u/jaykaun

I’m someone who genuinely cares about natural light. It affects my mood, my energy, how much I enjoy being home. So when I was renting, I’d always try to figure out — does this place actually get good sun? Or is it just bright on inspection day because it’s 11am in summer?

I had no real way to know.

Then when I was looking to buy my first home, the stakes felt even higher. This is a decision you live with for years. I wanted data, not a gut feeling standing in an empty room on a Saturday morning.

So I built Solis: Home Sun Tracker.

You point your phone at each window, it reads the compass direction, and calculates exactly how many sun hours that room gets across the full day. It also lets you add obstructions :- trees, fences, neighbouring buildings so the numbers actually reflect reality.

A few things that I think make it genuinely different i believe:

• Whole-home sunlight rating : like an energy star rating, but for natural light
• Seasonal simulation : see how light changes from summer to winter
• Weather forecast vs clear sky comparison
• Shareable room-by-room report (real estate agents have been using this)
• Plant recommendations based on each room’s actual light

Available on iOS and Android. Would love feedback from anyone who cares about natural light as much as I do.
Solis: Home sun tracker.

Started adding a room-by-room sunlight report to every listing I present , showing exactly how many hours of direct sun each room gets per day.

Buyers stop asking “does this place get good light?” and start asking which rooms to use as the home office, nursery, or reading nook based on actual data.

A few results so far:

•	Master bedroom: 2h 15m direct sun (morning)  
•	Living room: 4h 40m (afternoon)  
•	Laundry: 7h 10m 

It reframes the conversation from gut feel to data. Buyers who were on the fence suddenly had a reason to commit.

The tool I’ve been using is Solis: Home Sun Tracker on iOS and Android. You just scan each window and it maps the whole property. There’s even a shareable report you can send buyers directly.

Anyone else adding data-driven extras to listings? Curious what’s been working.

Something I’ve started doing before looking at any property that is checking the actual sunlight each room gets, not just whether it’s “north facing.”
North facing sounds great in theory but it doesn’t account for neighbouring buildings, trees, window sizes or the actual hours the sun hits each room.

I mapped out my current home first to understand what good vs bad actually looks like:
Laundry: 6h 50m bright (north-facing)
Dining room: 6h 40m bright (NE-facing)
Living room: 4h 27m moderate (east-facing)
Guest room: 4h moderate (west-facing)
Master bedroom: 2h 35m moderate (east-facing)
Kids room: 1h dim (west-facing)
Media room: 0 minutes (south-facing)
Office room: 0 minutes (south-facing)

Two rooms get literally zero direct sunlight. A house can look completely different on a sunny Saturday inspection vs what it actually gets day to day.
Would highly recommend checking this before committing to any property.

Launched “Solis: Home Sun Tracker” 4 days ago. It maps sunlight room by room using GPS and compass, niche utility app targeting plant lovers, homeowners, and real estate agents.
Day 4 stats:
• 30 downloads
• 1 paying user
• 6.5% conversion rate
• Running Apple Search Ads USA at $12/day
Struggling with zero App Store reviews which is killing my visibility score (19/100).
Would love to hear from others , what actually worked for you in the first 2 weeks? Specifically around getting those first reviews and finding the right communities to post in without getting banned.
App Store link in comments if anyone wants to check it out.

I’ve been a software tester by day and building Solis on the side for months. It maps sunlight room by room using GPS and compass , you point your phone at each window and it calculates exact sun hours for any time of day or season.
Finally launched on App Store 4 days ago.
The numbers so far:
• 30 first-time downloads
• 2 active Pro trials
• 1 paying user
• 4.6% conversion rate
• $8.52 spent on Apple Search Ads
What I’ve learned:
• Reddit is brutal for new apps , getting banned or removed without warning is just part of the game
• Apple Search Ads is the only channel I fully control right now
• Building the app was the easy part. Marketing with zero audience is genuinely hard.
Biggest current challenge:
Zero App Store reviews. Visibility score 19/100. Two users are on free trials expiring in 4–6 days with no in-app reminder system. Conversions I’ll probably lose.
What I’m focused on now:
Getting those first 5 reviews and figuring out which channels actually work for a niche utility app with no existing audience.
Happy to answer questions and hear from others who’ve been through the early downloads grind 🙏​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Built this app to answer a question I couldn’t find anywhere: how much sun does each room actually get?

You point your phone at each window, it reads the compass direction automatically, then calculates exact sun hours per room for any time of day or season. You can also add obstructions like trees or neighbouring buildings.

Works for plant lovers figuring out where to put their plants, homeowners, and people checking a property before buying.
Free tier covers 3 rooms. Pro is $4.99/month.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/solis-home-sun-tracker/id6761963393
Happy to get any feedback!

What is it: An iOS app that tells you exactly how many hours of sunlight each room in your home gets.

Who is it for: Plant lovers, homeowners, first home buyers checking a property before making an offer, real estate agents.

How it works: You point your phone at each window, it locks the compass direction using GPS, and calculates exact sun hours for that window. It also tracks obstructions like trees and neighbouring buildings. Add all your windows and it builds a complete sunlight map of your home.

Why it stands out: Most people guess at sunlight — "north facing" tells you nothing about actual hours. Solis gives you real data, room by room, any time of year.

Monetisation: Freemium :-free tier covers 3 rooms. Pro is $4.99/month or $29.99/year.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/solis-home-sun-tracker/id6761963393

Always struggled to know which rooms actually get enough light for my plants. Turns out my assumptions were completely wrong.

I was keeping plants in the living room thinking it was sunny , turns out it only gets moderate light. Moved everything to the laundry and dining room and they're already doing better.

Anyone else mapped out their light properly? Would love to know what others found!

The problem
I kept killing plants because I had no idea how much sunlight each room actually gets. "North facing" means nothing when there are trees, neighbouring buildings, and different window sizes involved.

What it does:
You point your phone at each window , it locks the compass direction automatically using GPS + compass, then calculates exactly how many hours of direct sunlight that window gets throughout the day. Add all your windows room by room and it builds a complete sunlight map of your home.

It also:
- Shows a real-time sun simulation across your floor plan
- Generates a shareable sunlight report
- Recommends which plants will thrive in each room
- Tracks obstructions like trees and neighbouring buildings that block light
- Works for any date or season

Who it's for:
Plant lovers, homeowners, first home buyers checking a property before making an offer, real estate agents.

Business model: Freemium- free tier covers 3 rooms. Pro is $4.99/month or $29.99/year.

Tech: React native, Avaialable on iOS, Android coming soon.

Early results: Launched 2 days ago. 9 downloads, 1 paying user already, 6.56% conversion rate.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/solis-home-sun-tracker/id6761963393

Would love any feedback from fellow makers! 🙏