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SkySafari Pro 6 Pro | Sluggish Performance: Observations, Observation Lists, And Real-Time Telescope Control Via WiFi

The first two things I immediately noticed is that SkySafari Pro 6 scrolls haltingly through observation lists, and that the screen controls (in particular, object selection and direction buttons) freeze while controlling the telescope.

For telescope control, I use the Celestron Wifi connection. I first suspected Wifi signal problems and/or iPhone performance problems due to cold temperatures. However after further experimentation and experience, I am more inclined to believe that both problems are due to underlying background task issues. I concede that it is still possible that there may be Celestron Wifi issues involved. But by and large working with observation lists is associated with freeze up problems Wifi or not. At this point I probably have about 4000 observations, most migrated from SkySafari Pro 5. On the other hand, I have been using a hand warmer with the iPhone, and I find that I normally don't have freeze up issues while controlling the telescope unless I work from observation lists.

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26 comments

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    Bill Tschumy

    Steve,

    I certainly haven't noticed this.  First, I'd reboot the device to make sure it is not misbehaving.  The background tasks are (indeed) in the background and should not cause the user interface to hang.  However 4000 observations are more than we generally test with so it is possible there is an issue.

    How long are the pauses?  How frequent?  Is it the same whether connected to Celestron Wi-Fi or to the internet?  Is the Celestron Wi-Fi dongle joining your existing network or is it used stand alone?

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    Steve Teel

    Thanks Bill,

    Addressing your questions, the pauses are on the order of 10s of seconds up to1 minute or a little more. My connection to Celestron Wifi is direct--not using existing household WiFi. Obviously, it is not possible to judge telescope control behavior without the Celestron Wifi connection, but similar delays do occur when accessing observation lists whether connected to the internet or in airplane mode. I want to emphasize that last point.  

    Frequency seems to be associated with accessing observations and observation lists. Invariably, the first time a list is opened, the list freezes and does not respond to scroll gestures or item selection for about a minute. However, the device seems to remember the gestures because it attempts to execute them after unfreezing. I have had this behavior occur whether connected to the telescope or in airplane mode.

    A typical  occurance while connected to the telescope is that I will log an observation, then select an object, slew to an object. or press a direction button. Usually, there will be a freeze up at some point in that process.

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    Bill Tschumy

    Thanks for the additional information.  We are looking into it.  Sorry for the problem.

    What iOS are you on and what kind of phone?

    Have you updated to 6.0.3 (released yesterday).  There is a chance this could resolve the issue.

    Could you tell me what your "Cloud Storage ID" is?  You will find in in Settings > Storage.

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    Steve Teel

    I appreciate the attention you are giving the problem.

    I am using an iPhone 6s with 64GB with 40GB currently available. The IOS version is 11.2.2 (15C202). SkySafari updated itself yesterday to version 6.0.3.28 (that is an IOS feature that I much appreciate). The Cloud Storage ID is 6V5qlB7Fzm.

    There was some performance improvement after the update, but much of the basic problem still exists.

    I should probably address the severity of the problem somehow. On the one hand the problem is not a show-stopper and I am finding procedural work-arounds. On the other hand, I feel that the appeal of the functionality loaded into SkySafari warrants attention to these issues. The most severe negative impact is regarding the telescope controls.

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    Bill Tschumy

    Steve,

    Do you see the delay every time you try to show a particular observing list or is it sporadic?  I might have an explanation if it happens every time.

    Does it happen with all observing lists or only some?

    Don't worry, we will get this fixed.

     

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    Steve Teel

    Here is a repeatable pattern that I just noticed now. First I double tap the home button to access the loaded app screen. I swipe SkySafari off the screen to unload the app. Then I restart SkySafari. I access a list of 350 objects all of which have observations attached. The list appears immediately without the observation check marks. The screen can be scrolled freely.

    Then observation checkmarks start to appear, and screen scrolling becomes jumpy, then freezes for about a minute. During that time the back and the done buttons dont work. Then all of a sudden the screen goes back to the star display (apparently remembering that I pressed the done button). Or it will go back to the list of lists if I pressed the back button, or it will scroll if I merely tried to scroll.

    I would assume that if at night, I accessed the list, selected an object immediately, slewed to the object, then the direction buttons would soon  become unresponsive. Or if I centered the object, then tried to select nearby objects, the iPhone would soon fail to respond to object selection.

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    Bill Tschumy

    Steve,

    That is useful information but I need you to answer my questions.

    Do you see the delay every time you try to show a particular observing list or is it sporadic?

    Does it happen with all observing lists or only some?

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    Steve Teel

    OK... regarding certain particular lists, I can make it happen every time given specific circumstances. Given other circumstances it may happen or not.

    The above behavior appears to be true of every list with large numbers of observations. Lists with a modest number of observations show modest delay. Small lists with no observations seem to be non-problematic. I haven't tried a large list with no observations.

