Photone - Grow Light Meter

This app is helpful for getting the correct amount of light for my plants. I bought the diffuser and I printed out the lighting chart for autoflowers from their website. I use the dli mode and follow it almost exactly, except I find that 45 dli is a bit much for some plants, so I usually aim for 40-43 dli. If I was going to improve this app, I would add a feature where I could select the type of plant, what week my plants are on, and the number of hours the lights are on, then it could tell me if I need more or less light. In other words, the plant light calculator would be built-in. The upgrade for LED and the diffuser are worth the money, but they should be upfront about it and disclose it before getting the app. I think people would be more willing to pay if they didn’t think they were being misled from the beginning.

All I needed was something to measure lux, because a sleep expert says we should have lighting measuring less than 30 lux for an hour or two before bed. I tried two other apps first. One was difficult to figure out, and the other one required payment, even though the app description didn’t include that. I took a chance on this app because of the developer’s notes - sounds like a straight-up, fair person. This app was super easy to use; there are instructions on how to make a diffuser by wrapping a strip of printer paper around the front camera. To change the setting to measure in lux, all I had to do was swipe a couple of times. I used it to measure light from various sources to see how it worked, and will be using it tonight to measure my usual evening lighting. I’m moving soon, and after I have my houseplants set up in their new locations, I will definitely upgrade so I can make sure I have optimal lighting for my plants, and to support the app and the developer! There’s so much greed these days especially in children’s apps, so it’s really refreshing to come across someone who is fair-minded like this.

Best app on the AppStore to estimate PPFD for growing plants. I’m a botanist, and so I know this app won’t replace a $400 par meter, but for quick estimations with your phone? This app is more than worth it. The hold feature is super useful. The background shows a grainy picture that gives you instant feedback that you are aiming your phone correctly, which is a unique feature that even the expensive PAR meters do not have. A suggestion to the developer for a future update would be for the background preview picture to freeze when the hold option is used. The hold option right now freezes the reading which is useful for measuring at actual leaf locations and orientations, but the background picture does not freeze with the reading. It would be amazing for the background image to freeze with the hold measurement, so when you pull your phone back you could see that you were aiming the phone correctly and you could see what you were aiming at when the hold measurement was taken.