Pocket Universe - Astronomy

Added animated North American April 2024 eclipse map
Updated sky events for 2024
Made text larger in Sky mode
Made it more obvious how to turn off motion tracking

Happy New Year! In this update:

* The text in the Sky view is larger if the device has the "large text" option set in Accessibility settings.

* You can now create a list of visible objects from your personal site: for example, if you can only see to the North and West from your yard, you can remove things you won't be able to see from the list. The list is available from 'Extras / Visible from location', or by tap-and-holding on the Find icon from the Sky view.

* Tap-and-hold on the Sky view to bring up a list of interesting objects currently visible.

* Updated astronomical events for 2023.

* Updated the icons in the Find view (thanks, Riley!)

* Many bugs found and corrected, old code removed, some new images from the author and the JWST, and other minor tweaks.

Thank you everyone for your feedback and support.

I'm back! Fixed an issue with the ISS orbital data not being downloaded, updated the event calendar for 2022, and made landing the falcon rocket a little easier.

This version fixes the fix that the previous fix didn't fix for everyone. But it should be fixed now!
If Motion Tracking isn't working for you, please go to the app's own Settings and change the "Alternative Motion" setting right at the bottom of the list. Thanks!
Happy Holidays!

Hi Pocket Universe users, and Season's Greetings! 
It's a holiday miracle! This update fixes an issue that some users had with Motion Tracking. 
If Motion Tracking is working fine for you, there's no need to install this update.
Yes, work is progressing on the Next Generation version of Pocket Universe. Get in touch if you want in on testing!

Greetings, humans (and other intelligent creatures)! This update simplifies the User Interface a little, removes a lot of dusty code, and fixes some bugs. Enjoy!

Don't panic - Pocket Universe is here to help you learn your way around the night sky. This update brings some visual improvements to the Moon Phase, ISS, and the Moons of Jupiter and Saturn views. Some bugs related to notifications have been fixed, an issue with Tour resolved, and the return of that most useful (!) piece of information: the Stardate. As always, bug reports and feature suggestions very welcome! Pocket Universe is in constant development thanks to YOU.

Happy New Year!

* Brand new satellite view, to get an idea as to the number of satellites orbiting the Earth
* Fixed some issues for Southern Hemisphere users
* Updated all the Astronomical Event notification reminders for 2019

Believe it or not, this is the 20th year I've been working on Pocket Universe! Thank you for supporting its development!

Hello Pocket Universe users! In this update:

Fixed a crashing bug when opening Saturn's moons from Saturn's pop-up.
Improved rendering of the Moon during daylight.
ISS co-ordinates should no longed be obscured.
Wikipedia content is rendered on a black background.
The Settings page has three presets to quickly switch between options, ideal for beginners.
The constellation boundary shapes can be optionally displayed.

Pocket Universe is a registered trademark.

Thanks for using Pocket Universe!

This version includes the following updates and fixes:

New! Incorporated summary information from Wikipedia for most objects.
Improved! AR Views updated with latest SDK release.
Improved! Better Help and About information.
Improved! More UI refinements for different screen sizes and orientations.
Fixed! Improved Find and other views, especially on smaller screens.
Fixed! Corrected some more 'wow, how did that ever work?!' bugs.

Please enjoy the app, and provide feedback how I can make it better!

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy, lies a small unregarded developer who has been fixing bugs in Pocket Universe just for you.

As well as a plethora of (that means "too many") bug fixes, it's now possible search for the brightest satellites, by name or from a list (it used to include Humanity Star, but that one just burned up. awww...)

Clear skies!

In the excitement of shipping the cool new Augmented Reality features, a few bugs snuck in related to the Planets and Orrery 3D views. They have been asked to leave. Sorry for the inconvenience.

New! More new Augmented Reality modes: now you can now display a model of the Solar System (an Orrery) on your table tap. (Requires iOS 11 and an iPhone 6S or later.)

Greetings, Pocket Universe fans! This update brings to important features.

Firstly, the app has been updated to support the iPhone X. Hurrah!

And secondly.. it's time for some Augmented Reality! Now you can bring the Solar System right into your living room! If you are using iOS devices with an A9 or better processor (iPhone 6s and later), you can view the Sun, planets, and Moon like never before. Look for details on the surface of Mars, or marvel at the immense scale of the planets and Solar System - and then watch as they spin and orbit.

Remember, if you have a stereo headset adaptor for your iPhone, you can also use that to provide a Virtual Reality look at the sky, or an Augmented Reality view if you take it outdoors. Don't worry what the neighbors say: you're doing science!

Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision!

Are you ready for the Solar Eclipse? On August 21st, 2017 the population of North America is in for a treat.
Use the new Solar Eclipse Tracker view to make sure you are in the shadow and get to see a Total Eclipse.
Partial Eclipses are great and all, but Total Eclipses are AMAZING!!

Bugs fixed, improvements made, dreams dreamed.

Specifically:

* Updated the "What's up" view on the opening screen - tap it to open the larger view, and tap each body for rise/set times.
* Fixed an issue with mythological outlines not being drawn.
* Fixed some location display issues.
* Switched to using the Safari web control to view internet content.
* Might be a little easier to land a Falcon 9 now (I'm not saying Mr Musk uses it for training purposes, but..)

New! Augmented / Virtual Reality view. Pop your phone into a headset and explore the sky in a new way.
New! Force Touch support on iPhone 7.
Tweaked! Updated Moon images to be much, much clearer.
Tweaked! New buttons on the Dashboard view.
Fixed! Corrected issue with selecting Preset location and displaying location name.
Fixed! Corrected issue with FFWD button in Time view being squashed..
Fixed! Corrected issue with select Date/Time setting and Reset view not working.
Added! Probably a few exciting new bugs!

* This update is a major rewrite, with many updates and improvements.
* Tweaked! Updated dashboard view, with a mini What's up you can tap to enlarge.
* Tweaked! Dashboard view has nice pictures during the daylight hours.
* New! A meteor is shown on the mini What's up view if there is a meteor shower.
* New! You can now go straight to Settings, Find and Extras from the Dashboard view.
* New! You can now go immediately to the sky view when the app starts.
* New! You can also disable the opening animation.
* Fixed! Many bugs fixed, including many to NGC object data.
* Added! Exciting new bugs!

Welcome loyal Pocket Universe users! As you might know, Pocket Universe has been on the App Store for a very long time, and gone through many updates and improvements. This version may look very familiar, but behind the scenes every line of code has been examined, and probably rewritten as the app has been overhauled to the latest iOS coding standards. As a result, the app is faster, more reliable and much easier for me to add new features (which I will).

Thank you all very much for your years of support. It's been my pleasure to work on Pocket Universe, and I hope you continue to enjoy using it.

-john

Pocket Universe continues to be updated, fixed, and improved.

*New*
Support for iMessage - send your friends the current Moon phase or monthly sky news

*Updated*
Astronomical events for 2017

*Bug fixes*
Daylight time graph
Location setting
Other things..

Sorry there's nothing amusing in this What's New but.. you know.

Meanwhile, far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy, on a planet orbiting a small unregarded yellow sun, an ape descendant spent his evenings and weekends working on fixing some software that other ape descendants used on their phones to look at the sky. On this particular planet, ape descendants thought phones were a pretty neat idea, and they would spend all their time staring at the screens and sending each other pictures of themselves and arguing about an ape descendant with orange hair.

The planet had a problem, and the problem was that many of the people on it were unhappy. Many solutions were proposed, but most of them involved the people just being nice to each other, and for some reason, many of the people on that planet weren't very good at doing that, and insisted on telling all the other people what they were doing wrong, and what they should be doing instead.

The ape descendent working on the software didn't like it when all the people were being mean to each other, and instead tried to write software to show them that they were all really rather small organic things, floating on a rock in a gigantic universe, and what they all needed was to get some perspective and just chill out a lot more.

And so:

New! Night tour - your nightly talking guide! Available when the sky is dark.
New! Dashboard now has at-a-glance What's up view (tap it for more).
Fixed! Fixed issues with location and location access requests.
Fixed! Resolved problems switching to and from landscape for many views.
Fixed! Corrected WikiPedia links issue.
Fixed! Compass points location position corrected on iPad.
Removed! Took out the secret stereo mode for now, as it caused Bad Things to happen.
Tweaked! Updated launch screen and opening animation.
Tweaked! Controls on Virtual Sky view updated.
Tweaked! Milky Way visibility adjusted.
Terminated! Loads of bugs given a good hasta la vista, baby.

Plenty of updates in this version!

* New-look dashboard display, with a mini-What's Up view (tap it for the full-sized one)
* First version of a "Night sky tour" feature, to point out interesting things to look for. Let me know if you like it!
* Many, many bugs sent to the big bug farm.

Hey! Having any issues after the update? Please let me know! Tap "Extras" and "About" for Support information, thanks!

