Know if tonight's sunset is worth stepping out for

Will tonight's sunset be worth it?

Open Afterhue and the first thing on screen is one answer: a Glow Score from 0 to 100, a band word, and the sunset time. The four bands are Flat, Soft, Glowing and On fire. Under the score sit up to three short reasons, such as high clouds at 32 percent or clear air to the west.

The score is labeled an estimate every time you see it. It comes from a weather model, and the app says so instead of pretending to know the sky. Read how the Glow Score works to see exactly what goes into it.

Why does the score come with reasons?

A bare percentage is hard to trust. If a number says 80 and the sky is grey, you learn nothing about what went wrong. Afterhue shows what it saw: how much thin cloud is up high to catch the light, whether low cloud blocks the west, how dry the air is, and whether rain is clearing before sunset.

After sunset you can tap one of four buttons to say how it really looked. After three ratings the app starts nudging the score toward what your own sky does, and the screen shows how many of your last calls were right, close or off.

• High and mid clouds: the canvas that catches red and orange light
• Low clouds to the west: the blocker that can hide the sun
• Air: dryness and visibility
• Rain that clears before sunset

Can it remind me before the light turns gold?

Yes. The golden-hour reminder is a local notification that repeats on its own, so you set it once. Pick 30 minutes before, 15 minutes before, or at golden hour, and choose every day, weekdays, weekends or custom days. It is free.

A Pro option sends a Glow alert only on evenings that reach a score band you choose, with a lead time of 2 hours, 1 hour or 45 minutes before sunset. See golden-hour alerts for the full list.

What is a Hue Chip?

Pick a sunset photo from your library or shoot one in the app. Afterhue pulls five colors from it on your iPhone, orders them from the top of the sky to the horizon, and gives the result a number and a name such as Cinder Vapor. That card is a Hue Chip.

Chips fill a month grid, and over a year they become a Sky Strip: 365 thin stripes, one for each day, filled with the color of the sunset you caught.

How do I show a friend the sky?

Send a Sky Call, a card that says look west now, with the score, the city and the sunset time. Or send a chip and pair it with a friend's chip from another city on the same evening. The data rides inside the link, with no account and no feed. Details are on the Sky Call and Same Sky page.

Where does the forecast come from?

Cloud, humidity and visibility data come from Apple WeatherKit. Sunset, golden hour and blue hour times are calculated on your iPhone from the date and your position, so they work offline. Afterhue has no account system and no server of its own. The privacy page spells out what leaves the phone.

What is free and what is Pro?

Tonight's score with reasons, sun times, the golden-hour reminder, unlimited chips, the Sky Strip, Sky Calls and Paper-style share cards are free. Pro adds Glow alerts, the 3-day outlook with sunrises, up to 10 places, Night and Photo card styles, palette export and year compare. Pro comes as weekly, yearly or lifetime, and the app shows prices from the App Store before you buy.

Keep exploring

Sunset Glow Score0 to 100, four bands, up to three reasons, and a score that learns from your ratings.Golden Hour Alerts and Reminders for SunsetsA free daily golden-hour reminder, plus Pro alerts only for evenings above your threshold.Hue ChipsFive colors, a name, a number and your rating from one sunset photo, made on the device.What Makes a Good Sunset? Clouds, Air and LightThe three ingredients of a colorful sunset, and the weather that ruins each one.Afterhue SupportHow-to answers for alerts, location, photos, purchases and your data.