Android - Sky Safari 6 Beta

[Shano592]

Finally, it seems that we are almost ready to receive the latest offering of Sky Safari 6, on the better operating system! :P

I received an email a couple of days ago, saying that if I wanted in on the beta program, then I had to sign in to the SimulationCurriculum website, and do a couple of other things, in order to get hold of a beta copy.

With no time on my hands as it is, I didn't take it up, but it's good to know that we have not been entirely forgotten.

As for timeframes, I did read online that the final Android release could be as early as late August.

We can only hope.

[ChrisV]

I think you still have to pay for it, but it's 50% off.

[Karlzburg]

I'm apart of the beta testing and so far it has been better than 5 hands down

[AndyG]

Good to hear :) If you have time, could you please elaborate on any improvements?

I'm curious to see if Tiangong-1 has been removed. I still get the alerts occasionally from the phone that it's "rising" (from the dead?).

[julianh72]

I've been using the SS6 Pro Beta for a couple of weeks now, and it looks like the full release is just a few days away. (iOS version has been available for some time, I believe.)

It is generally very similar to SS5, but the interface is a lot more polished than previously - everything just seems to work "better", and it also seems to be a lot more stable - no crashes to report.

Apart from a bit of general "spit and polish", the main enhancements I've noticed are better grouping and access to the features that you are likely to use for planning a session and then undertaking that session (selecting equipment, observing site, etc) - plus the synchronisation of your data to their own Cloud Store (LiveSky).

I really like the interactive HR Diagram as well (In-App purchase required) - as you zoom in on a target area, you can see the scatter of HR Classifications for the brightest stars in the field of view, with your selected "target" star highlighted - very neat!

[AndyG]

Thanks Dude,

For the simple way I use it, my only small gripe was having the "info" and "Compass" buttons so far away from each other. I often use the compass mode to double check what I'm looking at, then want the info for it, NGC#, etc. It would be nice if those 2 buttons didn't need a swipe to reach in succession.

1st world problems, I know :P

[Karlzburg]

Tiangong 1 is dead and buried:lol:

[Karlzburg]

You can configure how you want the buttons to be and which order you'd like them.

Go into settings and look for appearance and behaviour, in the behaviour section at the bottom is configure toolbar. Click on that and will give you a list of what's in the toolbar and what can be put into the toolbar with check boxes next to them.
Click item, it'll turn blue then with the arrows at the top rearrange to how you like it. It's something SS5 doesn't have. Hope that helps

[AndyG]

That does help Sir, I look forward to getting the new version. Thankyou :)

[multiweb]

I see it's available on IOS now. Can't wait to see it on Android. I use it all the time on the field.

[Karlzburg]

It's been IOS for about 6 months or so as far as I know

[Malcolm]

Pro is out for Android now. 1.7GB download.

[multiweb]

Woohoo! Downloading it now. :party:

[Chapstick]

Might be time for a new phone...or a tablet, anyone got any recommendations?

[multiweb]

Seems the custom fovs scope/cameras are missing or they have moved? I found some settings under the icon now called observation but I can't seem to be able to display the camera/scope fovs on the planisphere. Under settings the telescope section has a few missing entries. I wish we could import all the settings from 5 to 6.

[julianh72]

You can import all of your saved SS5 data into SS6. The process depends on whether you were saving them to local storage, or backing up to Google Drive. Instructions are at the top of the Help file in the app. SS6 data is automatically synced to SkySafari's own LiveSky Cloud storage (free for SS6 Plus and Pro users).

All of your equipment settings, FOV indicators, etc, should all be imported, once you have done the one-time import, and will be synced across multiple devices.

[multiweb]

I saved locally in 5. Will do some reading about transfering settings. :thumbsup:
PS: cool, that worked beautifully! That's where you've got to love android for file management. :)

[Malcolm]

After buying this I've made probably about a dozen failed attempts to download this app. I think I've downloaded about 4GB of data from my isp trying to get this. I've rolled back PlayStore, turned off auto-update apps, deleted and replaced my Google account, cleared data and cache within PlayStore, rebooted multiple times after doing this and after getting around 450MB it fails with a 495 error. Prior to that error I was getting a "Waiting for WiFi" error when I was clearly connected. Seem to have solved that one only to encounter the 495 error. I have over 5GB of free space. My last resort is to try from a friends place who has NBN wireless, if it fails there I'll be after a refund and re-install 5 Pro. I'm on Telstra ADSL2 here, and my phone is a relatively new Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X.

[multiweb]

I downloaded a bit over a GB and it just installed without a glitch. I'm using a 5 year old Samsung Galaxy TAB 3.

[Malcolm]

It would be good if you could get this outside of PlayStore and side-load it to the device. Unfortunately as it's a paid app it's just not possible to prevent piracy. Meanwhile Google PlayStore on my PC tells me it's installed, which it isn't, so the refund button is no longer available. If I can't get this over another connection I've done my money.

[multiweb]

I'm sure there's a way to contact them and sort it out.

[Malcolm]

At a friend's place now giving it another go.

[julianh72]

SS6 Pro is using 2 GB on my phone (1.87 GB for the app, which I assume includes the full Pro star catalogue, and another 128 MB of "User data", which probably includes my in-app purchases etc).

I can't recall how big the full download is, as I've been on the Beta program, so I've had a lot of small downloads in the last few days for Beta patch updates - from memory, it was about 1.5 GB. (I do recall getting a warning that this was a big download, and to check my data caps before installing)

Sit yourself down with a good wi-fi connection, delete the app and then install it again, and it should be good to go.

Good luck!

[Malcolm]

I finally got it down after having to wipe my phone. Failed twice with yet another error message so I decided to wipe the phone and it came in just fine. Finally! :-)

[AndyG]

Just bought Skysafari 6 Pro this morning. Despite having it for zero nights so far, it already looks better. Hopefully will make it to my 1st astro club meet here in Townsville on Saturday... should be good :)

Thanks for pointing this out!

[skysurfer]

Most data do work. I installed SS6 on my Huawei Mate 9 and afterwards I started it clean, exited it, removed the folder Skysafari 6 Pro and renamed Skysafari 5 Pro to Skysafari 6 Pro, and everything worked, except my equipment list which I had to fill in again.

There is a weird bug in it: the Moon is displayed in daylight as a black ball with a white crescent in it.

[multiweb]

Why did you rename 5 to 6? :question:

[Malcolm]

"removed the folder Skysafari 6 Pro" That doesn't make sense at all. The Pro6 folder would have contained all the updated info for the app. I think that by doing that you restored v5.

[ChrisV]

What are the in -app extras to purchase. Are they something new ? Sounds like you can purchase extra catalogs etc ? I currently have v5 pro.

[julianh72]

Interactive HR Diagram - I'm not sure how much it costs, as I bought it as part of the Beta trial program, and now that I own it, the purchase price doesn't show up

PGC Extension Database - adds 3 million galaxies - $7.49

UCAC5 Extension Database - adds 75 million stars - $14.99

[julianh72]

You need to COPY the SS5 data into the SS6 folder, not delete and replace the SS6 data. I suspect the SS6 folder structure might contain some important file(s) which you may have deleted.

[skysurfer]

Thanks.
I'll try it.

[ChrisV]

I finally upgraded. Took a while to find everything as the menus have changed a bit. But has a much better feel now and some nice features like graph object - good for planning. No crashes with orbit object anymore!

[julianh72]

SkySafari 6 Plus and Pro are 50% off at the moment - I'm not sure how long the discount will be around:

https://skysafariastronomy.com/ss6-neaf.html#ss6-pro