Any word on new Android version of Sky Safari?

MortonH · #1 10-03-2014, 01:52 PM

Previous posts indicated that a new version may be released this month, hopefully with introductory pricing as they did with the iOS version.

Anyone heard anything?

mithrandir (Andrew) · #2 10-03-2014, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MortonH

Previous posts indicated that a new version may be released this month, hopefully with introductory pricing as they did with the iOS version.

Anyone heard anything?

There's a Yahoo group for Southern Stars. I haven't seen anything about the Android version for a couple of weeks, but IIRC they were still saying March-ish.

mithrandir (Andrew) · #3 11-03-2014, 08:13 AM

From SS Yahoo group this morning.

Quote:

I would like to purchase Skysafari4plus for Android. I understand a new verion (4) will be released in late march. Is it possible to purchase now, and then upgrade to the 4.0 version for a modest fee? Or should I just wait untill the new version is released and then purchase?

Yes, you should probably just wait. There is no simple upgrade path from SS3 to SS4. Hopefully, if the beta goes smoothly, we will have it available in a couple of weeks.

Bill Tschumy

multiweb (Marc) · #4 11-03-2014, 08:42 AM

If I bought SkySafari Plus on iPod can I transfer the licence to a Samsung Galaxy Tab3 android tablet or is it totally different?

glend (Glen) · #5 11-03-2014, 09:22 AM

If you have purchased the Android version of Skysafari Plus it will be upgraded automatically via Google Store when released. The current Android release version is 1.8.5. The Android and Apple IOS version numbers are very different due to it being released first on IOS but from an operational point of view there is no difference.

chappo (John) · #6 11-03-2014, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

If I bought SkySafari Plus on iPod can I transfer the licence to a Samsung Galaxy Tab3 android tablet or is it totally different?

No, not transferable.
Licencing is handled by Apple and Google, not Southern Stars.

chappo (John) · #7 11-03-2014, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glend

If you have purchased the Android version of Skysafari Plus it will be upgraded automatically via Google Store when released. The current Android release version is 1.8.5. The Android and Apple IOS version numbers are very different due to it being released first on IOS but from an operational point of view there is no difference.

Not quite correct.
Free updates are for minor upgrades.
The new V2 (?) for Android is a totally new program and will require a new licence.
Incidentally, the new version has just gone into public beta and Southern Stars are hoping for full release in about two weeks.

coldknights (Cathy) · #8 11-03-2014, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MortonH

Previous posts indicated that a new version may be released this month, hopefully with introductory pricing as they did with the iOS version.

Anyone heard anything?

They have on the yahoo users group that they want the first 20 respondents to beta test there new version For Android SKYSAFARI V 4

Hoping it will be on Google play within the next few weeks.

MortonH · #9 11-03-2014, 08:01 PM

Cool!!!!

mithrandir (Andrew) · #10 22-03-2014, 08:35 AM

From Bill this morning:

Quote:

After many months of hard work, Simulation Curriculum would like to announce the release of SkySafari 4 for Android. This is a major new version and is not a free upgrade from SkySafari 1.8. However, to help you to move to the new release, all versions of SkySafari will be half price until April 21st.

Quote:

The "what's new" list:

