon at the time you pick; the timeline under the map is a clock you drag. The difference: the lines sit on a 3D map, so you see them run between real buildings or up a real valley.
What maps to what
- TPE's red pin → LightPlan's red marker, on your subject. Every line starts there.
- TPE's grey pin → the blue observer pin, where you'll stand. Observer View puts you there at eye level.
- Geodetics' dashed line → Observer View's line of sight, which turns red where the land blocks the view.
- TPE 3D's terrain → Terrain 3D, lit by the hour with peaks labelled, or Photorealistic 3D with Google's buildings and trees, in the same app.
- The time slider → the timeline: drag it, swipe it up for the day's rise and set times, double-tap to return to now.
The same shot: the moon beside Half Dome at sunset
A classic TPE-style plan: a nearly full moon next to Half Dome as the last sun catches the summit, from the Yosemite Valley floor.
In LightPlan: see it
- Put the marker on the summit of Half Dome and switch to Terrain 3D.
- Tap the eye, then tap the valley floor where you'll stand (the pin shows it's 2.3 mi away).
- Set Track to Moon and step through November until the moon sits beside the summit at sunset; Observer View shows it against the real ridgeline.
- Share Link sends the plan to a friend; without LightPlan, they see it on a 3D map on the web.
In TPE: work it out
- Put the grey pin on the summit and read its bearing and altitude angle in Geodetics.
- Run Visual Search for the dates the moon reaches that bearing and altitude, and pick one from the list.
- To see it in 3D, open the plan in TPE 3D, a separate $11.99 app, or in TPE Web.
Checked with an independent ephemeris: on 21 November 2026 at 4:43 PM, sunset in the valley, the moon is 91% lit at an azimuth of 92° and about 24° up. The summit is at 86°, 23° above you, so the moon sits just to its right.
TPE gives you numbers and a list of dates. LightPlan shows you the scene, the ridgeline, the moon and the light, in one app on whatever device you have with you.
The Milky Way, scored night by night
A great Milky Way night needs three things at once: real darkness, the galactic core above the horizon, and the moon out of the way. LightPlan's planner finds where they overlap and tells you, in plain numbers:
- Dark window: when the sun is at least 18° below the horizon.
- Shoot window: dark, with the core up, and with the moon down if it's half lit or more.
- The core: when it rises, peaks and sets, and which way to face.
- A score from how long it's dark, how high the core climbs and how little moonlight there is.
Best Milky Way Nights ranks the next 30 nights at your location (the top 3 are free), and an alert can warn you one to three days before a great night at any saved spot. TPE's night mode shows the galactic center's azimuth and altitude for the date you pick.
AR on the real sky, free
On location, hold up your phone: the sun's path is drawn across the real sky with a time at every hour, the moon's in blue, and the day's sunrise, sunset, golden hour and blue hour sit underneath for exactly where you're standing.
- Arrows point the way to a sun or moon that's off screen.
- Compass accuracy is always shown (±10° here); calibrate against the real sun or moon in the crosshair when it drifts.
- Drag the timeline to see any other hour.
- With Pro, the Milky Way core's path across tonight's sky.
AR Sky View is free in LightPlan on iPhone, iPad and Android. TPE's AR is part of TPE for iOS ($9.99), so there's none on an Android phone, and TPE Web has no AR.
Shadow Map: see where the light falls
Drag the timeline and every building, tree and hillside casts its real shadow at that moment. Here is San Francisco City Hall on the same day, six and a half hours apart:
San Francisco City Hall, 1 October 2026.
- Find open shade for a portrait session, or the hour a facade is evenly lit with no hard shadows across it.
- Measure a shadow. A shadow object at the marker stands in for a person, a tree or a building; set its height and width, and LightPlan shows its Shadow Length and Shadow Ratio. At 1:48 PM here, a 6 ft person casts a shadow about 5.5 ft long.
- On iPhone Duo: Opened out and turned sideways, Split View shows the Shadow Map beside the main map.
- Beyond photography: when a garden, terrace or street gets sun, or where a new building's shadow will fall.
TPE checks whether terrain blocks a sunrise or sunset line, but its help notes that buildings and vegetation aren't modelled, and TPE 3D shows terrain without buildings. Shadow Map is part of LightPlan Pro; open it from Quick Actions or the menu.
Golden hour and blue hour, done fully
This catches people out when they compare times. TPE's golden hour is the sun from 0° to 6° above the horizon, so it ends at sunset, and TPE deliberately doesn't show blue hour; it shows civil and nautical twilight instead. LightPlan times golden hour from 6° above to 4° below the horizon, so it includes the warm light just after sunset, and shows blue hour from 4° to 6° below, with a chip on the map and bands on the timeline. Expect LightPlan's evening golden hour to end later than TPE's: that's the afterglow TPE leaves out. Read more in our golden hour guide.
More that sets LightPlan apart
- A native Mac app for planning trips on a big screen, with your spots synced from iPhone and iPad through iCloud.
- Terrain 3D lit by the hour: mountains glow warm at golden hour and cool at blue hour, with peaks labelled.
- Cloud cover and rain on the map, tied to the timeline, about five days ahead, on Android as well as iPhone (Pro).
- Alerts before sunrise, sunset, golden hour, the moon and great Milky Way nights, and Siri on Apple devices: "When is golden hour in LightPlan".
- Plan links that open in LightPlan or on a 3D map on the web, with the day's light windows and directions.
