Wednesday, February 24, 2016

The new version of the Android app is out

The Android version of the Loss of the Night app has been updated (new version is 2.1.5). The main changes with this update were to target the boundary between averted vision and not visible (it was incorrectly set to target the boundary between visible and averted in the last version), and to deal with the (rare) problem that some phones sometimes reported incorrect GPS positions.

The solution we introduced to solve the GPS problem may unfortunately prevent some phones from using the smoother gyroscope function that was introduced with the second version of the app. If you notice that the display of the stars seems jittery, try immediately quitting the star search and starting it again. If that doesn't work, please contact me to let me know what model of phone and which version of Android you are using. While we do not currently have funding to do further development, your input could help us figure it out more quickly in the case we do find additional funding.

12 comments:

  1. The new version isn't on google play

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    1. The new version is 2.1.5, released February 24. It's available here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cosalux.welovestars&hl=en

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  2. LG L22C Power, Android 5.0.1, LotN 2.1.5

    I have not yet been able to make any observations with the updated app on this phone, as it seems unable to get a location lock from the GPS satellites. I've seen it sit 10 minutes outside while still reading 0 satellites visible, then another time saying 23 satellites visible, but still not finding its location. All I can do is cancel out and quit the observation.

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    1. Hello Drew,

      I'm sorry that the new version is not working for you!

      The old version had a problem in which we occasionally got a GPS position that was reported as being accurate, but was in fact incorrect. The new version uses a different method to avoid this, so if your phone isn't getting an accurate enough reading this would explain why it's not getting past the GPS step. Unfortunately, since accurate positioning is absolutely necessary for the project, we have to be conservative about what positioning data we can accept, even if this means the app can't run on some devices.

      Could you please try checking if you get a fix with the "GPS Status" app (and how long it takes). If that works, please try the app again and see if it then also gets your position. Please also check that the latitude and longitude reported by the GPS Status app are correct (e.g. with Google Maps).

      When you don't have a data connection (e.g. when you are traveling in another country) it sometimes can take a long time to acquire the ephemeris data. I have sometimes had waits of several minutes (perhaps up to ten, but usually more like 2-3).

      If you do the tests above, please let me know by email (contact info here: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~kyba/).

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  3. Hi! I've been using the app for some time now. Today I tried to access my measurements, but it says that I haven't made any, despite having done 3 or 4 of them. In the previous version I didn't had this problem. Thanks!

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    1. Hello Lorenzo,

      Sometimes when we do a new release it's not possible to carry the older data forward, and I guess that was the case this time. Sorry for that! But you can always access your original data (and see it in much more detail) at http://www.myskyatnight.com. If you have provided an email address then you can log in and view all of your observations. If you didn't, then you can still see your data by zooming to the location you took the data and clicking on it.

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    2. Oh ok!! Thanks for answering! Congrats on the project!

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  4. Hello team,

    I'd like to ask why the app isn't compatible with the Samsung SM-G355M smartphone which was released 2 years ago, but it's compatible with an Older smartphone than this, which is the Samsung GT-S6812B ? Is there any possiblity to have it working on Samsung SM-G355M ??

    Thanks for your prompt reply.

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    1. I'm not sure about the details of either phone. I have seen some phones that don't have a built in compass, but the compass is necessary to use the app. Could that perhaps be the case?

      Unfortunately we do not currently have funding for further development.

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  5. Why do I return the measure can not be displayed in the map?
    http://familystar.org.tw/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=45&topic=25946.msg222709#msg222709

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    1. There could be two reasons. First, it can take up to a day for the results to appear on the map. Second, on the map we only show observations that can be used for analyses. This means:

      1) No sun or twilight
      2) Moon below horizon
      3) No clouds or other weather
      4) Decisions on at least 7 stars
      5) Observation is self-consistent, meaning that there is a clear difference between stars you can see and stars you cannot.

      But you should always be able to see all of your observations by logging in with your registered email address.

      I hope this helps!

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    2. Thank you, I know my problem.
      I report not "No Clouds"

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