Scope Nights: Astronomy Weather 2.1
Scope Nights: Astronomy Weather 2.1 is now available on the Apple App Store
[/three_fourth] [one_fourth_last][button color=’magenta’ size=’medium’ link=’https://itunes.apple.com/app/scope-nights-astronomy-weather/id540120977?mt=8′]Download Now[/button][/one_fourth_last] [/callout]Scope Nights 2.1 now includes an accurate dark sky map designed to help you find local dark sky sites with the best stargazing forecasts. For those who are new to Scope Nights please also read the Scope Nights App page for a full description of features. For those updating from v2.0 here’s a list of changes…
iOS8 & iPhone 6 Compatibility
I’ve adding compatibility for iOS8 and the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but have had to stop supporting earlier versions of iOS as I develop the app on my own and don’t have the resources to support older versions.
Stargazing Forecasts For Multiple Scope Sites
Scope Nights 2.1 now features multiple locations (Scope Sites) as this was the most requested new feature. This means your favourite Scope Sites will need to be managed manually. You can do this in the Scope Sites page, where you can add, delete or re-order your locations. If updating, the app should remember your settings and your previously saved location should appear as a Scope Site. To change this location you’ll need to edit your Scope Sites.
In the Scope Nights summary page the first location is always your current location and the other stargazing forecasts will be your Scope Sites. You can swipe the Scope Nights summary page to move between the stargazing forecasts for each location. The basic version of Scope Nights allows you to view stargazing forecasts for your current location and one other Scope Site, and with the Dark Sky Locations upgrade you can view stargazing forecasts for your current location and up to five Scope Sites.
Please note: If your device can’t find your current location, no forecast will appear for the first location in the Scope Nights summary page and the dark sky map defaults to zero degrees latitude and longitude. This is usually because either the app has been denied access or permission to use Location Services which you can fix in the iOS settings, or your device cannot triangulate your position using WiFi spots or mobile masts so try refreshing the forecasts to allow the app to re-locate your position.
Dark Sky Locations
This new upgrade lets you add more Scope Sites and there’s a new screen showing the best Scope Sites for each night, along with a dark sky map to help people get away from something just as bad as cloudy skies… light pollution! For a full details of what features are included with this upgrade please see the Dark Sky Locations page.
Night, Evening or Morning Coverage
Not everyone can spend all night stargazing so I’ve added a new feature in the Astronomer’s Weather Settings that enables the coverage to be changed to All Night, Evening or Morning. This should give you more relevant nightly summary ratings. Please see the Astronomer’s Weather page for more details.
Fixed & Improved Astronomy Forecasts
I’ve fixed the global astronomy forecasts to cope with the changes by the weather service provider, and also improved the way in which forecasts are displayed in the app. Each forecast now has a flag to show the source of the weather data. This is useful for those who have applied a national astronomy weather upgrade, so you can see if the forecast is national or global. These icons can change depending on what data is available from the weather provider. Please see the National Astronomy Weather page for further details.
Bug Fixes & Improvements
Much of the code behind the scenes as been refactored to cope with iOS8. I’ve also ironed out a few bugs so you’ll hopefully find the app easier to use. If you find any bugs that slipped the net or have any future feature requests, please submit a support ticket. I’ve added a link to the online help & support ticket system from within the app to make it easier to find help articles.
If you like Scope Nights 2.1 please take the time to give it a good App Store review as it really helps.
Clear & Dark Skies!
Martin