    So I would be forced to say that for a particular list the behavior is sporadic. It happens to only some lists.

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    Bill Tschumy

    It would be good to know if large list with no observations have the same problem.  You can create one by going to the Planner and checking stars and then specify a magnitude range of [0, 5].  This yields 1649 objects for me.  Then tap "Make Into Observing List".  See if that list is slow to open.

    I really appreciate your helping us diagnose this problem.

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    Steve Teel

    I created the list according to your instructions, and sure enough 1649 stars. I performed a few scenarios. I'm guessing which are most relevant.

    First: go to airplane mode, unload SkySafari, open SkySafari, open "Search Results" list. The list scrolls freely for 30-60seconds then there is a 5-10second freeze, thereafter it scrolls haltingly never pausing for more than a full second.

    Second: in airplane mode, unload SkySafari, open SkySafari, open a list with hundreds of observations. The list scrolls freely, there is a 1minute or more freeze, then the list scrolls haltingly. Then open "Search Results", the list scrolls haltingly thereafter as before.

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    Bill Tschumy

    Steve,

    Thanks for the additional tests.  Do you also get the pauses with this list when not in airplane mode?  How about if you go to the SkySafari Storage settings and turn off "Back My Data To Cloud Storage"

    We are going to try and duplicate your data on our development database to see if we can reproduce this in house.

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    Steve Teel

    I just now ran these new tests. I get the same pauses with both lists when connected to the internet. That behavior is unchanged with "Back My Data To Cloud Storage" turned off.

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    Bill Tschumy

    Thanks, once we duplicate your data we can figure this out.

     

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    Steve Teel

    I am impressed. You have positioned this product to be the most effective observation tool available, and you are taking that role seriously.

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    Bill Tschumy

    Steve,

    We have been able to reproduce your problem and are working on a fix.  It does look like the app is re-saving all (or many) of your almost 5000 observations in the background.  This should not normally be a problem but it does cause the performance issues you are seeing.

    We think that if you open the app while connected to the internet and just let is sit there for a couple of hours, it will finish this operation and you shouldn't have further problems.  We are planning a new release in a couple of weeks and we hope to have a fix in place so this kind of thing does not happen again.

    We appreciate your patience.

    Bill

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    Steve Teel

    Sounds Great!

    I assume this fix would solve the performance impact issue in the large. By that I mean that as I continue to observe this problem I am also seeing a pattern of severe performance impact after a series of new observations have been added. For example Friday I created a new list of about 18 objects, and then added about 9 observations. Freeze times followed lasting between 30-90 seconds off and on for several minutes.

    Again I am impressed by the effort you are putting into this product.

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    Bill Tschumy

    We don't fully understand the problem yet so I can't really say if letting it sit there for a couple of hours will permanently fix the problem or not.  We are working on it today.

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    Steve Teel

    Anyway, my hopes are on the fix--I do have some work-arounds.

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    Matt Russell

    I am also experiencing this problem with a direct connection to the Celestron SkyPortal.  I haven't been using massive observing lists or logs, however, when connected, I have noticed performance issues -- clicking on objects or the toolbar sometimes doesn't register at all or delayed response, slow performance in Settings, etc.  

    With that said, a reboot of the iOS device really helped, but some delays were still there.  

     

     

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    Bill Tschumy

    Matt,

    Your problem doesn't sound like the same as Steve's.  

    • Approximately how many observations do you have?  
    • Does the problem only happen while connected to Celestron Wi-Fi?
    • Do you have SS5?  Do you see the same pauses there?
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    Matt Russell

    Bill, I have 0 observations on this new iOS ipad mini. 

    Yes, it only happens while connected to the Celestron WIFI.

    I do have SS5, but on the Android Samsung Galaxy S8.  The issue I run into there is typically I need to click on the "Connect" button about 2-3 times.  I keep getting an error on the droid device (more than one) that says I can connect to the scope, but it isn't responding.  But once it does connect, yes, I've noticed that "pinching" or "unpinching" (zooming in and out) the field of view sometimes does not register.  It's a 1-2 second delay from the time it does nothing to the time you can get it to respond.

    Matt

     

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    Bill Tschumy

    Matt,

    It really sounds to me like there is a problem with the Celestron Wi-Fi device.  I would talk to Celestron Support about it.

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    Matt Russell

    My original one, yes, there was an issue with it.  However, the new one functions much better.

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    Bill Tschumy

    We have just released SkySafari 6.0.4 which has some changes that should address the pauses and jerkiness some people have seen when they have large numbers of observing lists or observations.

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    Steve Teel

    SkySafari is updated and indeed it now performs as expected. I suspect that any residual problems are different problems and will report them seperately. Thanks.

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    Keiron Smith

    An excellent result, Steve!  Thanks for letting us know.

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