I've been struggling for a while to get either the Celestron SkyPortal app or SkySafari 5, to perform an auto alignment with the Celestron StarSense AutoAlign connected via the "Celestron Wifi" option as the "Scope Type".
My configuration is a Celestron NexStar 8SE, with an attached SkyPortal Wifi and StarSense AutoAlign. I have the SkyPortal Wifi and StarSense attached to a Aux Port Splitter, which is connected to the AUX port on the mount. At the time of writing this, my hand controller and the camera are running the most recent versions:
HC=1.16.16055
CAMERA=1.02.13343
My general process has been to:
1. Open SkySafari 5 Plus
2. Tap "Connect"
3. Tap "Align"
With the above process I was always prompted to perform a manual alignment, regardless of setting "Align Using StarSense Auto".
Instead of doing the separate "Connect" and then "Align" steps, I decided to use the "Connect and Align" button which I had not used before.
When using "Connect and Align" it will perform an Auto Alignment as expected.
I'm not sure if this is a bug in the application, or whether this functionality exists for a reason. I had assumed that "Connect and Align" would work the same as "Connect" and then "Align", but that assumption is apparently incorrect.