The Best UV Index and UV Forecast Apps for iPhone in 2026

Quick comparison

In-depth review of each app

How to choose a UV index app

The right app depends on what you want to get out of it. If you just need a quick reading, Apple's built-in Weather app is fine. If you want sun safety guidance from a public-health source, SunSmart Global UV or EPA's SunWise are both reputable. But if you actually want to know how long you can stay in the sun — not a generic "High" label — you need an app that factors in your skin type.

That's where personalization matters. A UV index of 7 means roughly 15 minutes of safe exposure for someone with very fair (Type I) skin and over 45 minutes for someone with darker (Type V) skin. A UV index app that ignores skin type can't tell you that. For more on the scale itself, see our UV index guide, take the Fitzpatrick skin type quiz to find your type, read our walkthrough on how to check the UV index on iPhone, or — if you're planning a tan rather than avoiding the sun — see the UV index for tanning guide. Wondering why two UV apps in the same place can show different numbers? Our UV index accuracy guide breaks down the major data sources and what to trust. If a Home Screen or Lock Screen UV widget is what you're really after, see the dedicated UV index widget for iPhone guide. And for everything at once, the UV index guides hub indexes every guide by what you're trying to work out.

Sunwise vs UV Index Widget & Burn Time

This is the closest comparison on the list, because both apps set out to do the same thing: turn the UV index into a personal burn time based on your skin type rather than a generic "High" label. If that's the feature you're shopping for, either app will give it to you. The meaningful difference is where the UV number comes from.

UV Index Widget & Burn Time computes UV from solar-position modelling rather than calling a weather service — its App Store listing describes this as “no weather API, just solar science”. That has a genuine upside: the calculation is instant, works offline, and can't be wrong because a forecast was stale. The trade-off is cloud cover. A clear-sky solar model can't know that it's overcast where you're standing, and cloud is the largest short-term swing in real-world UV — thick overcast cuts UV by roughly 50–70%. On a grey day a modelled number reads high; the practical result is a burn time that's conservative rather than dangerous, but it is less precise.

Sunwise sources its UV index from Apple WeatherKit, which incorporates forecast cloud cover, ozone, and your device's GPS altitude — the same data behind Apple's own Weather app — and then runs the Fitzpatrick I–VI burn-time calculation on top of it. Sunwise also covers more Apple surfaces: native Apple Watch complications, Lock Screen widgets in all three iOS shapes, and a StandBy widget, alongside the Home Screen. For the detail on how the underlying data sources differ, see the UV index accuracy guide.

Sunwise vs Sun Tracker: UV Index & Tan

Through summer 2026 Sun Tracker was the app most people landed on when they searched this category — it sat in the top two results for “UV index app”, “UV forecast app”, and “personalized UV forecast app”. Newer apps have since overtaken it in those searches, but it is still one of the most complete all-rounders, so it is worth being specific about what it does and doesn't do.

Sun Tracker is the broader product. It covers real-time UV, a morning push notification with the day's UV forecast, sunscreen routines, and tan-session tracking, and it runs on Android as well as iOS — so if you switch phones or want one app across a household with both, that matters. Its Home Screen widget is solid and its framing is explicitly about tanning safely rather than only avoiding the sun.

The distinction worth understanding is that “personalized” means something different in the two apps. Sun Tracker personalizes the advice — your sunscreen routine, your tan sessions — around a UV number that is the same for everyone standing in your town. Sunwise personalizes the number itself: it runs the Fitzpatrick I–VI scale against the live WeatherKit UV index to produce a burn time in minutes, so UV 7 reads as 15 minutes for Type I skin and 45+ for Type V. Sunwise also reaches surfaces Sun Tracker doesn't — Apple Watch complications, Lock Screen and StandBy widgets, and App Intents — but it is iOS-only, and it isn't a tan-session tracker. If safe tanning across both platforms is the goal, Sun Tracker is the better fit; if the question is how long your skin specifically has left, see the UV index for tanning guide for how Sunwise handles the same use case.

