Sky Harbinger for iOS

[gb_astro]

Originally Posted by kustard

Hi all,

In typical fashion, I've just found a bug with the app. It only affects the iPad as far as I can tell. When you bring up the data block the moon is in the wrong position.

Before I fix it up, is there anything else you can think of that might be useful?

Cheers,
Simon

Getting a bit picky here I guess Simon but re the iPad version I see the main sceen is more orientated for landscape viewing (ie reading the Information Block) but the setup and help pages are portrate mode. ???
Also the text in the Help Page is huge. ???

gb.

[kustard (Simon)]

Hi gb

Yeah the main screen is landscape and the other screens are portrait on all devices. The main reason is that the setup & help screens are taken straight from the AltAzAlign app and I didn't rotate them to landscape mode as I believed you'd only be in those screens very rarely.

The text in the help page (along with everything else on the iPad) is just a multiplication of the original iPhone version. The bug in the iPad is purely because when I coded the algorithm to change the screen sizes I must have missed the second part of the moon phase block.

Cheers,
Simon

[gb_astro]

Originally Posted by kustard

Hi gb

Yeah the main screen is landscape and the other screens are portrait on all devices. The main reason is that the setup & help screens are taken straight from the AltAzAlign app and I didn't rotate them to landscape mode as I believed you'd only be in those screens very rarely.

The text in the help page (along with everything else on the iPad) is just a multiplication of the original iPhone version. The bug in the iPad is purely because when I coded the algorithm to change the screen sizes I must have missed the second part of the moon phase block.

Cheers,
Simon

Ok.
We all appreciate the work you have put into it.
gb.

[kustard (Simon)]

Hi everyone,

V1.0.4 has been approved. It fixes the moon graphics when running on an iPad/iPhone5.

Thanks again to everyone who uses the app

Cheers,
Simon

[ourkind (Carlos)]

Thanks for making it available

/

[kustard (Simon)]

Hey guys,

Long time, no update

I've just had a little bit of time to fix up a few things with Sky Harbinger, updating the URL that app uses to download the data from 7Timer to their new address, and some general fixes for iOS7 and new iDevice screen sizes.

I'm hoping to get around to fixing up Alt Az Align at some point soon as well, at least to a point where it doesn't bug out on iOS7.

Cheers,
Simon

[pmrid (Peter)]

Hi Simon. I saw this app being used recently and was intrigued by it. Thanks for all your work to put it out there. I've downloaded it onto my iPad but can't get past an introductory screen saying the network is unavailable or I am in Airplane mode. I wonder what I am doing that it doesn't like.
Peter

[Octane (Humayun)]

Thanks for the update, Simon.

H

[kustard (Simon)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Hi Simon. I saw this app being used recently and was intrigued by it. Thanks for all your work to put it out there. I've downloaded it onto my iPad but can't get past an introductory screen saying the network is unavailable or I am in Airplane mode. I wonder what I am doing that it doesn't like.
Peter

There are a couple of reasons why you might be getting this error:

1. If your iPad is WiFi and 3G enabled then you may actually have Airplane Mode selected.
2. If your iPad is WiFi only then you may not have any network selected or you may be out of range of your WiFi.

Check your network connection and make sure you can browse the internet etc.

There are other errors that can occur if the app has network connection but may be restricted if you do not allow location services or if the 7Timer server is offline.

If you have more issues can you post up your iPad version and iOS version.

Thanks,
Simon

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by kustard

If you have more issues can you post up your iPad version and iOS version.

Thanks,
Simon

Hi Simon,
I just downloaded the latest iOS 7.0.4 (I had previously been using 7.0.3) and note a slight change in behavior but with the same end result. I still get the "red screen of death "telling me the network is unavailable. I am using a non-GSM 16GB iPad of the older style (i.e. not one of the sexy new mini numbers) and the Model is reported (in Settings > General > Model) as MC979X/A.

The slight change in behavior is that it now takes about 12 seconds for the dreaded message to appear whereas before I installed 3.0.4, the red screen appeared immediately after the initial blue intro screen.

I have had a look in the Harbinger settings and increased the timeout figure to 120 but that doesn't seem to have made any visible difference.

Any other ideas?