New look-and-feel, app icons, and artwork.
Requires only half the storage space on your Android device as did the previous versions.
Complete rewrite of compass code for much smoother and more accurate motion tracking.
Google Maps integration: choose your location from a built-in Maps view, under Settings -> Location.
Improved method for obtaining time zone and daylight saving time rules when you switch to a location other than "current location".
Animated meteor showers, with complete viewing information and spectacular graphics.
New horizon panoramas: Yerba Buena Gardens in downtown San Francisco, Uluru (Ayers Rock) Australia, and the top of Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island. Or add your own!
Plus & Pro - Completely reinvented scope control panel. Up/Down/Left/Right controls only appear when the scope is connected, and big enough to be useable.
Plus & Pro - Objects lists under Search are now sortable by name, number, magnitude, RA, Dec, and many other properties.
Plus & Pro - New Advanced Search options let you find objects using properties other than their name. For example, you can find all objects of a certain type, within a certain constellation, brighter than a certain magnitude, etc.
Plus & Pro - New Advanced Time settings let you enter a date & time thousands of years in the past or future, to the nearest second, or using Julian dates.
Plus & Pro - New Telescope Equipment settings let you enter a list of all your telescope equipment. Select different combinations of eyepieces and telescopes to display field-of-view automatically. Set up a separate camera and auto-guider FOV. All FOV indicators can be labelled in the sky chart.
Plus & Pro - New Observing list features. Now log observations of objects directly from the Object Info view, or show all your observations of any object at once. With any observation, you can now include the equipment you used to observe the object, the location you observed from, and the observing conditions (seeing and transparency).
Plus & Pro - New Variable Stars list, containing the brightest and best-known variables in the sky.
Plus & Pro - Added hundreds more descriptions for solar system objects. Every moon in the solar system now has a description, as do dozens of well-known asteroids and comets. Many existing object descriptions updated and rewritten. The brightest satellites now have descriptions, too, and the ISS and HST have 3D models.
Plus & Pro - Default solar system database updated with the latest data, including Pluto's 5 moons, asteroid orbit data from Lowell observatory, and comet orbits from JPL (current Nov 2013). Pro now contains 630,000 asteroids!
Plus & Pro - Deep sky database contains numerous bug fixes reported by users. M106 now has an image in the sky chart.
Pro only - All full screen images in Object Info now include hi-res versions for the iPad.
Pro only - Database now contains Guide Star Catalog 2.x stars to magnitude 15 - total 25 million (up from 15 million in SkySafari 3 Pro).
Pro only - Database now includes the complete General Catalog of Variable Stars and Washington Double Star catalogs.

Sincerely,

Bill & Tim
Simulation Curriculum

coldknights (Cathy) · #11 22-03-2014, 08:54 AM

Hi Andrew just downloading it now got the email this morning from the yahoo users group !
All 1.18 GB

Amaranthus (Barry) · #12 22-03-2014, 10:53 AM

It's so big because it's got 25 million stars, down to mag 15! I like to have a little game at the eyepiece, trying to find stars in my FOV that aren't showing up in my simulated Skysafari view. Most are there...

mithrandir (Andrew) · #13 22-03-2014, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coldknights

Hi Andrew just downloading it now got the email this morning from the yahoo users group !
All 1.18 GB

We iOS users are used to SSPro being huge.

MortonH · #14 22-03-2014, 01:15 PM

Got it! Thanks.

Shano592 (Shane) · #15 23-03-2014, 10:06 AM

Do we need to remove v1.8.5 first?

mithrandir (Andrew) · #16 23-03-2014, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shano592

Do we need to remove v1.8.5 first?

No. They can co-exist if space is no problem.
You might hang out for a few days. There is an acknowledged problem with the '-' key not working.

Quote:

Thanks for the report. You are totally right that the keyboard is not letting you type a minus sign. We'll get that fixed ASAP.

You have also found something wonky with the search. We will track it down and get it fixed.
Bill Tschumy

glend (Glen) · #17 23-03-2014, 11:52 AM

They should extend the pricing offer if it still has bugs. I think I will wait for some user reports before considering an upgrade, I find nothing wrong with 1.8.6 (or was it 5).
Will the old version continue to be supported?

cookie1 (Paul) · #18 23-03-2014, 03:40 PM

Thanks for the heads up. New version is great, works awesome on my nexus 7. I'm sure they will find bugs but that is to be expected.

mithrandir (Andrew) · #19 23-03-2014, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glend

They should extend the pricing offer if it still has bugs. I think I will wait for some user reports before considering an upgrade, I find nothing wrong with 1.8.6 (or was it 5).
Will the old version continue to be supported?

Glen, if you don't mind possibly having to downloading it twice, as long as you buy before April 21 you get the price. The bugs in the initial iOS version of v4 didn't get the intro extended. The '-' bug is more of an issue "down under" with most of the sky having negative declination.

Shano592 (Shane) · #20 24-03-2014, 12:07 PM

I doubt it would be a full download for each update ... only the base apk.

Wouldn't be more than 30MB or so.

Anyway, I bought the Pro version, and let it download overnight. Looks great, and seems a bit smoother than 1.8.5.