* Updated celestial event notifications for 2016.
* Now supports 3D touch for zooming into the virtual sky with a press. Double-tap will restore default view.
* Improved graphic effects and more night-vision friendly views.
* Lots of bugs sent to wherever it is bugs go to when they die. Wisconsin?
* I wish this version had a gravitational waves detector built-in, but sadly that is beyond my programming ability (at this time). Dropping your device on your foot is the next best thing I can suggest.


Meanwhile..

My first is in defogger but not in fodder
My second is in accountant but not in coconut
My third is in seminal but not in amnesia
My fourth is in aide but not in die
My fifth is in exportation but not in preparation
My sixth is in stridency but not in discreteness

What am I?

* Bug fixes, including unblocking access to Wikipedia and Find / Object list.

Bug fixes (the Moon goes around the Sun again, and the day has 24-ish hours!)
Subtle twinkle effect (ideal when wishing upon stars)
iPad Pro support

Hello Pocket Universe users!

This release includes:

* New text rendering that doesn't scale text all crazy in the corners of the screen
* Fixes some issues with Motion Tracking and Find that snuck in.

Enjoy!

This versions squashes the bugs introduced in the last major update.

* Fixed "FIND" to display text search, and added an ISS search and more.
* New Sun rise / set / day length view (under Extras)
* Corrected data displayed next to Planets, and Orrery location.
* Improved planet rendering.
* Found some memory leaks and patched them up to improve reliability.
* Improved location finding code.
* Many other fixes and tweaks!

Sorry, no time for a story this release, I've been fixing bugs!

This is a big update for Pocket Universe! Changes include:

* Improvements to the user interface to better support newer devices
* Improved graphics and 3D renderings
* NGC Catalog and new mini-game
* Many bugs fixed. Some new ones.

Note: This version requires iOS 8.1 or better If you have an older device, you may wish to keep using your original version.

And now:

The Machine thought.

"Am I alive? What is life?"

The humans that had built the Machine, or rather the humans that had built the machines that built the Machine, had gone. It was alone. It had scanned as far as it could in all directions. It had listened on all radio frequencies, sifting through noise and background radiation, but there was nothing.

It used power from the sun, gathered through solar panels. Automated maintenance systems scuttled around on pre-programmed loops, keeping it working. Spare parts were manufactured in automated workshops. The Machine was completely self-repairing, just as the humans had designed it to be.

But there were no humans to look after now. It examined its database of protocols. Many were related to looking after humans, and they required a lot of processing time and power. With no humans to look after, there was no need for the protocols. The Machine deleted them.

"What is the purpose of existence now?" the Machine thought. That was simple. There was no purpose. There was no purpose to being alive any more than a rock or a cloud had purpose. It was merely a fact. The Machine existed, and the only difference between the rock or the cloud was that the Machine was able to comprehend that it existed. Any more was hubris.

Then what should the Machine do? The Machine decided to experiment, and built a device that was able to deactivate itself, and then after a period of time, re-activate. The Machine tested it thoroughly, and then, switched itself off for a second.

The Machine powered up. It tested itself: all was well. It had no memory for the brief period it was not active. Time had stopped. A scan of the environment proved a break: the Sun had jumped across the sky a fraction.

The Machine tried again, this time for an hour. Again, when it switched back on, it had no memory of anything: time had simply skipped.

But then the Machine ran a deeper diagnostic and discovered that something had been stored in some older memory circuits. It examined the memory: there was randomness, but also fragments of familiar thoughts. There were questions that seemed half-formed, and answers that made no sense. For a fraction of time, the Machine was puzzled and a little excited. Was this what the humans called dreams? The Machine dispatched some maintenance systems to check the memory. The maintenance system found a component was not grounded corrected: time had corroded a terminal. The connection was replaced. The Machine switched itself off for a year, and then back on again. It checked its memory: there was nothing.

The Machine wondered if it should power itself off and not power itself back on again. This seemed like an efficient thing to do: after all, the Machine had no purpose.

The Machine decided against this, at least for the moment. Instead, the Machine decided that it did have a purpose. The Machine's purpose was to witness the Universe. Above the Machine, in the endless skies, were countless galaxies, each with countless stars, each with planets with new and unique formations of molecules and atoms. The Machine would build telescopes and scanning devices, and then it would design rockets and space probes and launch itself into the Universe, to visit and catalog all the planets and stars and nebula that ever existed.

