PhotoWatch watches the skies, seas and stars for you.
Built for the busy photographer. Let the app do all the work!
Sunrise at Bondi Beach 🌅
High cloud, a low tide and calm winds are lining up for sunrise. Time to grab the camera.
How many times have you gone online and realised you missed some epic conditions yesterday, or even just this morning?
Just set and forget.
We’ll watch the conditions for you every day, and we’ll notify you the moment everything is lining up for an epic shot!
No more checking five different apps when you have PhotoWatch!
Add the beaches, headlands, waterfalls and lookouts you love, by search, GPS or exact coordinates.
Choose what a great shoot looks like: high cloud, a low tide, calm winds, a new moon, and how much each one matters.
PhotoWatch monitors the forecasts around the clock and notifies your phone the moment a location is looking good.
Grab your camera and head out. You’re already ahead of everyone still refreshing weather apps.
Add a beach, a ridgeline, a waterfall or anywhere else in the world, by search, GPS pin or coordinates. Each location stores its own sunrise and sunset times, and you can switch spots on or off without losing a single setting.
The free version can save up to three locations. Pro user locations are unlimited.
PhotoWatch is genuinely useful for free, and Pro turns it into a complete planning tool for the tides, the swell and the sky.
Everything you need to start catching better light.
Everything in Free, plus the full picture: the tides, the swell, the moon and the Milky Way.
Create alerts for sunrise, sunset, astro nights or any custom shoot. PhotoWatch checks conditions around the clock and sends a notification straight to your phone the moment a location lines up, complete with a favourability score so you know exactly how good it is.
Miss a notification? The app keeps a log of your last seven, each one tappable for the full breakdown.
PhotoWatch is genuinely useful for free, and Pro turns it into a complete tide-, swell- and sky-aware planning tool.
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Locations | ||
| Save your shooting spots (search, GPS or exact coordinates) | ✓ | ✓ |
| How many locations you can keep | 1 Home + 2 saved | Unlimited |
| Set any spot as your Home Location | ✓ | ✓ |
| Alerts & notifications | ||
| Create alerts (unlimited on both plans) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Notifications sent straight to your phone | ✓ | ✓ |
| Push notifications — no per-message fees (works like any other app notification, not like SMS) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shoot types: Sunrise, Sunset, Astro, Custom | ✓ | ✓ |
| Priority ranking & 1–5 star importance per condition | ✓ | ✓ |
| Choose how often to check & how far ahead | ✓ | ✓ |
| Conditions you can watch for | ||
| Cloud (high / medium / low), Clear Skies, Minimal Winds, Fog, Rain | ✓ | ✓ |
| Potential Thunderstorm | ✕ | ✓ |
| Tide: Low / Medium / High | ✕ | ✓ |
| Swell: Low / Medium / High | ✕ | ✓ |
| Moon Phase (with a target phase, e.g. New Moon) | ✕ | ✓ |
| Galactic Core (Milky Way) visible | ✕ | ✓ |
| Home dashboard | ||
| Live cloud, wind, temp, rain, fog, sunrise & sunset | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live tide & swell readings | ✕ | ✓ |
| Moon rise/set & phase, Galactic Core rise/set | ✕ | ✓ |
| Tools & backups | ||
| Timer, ND Exposure Calculator, Time-lapse Calculator & Star Exposure Calculator | ✓ | ✓ |
| Colour Balance camera meter (read the light's colour temperature) | ✕ | ✓ |
| Astro Planner with interactive Galactic Core dome view and rise/set times | ✕ | ✓ |
| Dark mode & display preferences | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cloud backup & sync across your devices | ✕ | ✓ |