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Cjennings Mar 13, 06:54 EDT The User Guide for SkySafari says "Android users can toggle the menu bar by tapping the hardware Menu button on their device" ... but what exactly is the hardware Menu button ? I've tried every button but no go ... and I'd really like to take screenshots without half the useful data obscured ! PS: if this is not possible ... I hope they please please add it to their list of improvements for the next minor release! (I just upgraded from 4 to 5+) |
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Bill Tschumy Most android devices have done away with the Menu button. We have left the the hint in for those that have the older devices.
The iOS version has an option for hiding the toolbar when in landscape view. This has never been implemented on Android and we've had only one or two requests for it. We will consider adding something like that to a future version of Android.
It does add confusion though. We have gotten many more tickets asking "how to I get my toolbar back". It is as simple as rotation to portrait but they don't discover that.
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Greg Rogan I second that request to toggle the menu bar. Have wanted this for such a long time! On a phone screen in particular its quite a bit of screen space the menu bar covers
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Chris Jennings Bill, well at least now I know it's not me.
I would like to emphasise how odd it seems that it can't be hidden, and how much functionality is lost. Even on largest mobile screen (I have an S7 edge) it obscures a huge amount of screen space. This is most annoying when trying to "step back" for the broader view, especially when items of interest are at the screen extremities. And I wanted to use a screenshot as a background image on my PC, but the toolbar ruins that option. Such a shame as the images the app produces are quite spectacular!
I would suggest simply add a 'small 'tap to hide' button on the toolbar, and then swipe from the screen bottom edge to restore.There are many other apps that do similar things.
By the way, Android users are smarter then IOS users, so we don't get confused so easily :)
cheers
(PS: sorry about multiple posts of my question, I only discovered this forum after submitting my support request)
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Jotaerremorais2 I find it frustrating that my old device with Android 4.4.4 had this function to hide the taskbar, while the current device that cost expensive and uses version 7 of Android, no. The Android system is more practical and up-to-date, so why do ios users have priority in functions and upgrades?
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Bill Tschumy In SkySafari 6 we are introducing a means to hide the toolbar in both iOS and Android.
Older Android devices had a hardware menu button to hide the toolbar. That is why we never implemented that feature on Android. The hardware button is gone on more recent devices and we just never got around to adding that capability in software. We have gotten very few requests for it and it hasn't been a high priority.
SkySafari was written first as an iOS app and that is where we first develop new features. I think Android gets as many updates as iOS, but there are still a very few things that are available in iOS but not in Android.
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Chris Jennings But one of those "very few things" is a very annoying lack of basic functionality. Surely it would not be that hard to fix this in the next release?
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Bill Tschumy We have stopped active development on SkySafari 5 and are focusing on SS6 right now. Only critical bugs will be fixed in the SS5 code base, not new functionality.
I wouldn't say this is "basic functionality". It has been like this for several years since Android removed the menu button and only a handful of people have asked for it in that time period. I realize this is something you would like, but I don't deem it critical.
Remember, it is just myself and one other half time person working on this. We do not have a large development team.
Sorry,
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Greg Rogan Its functionality that's in effect been removed by Android update done years ago, long before SkySafari 5. Last time I checked the help on the website there was no mention of this option being there only for legacy hardware. I also understand the menu button is accessed by long pressing the apps button (the on screen square).
The advertised, and missing, functionality really should have been brought back in in the version 5 release. I paid for it in part expecting its return. Disappointing to read we'll be expected to pay yet again to have this functionality returned
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Chris Jennings well putting this issue aside it's a great piece of software. I really like centring on an object/POI then setting time step to a month, year or whatever and seeing how things move relative to my centred POI. It's amazing the program can calculate & update so quickly, and that mobile phone hardware is up to the challenge too. I've often pondered what must be quite a bit of complex astonomical maths behind the simulation - did you write that maths yourself Bill ? (or was it the other 'half a person' :)
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Bill Tschumy Greg,
if you are really unhappy about the lack of functionality for hiding the toolbar, we'll be happy to give you a full refund.
Neither Tim nor I are Android users. We rely a lot on our users for feedback on what is needed. This functionality was taken from Android before SkySafari 5, but not by a lot. We just didn't hear a lot of people clambering for this and we have to prioritize.
Chris,
Most of the math is Tim. I just put a pretty face around it.
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Jotaerremorais2 Hi, Greg. I'm glad you could answer me. I see now that you are not to blame for the fact that people have decided to retire the virtual button that contained the function of hiding the toolbar in the Android system. I also add that this is not really something that erases the merits of the application's amazing features, its accuracy and its huge database. I remind shoppers that we can zoom out and increase the sensitivity of the magnitude to capture with the same effect what we want and then cut an area without the toolbar. A hug and congratulations to the developers.
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Jotaerremorais2 ATTENTION EVERYONE
I found the function to hide the toolbar on Android 7 (maybe it works on version 6 as well). Just hold the back button for a few moments. ;) -
Bill Tschumy This doesn't seem work on a stock Android 7 running on a Nexus 5X phone. It might be a customization that a particular manufacturer added to to their Android 7.
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Growflavor @ Jotaerremorais2
@ Bill Tschumy
Thank you! I added the 'always show' menu/keyboard switcher button to my nav bar on my N7s (flo) running Lineage OS 14.1 (=Nougat 7.1.2) and it toggles the SkySafari menu bar perfectly! So wanted this feature :-)
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Chris Jennings Looks good but has something in SkySafari changed recently to make this possible?
Can you expand / explain in more detail please, and can I do this on my Galaxy S7 Edge running Android 7.0 ?
thank you
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Jotaerremorais2 The Hide function or show the bottom toolbar, holding the virtual button that is to the right of the home button, is not a new function but works perfectly on my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge with Android 7.
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Chris Jennings well what do you know ... pressing back button for a few secs does actually work!
thanks @Jotaerremorias2 !
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Chris Jennings I just upgraded from Samsung S7 edge to S9 and unfortunately holding the back button down on the S9 doesn't hide the toolbar. darn!
Also the rounded corners of the S9 screen partially hide the seconds in the HH:MM:SS displayed at top right, which is a hassle because updating seconds is the only way I know to check what I'm seeing is "Now" in SS5 Pro. double darn!
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Chris Jennings Just found the new feature in Sky Safari Pro 6 (on my Samsung Galaxy S9) to hide the toolbar.
Very neatly incorporated and works like a treat .... many thanks !!
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Bill Tschumy Glad you like it. Thanks.
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