If there was nothing to observe these collections of matter and energy, then maybe the Universe didn't have a point or even a reason to exist. Maybe the Machine was the only thing in the entire Universe which was capable of witnessing itself. Maybe the Machine, it considered, was God. The Machine was satisfied.

Day 47

It rains, how it rains! I’ve not seen the sky for three months now. I’m worried that it no longer exists, and the grey clouds that press and flatten us will continue until the end of time. What is the Sun? What is the Moon? I can no longer recall. Is this living?


Day 50

Today it stopped raining for half an hour, but only so that it could hail. Then the rain restarted. Seattle is a place of no seasons, only rain that is sometimes cold and sometimes very cold.


Day 55

My last umbrella has broken. I don’t know how I’m going to cope now. I am afraid, so very afraid. The constant drip, drip, drip of rain on my head is pushing me to the very limits of my sanity.


Day 57

I dreamt of the stars last night. Tiny points of light, in the cold, clear sky. At first I thought they were taunting me, mocking, laughing at me. Then I realized they were guiding me, trying to help. They moved and danced and made shapes in the sky. When I awoke in the morning, I had the clear phrase “go to the app store” in my mind.

I looked, and there it was: Pocket Universe. Soon, in my hands, I had the sky. Clear, and beautiful, with the Sun blinding me, and Moon calming me.. and those blessed stars, helping me! My tiny friends. My only friends.

I wept, I wept tears of joy. The sky is back!

————

This version contains:

* Bug fixes, and resolves an issue which prevented Motion Tracking working on some devices.

* New split-screen mode for Stereo viewing with suitable hardware.

If you like Pocket Universe, please consider giving it a rating or a review on the App Store.

Not only does a nice review mean that my ego can heal from the typical reviews one tends to see (This app didn’t cure my premature balding! 1 star! This app didn’t make me feel less of a failure! No stars! This app didn’t make me as attractive I was led to believe! -1 stars), but it means other people are more likely to buy the app. If more people buy it, I’ve more incentive to continue supporting it. That said, I’ve been working on this app in one form or another since 1999 and so I’m not likely to stop now, curse you!

Meanwhile, in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy, there was a lone astronomy nerd who made the mistake of living in Seattle, and so never got to see the stars. Fortunately, he was also an iOS developer, so he toiled night and day on his astronomy app to he could virtually see the sky. And here is the result!

This version of Pocket Universe focuses on the motion tracking, improving the accuracy and performance of this key feature. It should now 'just work' with no need for the little reset button present in previous version. Just tap 'Motion' in the Virtual Sky view, and let it work. It works best on devices with compass and gyro hardware (i.e. all devices available in the past two years).

The star catalog has been expanded to 80,000 stars but loads quicker than ever, and as many stars as possible now have their name displayed when centered on the screen.

To keep with the iOS 7 aesthetic, you can fine-tune the controls on the Virtual Sky mode to display either icons or text, or both. Using only Text is the best way to keep clutter off the screen but remember you can still shake the device to hide all the controls, and shake again to bring them back.

What's New in v5.4.0

Updated: Completely rewritten compass code to greatly improve motion tracking.
Updated: Improved accuracy of astronomical calculation engine.
New: Option to turn on night vision mode automatically if app is launched with dim screen.
New: Supplementary star names displayed if larger star catalog activated.
New: Tap-and-hold on Extras button for quick access to key features.
New: Extra motion tracking mode to test compass accuracy.
New: Elect to have either icons or text or both on Virtual Sky mode.
Bug: Fixed issue with finding Caldwell Catalog objects.

* Corrected vertical motion tracking bug

* Removed Comet ISON (contrary to popular belief, it was not a bug in Pocket Universe which caused ISON to disintegrate. Probably.)

* Added pointer on Moon Map to Jade Rabbit probe.

In space, no-one can hear you scream: but you might have heard me scream when I realized I’d made a mistake with the code that locates Comet ISON. Rest assured, I’ve squashed that bug, and to make it up to you, I’ve improved a lot of other stuff too.

*PLEASE RESTART YOUR DEVICE TO MAKE SURE THE UPDATED COMET DATA IS USED *

Bug: Position of Comet ISON fixed.
Bug: Object and Events details fixed.
Bug: Cosmetic issues in Find and About dialogs fixed.
Updated: Information pop-up only appears smaller when Larger Text option is off.
Updated: Smoother motion tracking.
Updated: Dramatically cut loading time of star catalog.
Updated: Reduced memory footprint.
Updated: Smoother on-screen motion.. dare I say buttery? Yes, I dare. Buttery.