Sky Now — Moments worth looking up for

Sky Now is a crowdsourcing app that alerts your phone the moment two or more people near you have spotted something happening in the sky — a wild sunset, a rainbow, the northern lights. Be the first to post, and you could be part of the alert that lets everyone else nearby catch it too. It also sends notifications for predictable events like full moons and meteor showers, plus a daily section covering sunset time and quality, moon phase, moonrise, aurora potential, and which planets are visible tonight.

Download on the App Store Join Closed Testing on Android See how it works

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See it as it happens

Real sightings from real people nearby — corroborated by more than one report before you're ever notified, so it's never spam.

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Never miss the big ones

Full moons, eclipses, meteor showers, and vivid-sunset forecasts — Sky Now tells you ahead of time, not after.

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Privacy by design

Your exact location is never shown to anyone. Every post is geofuzzed before it's ever saved.

Real-time alerts

Know the moment it's happening

Choose which live, happening-right-now events you want pushed to you — sunsets, rainbows, cloud formations, aurora, lightning, and more.

Sky Now only sends an alert once at least two different people nearby have reported the same thing, so what lands in your notifications is always worth a look.

Sky Now map screen showing nearby sightings

The map

See exactly where it's happening

Every sighting near you shows up on the map, tagged by type. Pan and zoom to explore further out, or filter down to just the event you're chasing.

One tap turns on Storm Mode, filtering your Feed and Map down to active severe weather only — tornadoes, hail, wind, storm damage, and more. It works anywhere, not just Missouri and Illinois.

🌅 Sunset · 🌈 Rainbow · ☁️ Clouds · 🌌 Aurora 🌪️ Storm Mode

Sky Feed

A feed of moments, not opinions

Scroll through what your community is seeing right now. Sort by newest, nearest, or farthest, filter by tag, and share any moment straight to your camera roll.

No ads. No algorithm chasing your attention. Just the sky.

Observe & share

Snap it, tag it, share it

See something worth sharing? Take a photo (or pick one from your library), tag what kind of sky moment it is, and post it to help others nearby catch it too.

Every photo is automatically screened before it's shared, and your exact coordinates are fuzzed so no one — including us — can pinpoint exactly where you were standing.

My Sky Today

Your personal sky briefing

One glance tells you what tonight has in store: sunset quality, moon phase, whether a meteor shower is peaking, and which planets are visible right now — no telescope required.

Predictable sky event notification preferences

Plan ahead

Some moments you can see coming

Turn on advance notice for full moons, lunar and solar eclipses, meteor showers, and Sky Now's own vivid-sunset forecast — so you can actually be outside when it counts.

Your profile

A record of what you've noticed

Earn badges for being observant, not for being popular — Sunset Chaser, Morning Person, Globe Trotter, Keen Eye. Track your streak of days spent actually looking up.

No followers. No like-counting. Just your own quiet log of moments.

Getting started

How Sky Now works

From download to your first alert in under a minute.

Create your account

Just a username and password — no email inbox required, no confirmation link to chase down.

Allow location

This is what powers your 100-mile radius of alerts. Your exact position is fuzzed before it's ever stored — see Privacy below.

Set up your public profile

Pick a username and, if you'd like, a general location others will see next to your posts.

Choose what you want to hear about

Pick your live and predictable events now — and change your mind any time from Settings.

Privacy first

We never show anyone exactly where you are

Before any post ever reaches our servers, your coordinates are randomly nudged by a small amount — enough that no one can trace a photo back to your exact doorstep, but not so much that "nearby" stops meaning nearby.

The same protection applies to the location behind your live-event alerts. It's a trade-off we made on purpose: hyperlocal enough to be useful, fuzzy enough to be safe.

In partnership with HLEW

Severe weather alerts for Missouri & Illinois

Sky Now has partnered with Hyperlocal Extreme Weather (HLEW), a trusted St. Louis-based severe weather source, to bring residents in their coverage area real alerts when something dangerous is developing nearby — a tornado, a wall cloud, storm damage — sent by HLEW's own team, not just an algorithm.

Opt in from Settings if you're in Missouri or Illinois, and you'll get the exact location and direction of what HLEW is tracking, with enough time to actually take shelter. If you choose to share them, your photos and videos of severe weather also help HLEW's team verify what's happening on the ground in real time.

📍 Missouri & Illinois residents only

Look up. Sky Now will let you know when it's worth it.

Free to join. Now live on iOS — Android is still in closed testing, get in early.

Download on the App Store Join Closed Testing on Android

New to using apps like this? Download our one-page Quick Start Guide (PDF)

From the developer

Sky Now is free, and it's staying that way

Hi, I'm Jeanne — a former science teacher and current writer for a university's medical advancement team. I built Sky Now on my own, nights and weekends, because I kept missing sunsets, rainbows, and northern lights that people nearby were already watching. It's free for everyone, no ads, no catch.

It does cost real money to keep running though — servers, storage, and notifications add up to roughly $500 a year out of my own pocket. If Sky Now has ever helped you catch a moment you'd have otherwise missed, a coffee goes a long way toward keeping the lights on. No pressure, ever.

☕ Buy Me a Coffee

Support

Common questions

How do I delete my account?

Open Profile → Settings and tap Delete Account at the bottom. This permanently removes your profile, posts, and data — it can't be undone.

How does Sky Now protect my location?

Every location is randomly fuzzed before it's ever saved, for both your posts and your alert radius. See the Privacy section above for details.

How do I change what I'm notified about?

Go to Settings → Change my notification alerts to update your live and predictable event preferences any time.

How do I report or block someone?

Tap the ••• menu on any post or comment to report it, or visit a profile and use the block option there. Blocked accounts can't see your posts or contact you, and you can manage your block list from Settings.

Why don't I see much in my Feed or Map right now?

Sky Now is still early, so there just aren't many posts yet — the Feed and Map show every post, sorted with Newest, Nearest, and Farthest options. As more people join, it'll fill in.

Something's not working, or I have an idea

We'd genuinely like to hear it — reach us any time at SkyNowSupport@gmail.com.

Email Support