Sunwise vs UVdial and Sol AI

These two are the newest apps in this roundup, and between them they now hold the top App Store results for “personalized UV forecast app” and “skin type UV app” — so anyone shopping for a skin-aware UV app is likely to see them first. Both use your skin, but for different jobs.

UVdial is the closest in intent to Sunwise: a daily UV view with hourly peaks, a burn time estimated for your skin, and sunscreen reminders. If you want reapply nudges built into the same app, UVdial has them and Sunwise doesn't. Its listing doesn't say how many skin types it distinguishes or which weather source supplies the UV number, and those two details decide how precise a burn time can be — see the UV index accuracy guide for why the data source matters.

Sol AI uses your skin tone to build tanning routines and timers, with UV alerts and vitamin D insights. It is designed to help you get sun, where Sunwise is designed to tell you when to stop. Sunwise runs the full Fitzpatrick I–VI scale against the live Apple WeatherKit UV index and puts the remaining minutes on Apple Watch complications and Lock Screen and StandBy widgets. If a tan is the goal, the UV index for tanning guide shows how to use a burn time as the ceiling on a session.

Sunwise vs EPA's SunWise and UV Index: SunWise — different apps

These two apps share a similar name but they're unrelated. EPA's SunWise is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reference app for ZIP-code UV forecasts and general sun-safety education. It doesn't personalize readings to your skin type and doesn't support Apple Watch or widgets.

Sunwise (this app) is an independent personalized UV forecast app for iPhone and iPad built around the Fitzpatrick skin type scale. It calculates a specific burn time in minutes for your skin and surfaces it on your Apple Watch, Home Screen, and Lock Screen.

There is also a third app with almost the same name: a listing called UV Index: SunWise currently ranks first on the App Store for “UV index app”, offering real-time UV, a 10-day forecast, and skin protection tips. It is unrelated to this Sunwise too. On the App Store, this app is listed as Sunwise: UV Index & Sunburn and published by App Deco Studio — the about page has the details.

Sunwise vs UVLens

UVLens is one of the older UV apps still actively promoted, with its own website at uvlens.com and a strong focus on avoiding sunburn and reminding you when to apply sunscreen. Its UV forecast covers the world and it offers a burn time based on a three-way fair / medium / dark skin selector.

Sunwise runs the full Fitzpatrick I–VI scale that dermatologists use, so the personal burn time is finer-grained than UVLens's three-bucket selector — and Sunwise adds native Apple Watch complications, Lock Screen and StandBy widgets, App Intents, and a skin type you can switch to Type I or II to plan around a child's skin (see the UV index for kids and babies guide). Both apps hit the same core intent — a UV forecast focused on sun safety — Sunwise trades UVLens's longer brand history for a more personalized burn-time model on modern iOS.

Sunwise vs Sola

Sola is the closest philosophical match to Sunwise for anyone who wants to actively use the sun rather than only protect against it — its lead framing is UV index plus vitamin D and sun exposure tracking, and it ships an Apple Watch companion.

Sunwise covers the same vitamin D use case in the vitamin D and the UV index guide and adds a deeper Fitzpatrick-personalized burn time as the primary reading, so the same UV forecast produces a more specific number for your skin. If your priority is a vitamin D tracker specifically, Sola's dose-based approach is worth a look; if it's a personalized safe-sun window, Sunwise is the closer fit.

FAQ: choosing a UV index app for iOS

What is the best UV index app for iPhone?

There isn't one answer, because the apps differ on what they do with the number rather than on the number itself. If you want a UV reading with nothing to install, Apple Weather already has one. If you want a public-health-grade global forecast, SunSmart Global UV and EPA's SunWise are both reputable. If you want a Home Screen widget above all, UV Index Widget — Worldwide is the long-standing market leader, Sun Tracker: UV Index & Tan is a broad all-rounder if you also want a morning UV push and tan tracking, and Sol AI is the most tanning-focused. And if you want the UV index converted into how long your skin specifically can stay out, Sunwise, UV Index Widget & Burn Time, and UVdial all estimate a personal burn time — Sunwise on the full Fitzpatrick I–VI scale from live Apple WeatherKit data, UV Index Widget & Burn Time from a clear-sky solar model, and UVdial without stating which skin model it uses.