Feature by feature
| LightPlan 3.0 | The Photographer's Ephemeris | |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | First plan in three steps, on one screen | Crowded interface on small screens, per reviewers; 3D in a separate app |
| Android phones | Yes | No — withdrawn in 2021 |
| Mac | Yes — native app | TPE Web in a browser |
| Price | Free; Pro $2.99/month or $19.99/year, with a free trial | iOS $9.99, TPE 3D $11.99, Web free to MAX plans, bought separately |
| One app on every device | Yes | Separate iOS, 3D and web products |
| Buildings in 3D | Yes — Photorealistic 3D (free) | TPE Web MAX only |
| Eye-level view with buildings | Yes — Observer View, 14–600 mm (Pro) | TPE 3D is terrain only; photorealistic first person needs Web MAX |
| Shadows from buildings and terrain | Yes — Shadow Map (Pro) | Not listed; buildings aren't modelled |
| Blue hour | Yes — sun −4° to −6° | Not shown |
| Golden hour | Sun +6° to −4°, includes the afterglow | Sun 0° to +6°, ends at sunset |
| Milky Way nights scored and ranked | Yes — 30-night ranking | Galactic center position, night mode |
| AR view | Yes — AR Sky View, free, on Android too | TPE for iOS only |
| Sun and moon lines on a map | Yes | Yes |
| Sharing a plan | Link that opens in the app or on the web | Links, KML, calendar (iOS) |
| Weather | Cloud cover and precipitation on the map (Pro) | Photo WX (Web); Skyfire forecasts (iOS, extra) |
| Automatic alignment search | No | Yes — Visual Search; Shot Alignment on Web MAX |
| Offline use | No | Yes — TPE for iOS |
Based on each app's website and store listings as of 14 October 2026; prices are US prices. Apps change, so check the current listing before you buy. "The Photographer's Ephemeris" is a trademark of its owner; LightPlan is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by it.
When TPE still makes sense
To be fair to a long-standing favourite: if you run alignment searches over years of dates, TPE's Visual Search, or Shot Alignment in TPE Web MAX, does that automatically. Its terrain obstruction checks are automatic too, TPE Web's Photo WX covers more weather than LightPlan (cloud by level, fog, smoke, seeing and transparency), and TPE for iOS works offline. If you're on an iPhone and rely on those, TPE remains a strong tool, and many photographers use it alongside LightPlan.
Bringing your spots across
LightPlan's search takes coordinates as well as place names, so you can move a saved spot by copying its coordinates and pasting them in. Both forms work: decimal degrees (37.80305, -122.44717, with minus for south and west) or degrees, minutes and seconds with N, S, E or W. Tap + to save it, name it and pick a folder. Each saved location keeps its view and, for Observer View, where you'll stand.
Two things that surprise people in their first week:
- Times are always local to the place, not to you. Plan an Icelandic sunrise from home and you see Iceland's clock time, as you'll live it there.
- A minute's difference from another app is normal. Apps treat the horizon and the bending of light by the air slightly differently. LightPlan's sun and moon positions are tested against the U.S. Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. If you shoot from high up, raise Marker Distance From Ground in Settings: from a height, the horizon drops, so the sun rises earlier and sets later.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Photographer's Ephemeris available for Android?
Not any more. TPE for Android was sold from 2011 to 2021 and has been withdrawn, and TPE 3D has never been on Android. TPE's developer points Android users to TPE Web, which runs in a browser on computers and tablets, including Android tablets, but not on phones. LightPlan is a native Android app, free to use.
What's the best TPE alternative for Android?
LightPlan. It works the way TPE users expect, with lines from a marker toward sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset and the selected time and a timeline you drag, and puts them on real 3D terrain and buildings. It adds Observer View, AR Sky View, Shadow Map and a scored Milky Way planner, and it's free on Android phones and tablets, as well as iPhone, iPad and Mac.
What does LightPlan do that TPE doesn't?
LightPlan runs on Android phones and natively on Mac; it's one app instead of TPE's separate iOS, 3D and web products; Photorealistic 3D with buildings is free; Observer View puts you at eye level where you'll stand, with your focal length, on your phone; Shadow Map shows real shadows from buildings and terrain; it shows blue hour, and golden hour after sunset; and it scores and ranks Milky Way nights.
Does TPE work on Mac?
Not as a Mac app. TPE's developer says its iOS apps don't run on macOS and recommends TPE Web in a browser. LightPlan has a native Mac app from the same App Store listing as iPhone and iPad.
Why do golden hour times differ between TPE and LightPlan?
They define it differently. TPE's golden hour is the sun between 0° and 6° above the horizon, so it ends at sunset. LightPlan's runs from 6° above to 4° below, so it carries on into the warm light just after sunset. TPE doesn't show blue hour at all; LightPlan shows it from 4° to 6° below.
Does LightPlan have TPE's Visual Search?
Not an automatic search. In LightPlan you step through the dates and drag the timeline while watching the sun or moon move against your subject in 3D, so you see the frame rather than a list of dates. TPE's Visual Search returns dates from an azimuth and altitude you enter.
Is LightPlan free?
LightPlan is free to use every day with no account. The free version covers today and the next 2 days: sun and moon lines and times, golden and blue hour, Photorealistic 3D, Terrain and 2D maps, AR Sky View, the 3D Compass, the Moon Calendar, the Milky Way Planner with the 3 best nights ahead, 5 saved locations, sunrise and sunset alerts, and plan links. LightPlan Pro ($2.99 a month or $19.99 a year in the US, with a free trial) adds any date, unlimited locations, Observer View, Shadow Map, weather layers, the full Milky Way forecast, every alert and widgets.
Try LightPlan free
The sun and moon lines you know, in 3D over real terrain. Free on Android, iPhone, iPad and Mac.
