Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does Apex Lucis work offline?
A: Yes. Business management, locations, gear, shot lists, the sun, moon and Milky Way calculations, and tide predictions all work without an internet connection. Weather forecasts and wildlife records need connectivity, so Optimal Windows — which uses the forecast — needs it too.
Q: Is my data backed up?
A: Yes. All data is automatically backed up and synced via iCloud. If you lose your device or switch to a new one, your data restores automatically when you sign in with the same Apple ID.
Q: Can I use Apex Lucis on both my iPhone and iPad?
A: Yes. Because data syncs via iCloud, any change made on one device appears on all your Apple devices within seconds (when online).
Q: Do notifications sync between my devices?
A: Not directly — Apple gives apps no way to share scheduled notifications. What syncs is your data, and each device works out which alerts it should be holding from it. In practice a booking made on your Mac schedules its alerts on your iPhone shortly afterwards. The exception is a device that is never opened and never woken: open the app on it once and it catches up. See Notifications.
Q: Why didn’t I get a golden hour alert for my booking?
A: The environmental alerts — Poor Conditions, Golden Hour and Low Tide — are off unless you turn them on for that booking, in its Notifications section. Golden Hour also needs an outdoor location, and Low Tide needs a coastal one.
Q: If I change my mind while editing, are my changes undone?
A: Yes. Nothing you type is written to the record until you tap Save, and Cancel discards it all. If you have unsaved changes, Apex Lucis asks before throwing them away. Settings screens are the exception — like system settings, they apply as you go.
Q: Why can’t I delete a booking?
A: A booking has to be cancelled first, then deleted from its detail screen. Invoices, contracts and calendar events hang off a booking, so the two-step route makes sure it is deliberate — and cancelling is reversible right up until you delete.
Q: Where do I itemise an invoice?
A: On the edit screen, not the one you create it on. Save the invoice, open it, tap Edit Invoice, and scroll to Items. Type a description, quantity and price, then tap +. The Amount above becomes the total of the lines. See Itemising an invoice.
Q: Why can’t I add a line to my invoice?
A: Only a Draft can be itemised. Once an invoice has been sent, paid, voided or refunded, your client is holding a copy of it, so its figures stop moving. If a sent invoice is wrong, void it and raise a new one.
Q: How do I bill a client for costs I paid on their behalf?
A: Mark the cost Reimbursable by client in Expenses and give it the booking it was for. On a draft invoice for that booking, the Items section then offers to add every outstanding cost in one tap, at whatever you are charging for it. See Recharging a booking’s costs.
Q: Is a Mac version available?
A: Yes. Apex Lucis is available as a dedicated macOS application.
Q: Why do you want acess to my xxx
A: In order to work Apex Lucis needs access to the following capabilities
- Your Location - Apex Lucis uses your location to calculate sunrise, sunset and golden hour times, tide predictions, and local wildlife activity for the place you are shooting.
- Photo Library - Apex Lucis adds photos you choose to your location scouting notes and shot lists.
- Camera - Apex Lucis uses the camera for AR Scout, which overlays the sun and moon path onto your view of a location so you can see where the light will fall.
- Calendar - Apex Lucis adds your confirmed bookings to your calendar, and updates or removes those entries when a booking changes or is cancelled.
- Notification - Apex Lucis will notifify you about upcoming booking, light conditions, and tides patterns.
You can prevent the application from accessing these capabilities, it will still continue to work, without the functionality described above.
Q: How accurate are the sunrise and sunset times?
A: Very accurate. Apex Lucis uses a custom ephemeris engine based on standard astronomical algorithms (Julian Day conversion, solar declination, hour angle calculations). Times are typically accurate to within 1 minute of official published times.
Q: Why does the moon’s rise time differ from what I see in a third-party app?
A: Small differences are normal. Moon rise/set times vary by a few minutes depending on the algorithm, the observer’s elevation, and whether atmospheric refraction is accounted for. Apex Lucis applies standard atmospheric refraction corrections.
Q: Why do the tides differ from what I see in other applications, or websites?
A: Apex Lucis calculates Tidal information on device based on data from over 8000 Tidal Stations. While we endeavour to be as accurate as possible, sometimes external influences affect the Tides that online Tidal services can respond to more accurately.
Disclaimer - The tide information presented by Apex Lucis is not designed to be used for navigation purposes, seek out more accurate tide tables.
Q: What is your definition of the timing for light periods?
A: Apex Lucis uses the following definitions for calculating the timing for light periods. While Dawn/Dusk figures are standardised astronomical definitions, Golden hour and Blue hour don’t have such standards. Apex Lucis uses the commonly accepted definitions below.
