So I have an iPad Air 5th generation with the Apple Pencil.
I use the inverse monochrome appearance to make SS7 Pro look like the paper charts I learned on in the dark ages.
I’ve been taking screenshots of various objects, using the FoV for the scope/ep/binocular I intend to use (or a generic FoV) and then I mark up the photos in the photo app, using the Apple Pencil. I bounce back and forth to update guide Star data and other various details to help with my actual visual sessions.
I’m a developer by trade and we have a few apps where we allow marking up of image data and store the marked up data with the image for searching, workflow, etc. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this before, but why can’t you add the ability to mark up a chart or a chart region, storing it within an observation list, directly on the chart in the app itself? You could add a little pencil icon at the top to click on to enter this mode (just like the photo app does).
This would allow for the ability to quickly plan out sessions ahead of time, outlining what to look for, notes, etc.
And could even add info around stars, etc (I usually mark up my images or sketches on paper like this).
It would be metadata, whatever the user wrote would apply to them.
This would be outstanding for Star hop charts. There are still a lot of us out here who don’t buy into goto/electronic scopes and love the challenge of Star hopping,
It would be important to apply the markup along with the correct flip setting too. For naked eye/binoculars, there would be no flip, asterisms, etc would be straight forward, depending on the type of scope, some form of flip will be necessary.
Here is one of the asterisms I marked up (it’s most likely available online as well, this would just be easier in use).
This is a pretty big ask, it’s a major version enhancement, if not a feature based on implementation.
I could see a decent amount of interest in sharing these marked up charts. Certainly helping new folks learn the night sky, Star hop routes, planning of a night’s session, etc.