The best app for the 2024 solar eclipse: Get the exact time based on your location — and a demo, too

The 2024 Solar Eclipse is today, and if you’re anything like me, you’re curious about what time — especially — a long-awaited celestial event will pass by your location.

If you’re not sure if you’re in the solar eclipse path, check out our calculators to calculate the 2024 solar eclipse (As for me, I live in New York, so until I see a in total solar eclipse, I will witness a partial one.)

Now that you know if you’re in its path, you can check our solar eclipse times page for each time zone. But if you want to know yours exactly weather, check out the SolarEclipseGuide iPhone app.

The best app for solar eclipse 2024

I’ve downloaded several solar eclipse apps, but my favorite is SolarEclipseGuide.

Thanks to this app, I can see the exact time of the solar eclipse based on my location. For example, according to SolarEclipseGuide, I’ll see the moon begin to show its shadowy figure around 2:19 PM ET, and it will cover the sun completely at 3:23 PM, more or less for a few minutes.

The moon starts to rise a little after 2:00 PM ET for me
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Not only does the app show me the exact time of the solar eclipse based on my location, but it also offers a demo how the solar eclipse will look like from my vantage point.

According to the “SolarEclipseGuide” app, this is what a solar eclipse will look like for me based on my location.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

This allows me to see exactly what Mashable’s Mark Kaufman, our resident science and space expert, means when he says I’ll only see a “partial eclipse.”

Enjoy the heavenly show, but be careful

A solar eclipse is a beautiful show that doesn’t happen often. (As Kaufman explained, this is a rare occurrence.) As such, you might be tempted to whip out your phone and snap a photo. However, it’s not a good idea to take pictures of the solar eclipse with your phone (unless you’re a professional photographer and have the right filters for it).

And if you plan to go outside and witness the solar eclipse, be sure to wear NASA-approved glasses to avoid damaging your vision.

Now that you’ve prepared yourself with the safety basics and now probably know when — exactly — you might witness a rare solar eclipse, enjoy the show.