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No. Tap “Continue without an account” and every eclipse feature works — timings, coverage, totality duration, and the AR sky overlay. An account only exists so your saved viewing spots can sync across your devices.
Yes — completely. All the astronomy is computed on your iPhone from an ephemeris bundled inside the app. On eclipse day, in a field in Spain with no signal, everything still works. This was a deliberate design decision: the one moment the app matters most is the moment you are least likely to have a connection.
Because the eclipse is completely different a hundred kilometres away. Your coordinates determine your contact times, your coverage percentage, and whether you get totality at all. The calculation runs on-device and your location is never transmitted anywhere — see the privacy policy.
The AR view needs camera access. Go to Settings → Totality on your iPhone and turn on Camera (and Location). Then reopen the app. AR also needs a little room to track — point the phone at the actual sky or an open area rather than a blank wall up close.
iPhone XS / XR and newer, running iOS 17 or later. The AR sky overlay needs ARKit world tracking and a compass, which those devices have. Totality is an iPhone app; it is not designed for iPad.
A total solar eclipse sweeps across Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain — the first totality over mainland Europe since 1999. Inside the narrow path, the sun is completely covered and day briefly turns to night. Just outside it, you get a partial eclipse, which is a dramatically different (and far less remarkable) experience. Totality tells you precisely which side of that line you are standing on.
Yes, and it is the single most important planning fact for this eclipse. Over Spain the sun is only about 3–12° above the horizon during totality — very close to setting. You need a clear, open horizon in the direction the app points you, with no hills, trees, or buildings in the way. The app shows you the exact compass bearing and the sun’s height so you can pick your spot in advance.
The bundled ephemeris is generated from a high-precision astronomical model and verified against reference values: sun and moon positions agree to better than 0.03°, and computed contact times and totality durations match the published circumstances for reference cities. Times are shown in your device’s local time zone.
Email gundeep.upenn@gmail.com from the address on the account and it will be permanently deleted within 30 days. If you never signed in, no data about you exists.
⚠︎ Eye safety. Never look at the sun without certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses — the only exception is during the brief seconds of total eclipse, when the sun is fully covered. Do not look at the sun through a camera, binoculars, or a telescope without a proper solar filter. Totality helps you plan; it cannot protect your eyes.