Duration varies significantly by latitude and season — these periods stretch out dramatically near the poles and in summer, and compress near the equator and in winter.
Morning sequence
| Period | Sun position | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 18° below horizon | Sky begins to lighten almost imperceptibly; faintest illumination |
| Nautical dawn | 12° below horizon | Horizon becomes visible at sea; general shapes distinguishable |
| Civil dawn (Dawn) | 6° below horizon | Enough light for outdoor activity without artificial lighting |
| Blue hour (morning) | ~4° to 8° below horizon | Soft, even, blue-toned light; roughly spans late nautical/civil twilight |
| Golden hour (morning) | 6° below to ~6° above horizon | Warm, low-angle direct sunlight once the sun clears the horizon |
| Sunrise | 0° (upper limb at horizon) | Sun becomes visible |
Evening sequence
| Period | Sun position | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Sunset | 0° (upper limb at horizon) | Sun disappears from view |
| Golden hour (evening) | ~6° above to 6° below horizon | Warm, low-angle direct sunlight before the sun sets |
| Blue hour (evening) | ~4° to 8° below horizon | Soft blue-toned light after sunset |
| Civil dusk | 6° below horizon | End of usable natural light for most outdoor activity |
| Nautical dusk | 12° below horizon | Horizon no longer visible at sea |
| Astronomical dusk | 18° below horizon | Sky reaches full darkness; astronomical observation becomes viable |
Q: Can I add multiple businesses / company profiles?
A: No. Apex Lucis supports one company profile. If you operate multiple photography businesses, you would need separate app installations or accounts.
Q: Can I export all my data?
A: Individual reports (financials, invoices) can be exported as PDFs. A full data export (all bookings, clients, etc) is available in Settings.
Q: How do I set up tides for a non-coastal location?
A: Tides are only relevant for coastal locations. If you don’t set a Location Type to be coastal, the Tides module will not return data. The tide factor will use a neutral score of 50 (out of 100) for non-coastal locations, before it’s weighted into the overall 0–10 Shoot Score.
Q: Can I share a call sheet with my crew?
A: Yes, two ways. Preview Call Sheet produces a PDF; Share as Web Page produces a single self-contained page that opens on any phone with nothing to install. Both send through Messages, Mail or AirDrop. Either way it is a copy — changes you make afterwards do not reach one already sent. Call sheets need Apex Lucis Pro, and the web page is part of Client-Ready Web Documents.
Q: What currencies does Apex Lucis support?
A: Apex Lucis supports GBP (£), USD ($), EUR (€), AUD (A$), CAD (C$), and several other major currencies. Set your preferred currency in Settings → Regional.
Q: Does Apex Lucis integrate with accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks?
A: No direct integration exists. You can export financial reports as PDFs and manually enter summaries into your accounting software.
Q: Can I generate model release forms inside the app?
A: Yes. From the Crew section of a booking, you can generate a model release PDF from your document template and track its status against each person. It can also be signed on the device — with a finger, a stylus or an Apple Pencil — and the signature is printed on the PDF from then on. Where the model is under 18 you can require a guardian’s signature instead. Crew is part of Crew & Call Sheets, which needs Apex Lucis Pro.
Q: I’ve edited my invoice template. How do I update it in the app?
A: Swipe left on the template (or right-click on Mac) and choose Replace File, then pick your edited .rtf. You do not need to delete the old one first. The template keeps its name and stays the active template for its type, so your next invoice uses the new version straight away. See Templates for the full detail.
Q: Which features need an Apex Lucis Pro subscription?
A: Eight — Profit and Loss, Insights, Moon Alignment, Optimal Windows, Crew & Call Sheets, importing your own PDF layouts, Client-Ready Web Documents, and Automations. Everything else is included with the app, including the wording of every message it sends for you, the photographic calculators, and the aurora and colour forecasts. Optimal Windows is the one that still runs without a subscription: it scans your three nearest locations over three days rather than everything you have saved over ten. See Pro Features.
Q: What happens to my data if I cancel my Pro subscription?
A: All your data remains intact — nothing is deleted. Insights, Profit and Loss, Moon Alignment, Call Sheets, Crew, the Documents half of Templates and the web-page exports show the upgrade screen again in place of their content, so they are not viewable while you are unsubscribed, and Optimal Windows goes back to scanning your three nearest locations over three days. PDFs of the same documents carry on working. Everything else carries on as normal, including your messages and generating documents: any custom templates you imported stay saved, and your PDFs fall back to the built-in template for each type until you resubscribe. Resubscribe at any time and your custom templates become active again exactly as you left them.