Sun-hour app for iPhone
How many hours of sun does your spot really get?
Plant tags say “full sun”. Your yard has trees, a fence and a neighbor’s roof. Deconstruct Sun measures the real direct-sun hours for one exact spot, today and in every season.
Free tool
Check any ZIP code in seconds
Hardiness zone, today’s daylight and how high the sun climbs. No sign-up, nothing to install.
The number behind the plant tag
Full sun, part sun, part shade: they’re all hours
Every light label is a claim about hours of direct sun. Most yards are guessed at, not measured. Deconstruct Sun gives you the measured number, so the right plant goes in the right place.
How it works
Three steps, standing in your yard
Stand where it’ll grow
Open a new site at the garden bed, greenhouse, patio or panel location. Your phone fills in the coordinates.
Trace what blocks the sky
Paint the trees and buildings on a sky chart, or trace them over photos with a guided sweep that follows the sun’s arc.
Get the real hours
See direct-sun hours, first and last sun, and the full sun / part shade category, for today and every season.
See it in action
Watch a garden bed get measured
The 40-second version, and the full four-minute demo.
Does your garden bed really get full sun? Measure it with your iPhone · 0:40
Deconstruct Sun App Demo: SunSweep, Skyline Tracing & PDF Reports · 3:41
Features
Built for real sites
The math is honest: a five-minute-step calculation over the real solar geometry for your latitude and date, checked against the skyline you trace.
Trace the real horizon
Photograph the view and paint trees and rooflines right over your own photo. No guessing what’s in the way.
Live sun-path camera
Before you shoot, the sun’s path for the day is drawn over your camera view, so you know exactly what you’re aiming at.
Every season at a glance
One tap shows direct-sun hours at the summer and winter solstices and both equinoxes. A bed that bakes in June can go dark in December.
Hardiness zone built in
Every US spot shows its 2023 USDA hardiness zone, looked up offline on your phone, with a note when you’re near a boundary.
Projects for whole properties
Group the front bed, the vegetable garden and the pool surround under one address or client.
Client-ready PDF reports
Export a branded sun study for one spot, or one combined report for an entire property with a table comparing every spot.
Who it’s for
Gardeners and the people who design gardens
Home gardeners
Find the sunniest spot for tomatoes, know whether that corner is part shade before you buy the hydrangea, and see why the bed that thrived in July struggles in October. Gardening guide →
Landscape architects & designers
Measure light at every planting area on a site visit and hand the client a branded PDF sun study. Faster than a 3D shadow model and based on what’s really there. For designers →
Greenhouses, patios & solar
Compare candidate spots for a greenhouse, a patio or a few panels, and see how winter sun changes the answer.
Pricing
Free to start. Pro is yours for good.
Free
Everything you need to check a spot.
- Sun-path charts for any location and date
- Hand-paint the obstruction skyline
- Today’s direct-sun, daylight, first and last light
- Hardiness zone for US sites, offline
- Projects to group sites
- Privacy controls for exact coordinates
Pro
One-time purchase. No subscription.
- Trace the skyline over your own photos
- Guided sun-arc capture with live overlay
- Full-year breakdown: solstices and equinoxes
- Photo-real composite and landscape trace view
- Branded PDF sun-study export
- Combined PDF for a whole project
Prices in USD; the App Store shows your local price.
★★★★★
“Such a cool and helpful app! It’s great to help me figure out which plants will thrive in my yard!”
App Store review, Aug 2026
Private by design
Your yard stays on your phone
Sites, coordinates, skylines and photos never leave your device. No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. The math runs offline, so it works anywhere. PDF exports ask before printing exact coordinates, so a report you send doesn’t give away someone’s home address.
Made by a landscape architect
Deconstruct Sun was built by Andrew Harrell, a licensed landscape architect in North Carolina, to answer the question every planting plan starts with. Questions and ideas are welcome at design@deconstructterrain.com.
FAQ
Questions
How does Deconstruct Sun measure sun hours?
You stand at the spot, mark the trees, buildings and fences on the horizon (painting them on a sky chart or tracing them over your own photos), and the app checks the sun’s real path for that latitude and date against your skyline every five minutes. Where the sun clears the skyline it counts as direct sun. You get the total hours, plus first and last direct sun.
How many hours of sun is full sun?
Full sun means at least 6 hours of direct sun a day. Part sun is 4–6 hours, part shade is 2–4 hours, and full shade is under 2 hours. These are the same categories printed on plant tags, and Deconstruct Sun reports which one your spot falls in.
Is Deconstruct Sun free?
Yes. The free version gives you sun-path charts for any location and date, hand-painted skylines, today’s direct-sun hours, hardiness zones and projects. Pro is a one-time $11.99 unlock (no subscription) that adds photo tracing, guided camera capture, the full-year breakdown, and PDF reports.
Does it work on Android or iPad?
Deconstruct Sun is an iPhone app. There is no Android version yet. The free sun calculator and hardiness zone lookup on this website work in any browser.
Does it need an internet connection?
No. The sun’s position is calculated on your phone from published astronomical formulas, and hardiness zones are looked up from a copy of the data stored in the app. It works in the middle of a field.
Is my data private?
Yes. Your sites, coordinates, skylines and photos stay on your phone. There are no accounts, ads, analytics or tracking. You can also hide exact coordinates from PDF reports you share.
How accurate is it?
The sun’s position is exact to a fraction of a degree. The result is only as good as the skyline you trace, so tracing over a photo is more accurate than painting by eye. Deciduous trees drop their leaves, so a summer skyline overstates winter shade. Treat the numbers as a solid planning tool, not a guarantee.
Can I use it for client work?
Yes. Pro exports branded PDF sun studies for a single spot or a combined report covering every spot on a property, ready to hand to a client.
Know the sun before you plant.
Free on iPhone. Pro is a one-time $11.99, no subscription.