The Eclipse Company is ramping up its support of those preparing to watch North America’s total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 through a new app that helps viewers plan their route, viewing location, and more.
Last year, the Eclipse Company collaborated with The Planetary Society to create a map that made it easy to see the projected path of totality for the upcoming total eclipse — the last that will cross over North America for 20 years. This week, the Eclipse Company took its support plans a step further with the release of The Eclipse App, which provides access to the same map on-the-go, plus a boatload of other support features.
The map feature in the app allows users to explore all the U.S. states across the path of the eclipse, which will extend from Texas all the way through Maine. Within the path, the app will show community events, parks, and viewing sites that make it easier to plan trips to see the event. It also shows totality times, explains eclipse phenomena, and shows historical cloud cover for each area to make it easier to plan ahead.
The Eclipse App shows users the times of totality for exact locations and informs when solar filters or eclipse glasses should be used.
Back on the note of cloudy skies, the “pro” version of the app, which is a paid $3 upgrade, provides the optimal locations to target based on weather predictions on the days leading up to the eclipse. It will also provide hourly cloud cover forecasts as the eclipse approaches and lets users save locations of interest to easily check back on them during the day of the eclipse in case users need to make last minute changes.
The paid version of the app also provides access to what The Eclipse Company calls “guided countdowns,” which tracks the eclipse based on a user’s location and provides a countdown clock to totality. It may appear as a free option for users who happen to be in a sponsored geographical area, however (where groups or communities can pay to give the service to anyone in a specific area).
Most of the app’s major features are free, however. Access to lists of local eclipse communities, totality times, information on what to expect during totality, historical cloud cover data, and map information are all included at no cost.
The Eclipse App is available on the Apple App store for free with a pro upgrade available for $3.
Image credits: The Eclipse Company