Is there a good free UV index app for iPhone?

Yes, and most of this category is free or free-with-purchases. Apple Weather, EPA's SunWise, and SunSmart Global UV are all free outright. Sunwise, UV Index Widget — Worldwide, Sun Tracker: UV Index & Tan, UVLens, UVmeter, Sunbeam, SunSafe, UVI Mate, Sola, UVdial, and Sol AI are free downloads with in-app purchases unlocking extras such as longer forecasts or ad removal; in Sunwise's case, the optional Sunwise+ subscription unlocks the personal burn time, widgets, and unlimited saved places. Because the underlying UV data comes from a small number of shared upstream sources, paying more does not buy you a more accurate number — it buys features around it.

Which UV index app is the most accurate?

No consumer UV app measures UV at your location; every reading is modelled, so accuracy is really a question of which upstream source an app uses and how well that source handles cloud, ozone, and altitude. Apps built on Apple WeatherKit — including Sunwise and Apple's own Weather app — tend to be dependable on iPhone because WeatherKit blends multiple meteorological models and uses your device's GPS altitude. Differences of about one point between reputable apps are normal modelling variance rather than one app being wrong.

Do I need a UV app if my iPhone already has Apple Weather?

Only if you want more than the number. Apple Weather gives you a current UV index and an hourly curve for today, free and preinstalled, and that is genuinely enough for a casual check. What it does not do is show UV for future days, offer a dedicated UV widget or Apple Watch complication, or account for your skin type — so it cannot tell you how long you personally can stay out. Those three gaps are the entire reason the third-party category exists.

Which UV apps have an Apple Watch app or complication?

Of the fifteen apps here, Sunwise, Sunbeam, UVLens, UVmeter, UVI Mate, and Sola ship watchOS companions; the two newest entries, UVdial and Sol AI, don't feature Apple Watch in their listings. Apple's own Weather app shows UV inside the watch app but offers no dedicated UV complication, so UV always costs a tap and a scroll. The practical difference between the third-party options is what the complication displays: a bare UV number still needs interpreting, whereas a complication pairing the index with remaining safe minutes answers the question outright.

Which UV index apps personalize to your skin type?

Five do it in some form and three partially, and that count has grown every time we have revised this page. Sunwise and UV Index Widget & Burn Time both run a skin-type model to produce a burn time in minutes; Sola applies skin-type tuning to its burn time and vitamin D figures; and Sunbeam: UV Index Tracker now leads its listing on personalized exposure insights, though it does not state which skin-type model sits behind them; and UVdial, one of the newest apps in the category, estimates a burn time for your skin without saying how many skin types it distinguishes. Sol AI takes your skin tone as an input but uses it to plan tanning routines rather than a burn countdown. UVLens offers a simplified fair / medium / dark selector rather than the full Fitzpatrick I–VI scale, and SunSmart Global UV adjusts its protection times by skin type without producing a per-user countdown. The rest — including Sun Tracker: UV Index & Tan — show the same number to every user in your area, however different their skin. The useful question is no longer whether an app knows your skin type but how precisely — a three-way fair / medium / dark selector and the full Fitzpatrick I–VI scale produce meaningfully different numbers at the same UV index.

Do these UV apps work on iPad?

Most are iPhone apps that run on iPad in compatibility mode rather than being designed for the larger screen. Apple Weather and Sunwise are both native on iPadOS, including iPad widgets in the Home Screen and Today View. If iPad is where you actually plan your week, check the App Store listing's compatibility section before installing — it states explicitly whether an app is designed for iPad or just runs there.

How often do UV index apps update their forecast?

The underlying forecasts are typically published hourly by the upstream data source, so an app refreshing more often than that is over-sampling rather than getting fresher data. On iOS, widget and complication refresh is controlled by the system on a budget of roughly every 15 to 30 minutes, more often just after you have opened the app and less often in Low Power Mode. For UV that cadence is ample, because UV changes over tens of minutes rather than seconds.