How to get a full moon notification on iPhone
The Weather app shows Moon phases, but Apple documents its alerts for precipitation and certain severe weather, not full moons. Three options can help: a subscribed calendar shows each date, a reminder alerts you if you enter it, and a moon app can notify you automatically.
Facts checked November 2026
I make Plenilune, a lunar almanac app for iPhone, and its full moon notification is free. This page also covers two ways that need no app, with their limits.
Calendar subscription | Reminder | Moon app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sends an alert | No; events appear silently | Yes, at the date and time you set | Yes, the evening before |
| Follows the real dates | Yes, to the minute | Only if you enter each date | Yes, computed on the iPhone |
| To set up | Subscribe once | 12 or 13 reminders a year | Switch it on, then allow notifications |
| Price | Free | Free | Free in Plenilune |
A subscribed calendar shows the dates
Calendar does not send a full moon alert from its own data, but you can subscribe to one that lists the phases. The moon calendar on this site puts every full moon at its exact instant, with its traditional name, and updates itself two years ahead. Events appear in Calendar and its widgets at your local time.
The calendar file carries no alerts. Each full moon appears silently, so you need to check the calendar to see it.
A reminder needs every date by hand
A monthly repeating reminder does not follow the Moon. A lunar month averages 29.5 days and varies, so a reminder on the same date slips against the full moon each month.
To get an alert, create one reminder for each full moon and enter its date and time: twelve or thirteen a year. The full moon calendar for 2027 lists every date and time to copy.
A moon app tells you by itself
A moon app calculates the dates and can notify you without anything to maintain. In Plenilune, the full moon notification comes on the last evening before each full moon. Turn it on in notification settings; it is free, as is the new moon notification. Premium adds visible eclipses, supermoons and blue moons.
When your iPhone is locked or asleep, an eligible notification can appear on a paired Apple Watch instead, if the watch is unlocked. No separate Plenilune watch app is needed.
Plenilune’s full moon notification is free on iPhone and iPad.
Which one to choose
- To see full moons in the calendar you already use: subscribe to a moon calendar.
- For one particular night, a walk or a photo: set a reminder for that date.
- To be told every month without keeping track: use a moon app’s notification.
Checked against Apple’s iOS 27 iPhone User Guide and Apple Watch User Guide on 2 November 2026.
Questions
- Does the iPhone have a full moon notification?
- The Weather app shows Moon phases. Apple documents Weather alerts for precipitation and certain severe weather, not for full moons. For a full moon alert, set a reminder or use a moon app.
- Why did my moon calendar not alert me?
- The moon calendar on this site has no alerts. Its events appear silently in Calendar at the right time. Use a reminder or a moon app for an alert.
- Can my Apple Watch tell me when the full moon comes?
- A paired Apple Watch can show an iPhone notification when the iPhone is locked or asleep and the watch is unlocked. The Moon complication can show the next moonrise or moonset, but it does not send an alert.
- Can I be told before a lunar eclipse?
- In Plenilune, yes, with Premium. The app calculates partial and total eclipses for your location and notifies you about the ones you can see. It leaves out penumbral eclipses, which are too faint to notice.