Peter

[kustard (Simon)]

Hi Peter,

I've double checked the code for the exact definition of what can cause that error. The location manager was unable to obtain a location value. The app has asked the location manager to tell it where the device is, by using WiFi, the location manager returns a GPS setting from your internet. It seems that for some reason, the location manager is active but unable to return a position for you.

I've never had an instance where the app will show this error if location services have been enabled for the app and there is an internet connection, whether it be 3G/4G and/or WiFi.

A possible suggestion would be to turn off WiFi, put the unit into Airplane Mode, remove the Sky Harbinger app from sitting in the background, then power down the iPad completely. Start it back up after a few seconds being off, turn off Airplane Mode, turn on WiFi, and try the app again once you have established an internet connection.

The timeout figure is used for when the app tries to connect to the data server for weather data. Initially there was a problem with 7Timer often timing out which is why this value is there but they have fixed their server connectivity so it is more reliable. Leaving it at 120 is not a problem.

Try the above steps out and if it doesn't work, send me another message.

Cheers,
Simon

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by kustard

Hi Peter,

I've double checked the code for the exact definition of what can cause that error. The location manager was unable to obtain a location value. The app has asked the location manager to tell it where the device is, by using WiFi, the location manager returns a GPS setting from your internet. It seems that for some reason, the location manager is active but unable to return a position for you.

I've never had an instance where the app will show this error if location services have been enabled for the app and there is an internet connection, whether it be 3G/4G and/or WiFi.

A possible suggestion would be to turn off WiFi, put the unit into Airplane Mode, remove the Sky Harbinger app from sitting in the background, then power down the iPad completely. Start it back up after a few seconds being off, turn off Airplane Mode, turn on WiFi, and try the app again once you have established an internet connection.

The timeout figure is used for when the app tries to connect to the data server for weather data. Initially there was a problem with 7Timer often timing out which is why this value is there but they have fixed their server connectivity so it is more reliable. Leaving it at 120 is not a problem.

Try the above steps out and if it doesn't work, send me another message.

Cheers,
Simon

Aha, I believe I have a clue to the answer - and it is a "country" issue that those with the luxury of city internet don't know about but which everyone who is forced to use satellite internet under the guise of the NBN will understand.

The way the satellite allocates IP addresses is "different". I have seen how, in the past, other programs trying to use a crude location have shown me as being somewhere in the dockside of Kowloon Hong Kong and other times in Shanghai.

Perhaps you could allow location services to be optioned out and allow users to enter their specific location in the way 7-Timer allows.

Peter

[pmrid (Peter)]

OK. I have the 7-Timer data displayed.
I turned Location Services off and entered the local Lat and Long. That got me into the data.
Phew.
It's a fix that works for me. Might be worth some though for a future version perhaps.

Peter

[kustard (Simon)]

Thanks for that info Peter, I didn't know about that at all. I'll make a note and next time I update the app I'll make it so you can enter in location data without the need for location services.

Cheers,
Simon

[kustard (Simon)]

Hi everyone, I've had a few reports in the past day or so about the SkyHarbinger app not updating.

The reason is that the 7Timer website isn't updating the data so when SkyHarbinger accesses the data it's an old data set.

I've have a quick look at their blog and it seems there is something wrong with their account so hopefully it's just a short term issue and nothing major.

Cheers,
Simon

[gb_astro]

Originally Posted by kustard

Hi everyone, I've had a few reports in the past day or so about the SkyHarbinger app not updating.

The reason is that the 7Timer website isn't updating the data so when SkyHarbinger accesses the data it's an old data set.

I've have a quick look at their blog and it seems there is something wrong with their account so hopefully it's just a short term issue and nothing major.

Cheers,
Simon

Thanks for the heads-up.

gb.

[kustard (Simon)]

The 7Timer service is back up and running but the data is still old, it may take them a few days to get everything back to working order.

Cheers,
Simon

Edit: For those wanting to know what happened, it looks like their server actually crashed and had to be sent for repair.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Been a while since I've been able to get Sky Harbinger to talk to 7Timer. The error message says try again later. I do, but still won't connect. Have played with timeouts with no effect too. Any ideas?

[NJB (Noel)]

Glad I'm not the only one. It has been a while since I too have been able to get it to work.

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

DNS is not working

i have had to change my web pages to the raw IP address

geoff