Getting started
How to use each part of Polar Lights, step by step.
- Get Polar Lights on your phone or computerUse the Android app, add the website to an iPhone's Home Screen, or open polarlights.io in any browser.
- Create an account and sign inA free account keeps your places on every device and lets you get alerts, report sightings and earn badges.
- Set your Home location and save more placesHome is the place the Tonight forecast and your alerts are for. Free holds one place; Chaser holds ten.
- Read the Now pageWhat the aurora is doing worldwide, whether it's worth going out where you are tonight, and what's coming in the next days.
- The aurora map and 3D globeWhere aurora is likely right now, with cloud, darkness and the best places to go, on a flat map or a globe.
- The Sun tabSpace weather, the solar wind, sunspots, live images of the Sun and time-lapses.
- Set up aurora alertsChoose how strong the aurora must be, how you're told, and when not to be disturbed.
- Report a sighting with I saw itOne tap tells other members nearby that the aurora is out, and counts towards your badges.
- Post a photo to the galleryShare your aurora photos with other members, and vote for the ones you find beautiful.
- Badges, ranks and pointsPoints from confirmed sightings and gallery photos move you up seven ranks, and badges mark what you've seen.
- Night mode and languageRed night mode keeps your eyes used to the dark, and Polar Lights speaks ten languages.
- Plans: Free and ChaserWhat Free includes, what Chaser adds, the 7-day free trial, and paying by card or through Google Play.