KSA Shadow Map

COVERAGE: Riyadh metropolitan area. More Saudi cities are planned.

KSA Shadow Map finds the walking route with the least sun.

Most map apps give you the fastest way. In Riyadh, the fastest way can mean ten minutes in direct sun at 43°C with 10% humidity. This app computes where buildings actually cast shadows at the hour you are travelling, then routes you through them.

WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT

Real shadows, not guesses. The app carries the footprints and heights of more than 90,000 buildings across the Riyadh metropolitan area (4,360 km²) and projects their shadows for the exact sun position at your chosen time. The towers of Olaya and KAFD — PIF Tower, Burj Rafal, Al Faisaliah, Kingdom Centre — throw long shade in the afternoon, and the route uses it.

Shade you can actually walk in. "Prefer shade" balances shade against distance. "Shade only" caps how far you ever walk in unbroken sun, so you are never exposed for long stretches even if the total sun is similar.

Built for a car city. Riyadh's blocks are wide and its arterials are long. Where a road carries no footway and there is genuinely no way to walk, the app says so and offers the drive instead of leaving you with an empty screen.

Indoor links count. Malls, air-conditioned walkways and footbridges are part of the network. Routes can take you through Kingdom Centre, Riyadh Park, Granada Mall or Al Nakheel instead of around them.

Check before you go. Play back the day's shadows hour by hour and see when your route turns shady. Sometimes leaving 40 minutes later changes everything.

FOR DOG OWNERS

Asphalt in the midday sun reaches around 70°C while shaded ground stays near 43°C. Paws can be burned in under a minute. The app estimates surface temperature along your route and warns you when a walk should be postponed, kept to grass and shade, or is fine as it is.

WHAT YOU GET

• Walking, cycling and driving routes across Riyadh

• Shade percentage and metres of sun for every route

• Longest unbroken stretch of sun, so you know the worst part

• UV index and feels-like temperature in sun and in shade

• Turn-by-turn voice guidance that follows your position

• Shade networks and shade-casting buildings drawn on the map

• Search that runs on your device — 51,000 places, no network needed

• Save your home and favourite places

• English, Arabic, Korean, Japanese and Chinese, with full right-to-left layout

HOW IT WORKS

Pick a destination. Your starting point defaults to where you are, so one tap is usually enough. The route appears with its shade breakdown, and voice guidance starts as soon as your position is fixed. Drag the time slider to see the same route at any hour of the day.

Building data comes from OpenStreetMap. Weather and UV come from MET Norway. Shadow geometry is computed on your device from the sun's real position, so the map keeps working when the network does not.

IMPORTANT

UV values and surface temperatures are estimates for clear-sky conditions. They are guidance for planning a walk, not medical advice. Always use your own judgement in extreme heat, and check on children, elderly companions and pets.

Building heights come from open map data and are not complete everywhere. Where a height is missing the app assumes a low building, so a street may be shadier in reality than the app shows — it errs towards telling you there is less shade, not more.

Coverage is the Riyadh metropolitan area. Outside it you can still explore the map and try a demo route.