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[Bug - Needs Path To Reproduction] SkySafari 6 Pro | Create/Edit Observation Intermittent Hang-Up

Setup: DiscMount DM6 with SkyCommander 4, SkyFi USB Wireless interface to iPad 4 running SkiSafari 6. (One night was spent at McDonald Observatory on the 36" telescope without the connection to the SkiFi....just the iPad to manage the list. The behavior was the same.)

Problem Description:

I recently attended the Texas Star Party, and having recently upgraded to SS6 Pro on my iPad4, I used SkySafari6 Pro for the first time to conduct my observing sessions out in the field. I transferred a number of existing lists from SS5 Pro, and created two new lists as well. The issue encountered was not specific to any one list....

Upon completing an observation and attempting to log it, the Edit/Create Observation action intermittently hung up. (There are a couple places where this process can be initiated...i.e. through the "Selection" pick or via the Observing list itself, it didn't matter which method was used). Upon triggering the action to log my observation sometimes SS6 Pro was delayed in bringing up the screen where one enters the Time, Location, Observing Conditions and Comments, and other times the "iOS wheel" simply spun and hung, and never brought up the screen where the observation is logged. Killing and re-starting the SS6 Pro application would sometimes result in the object being logged as observed, other times I had to re-try the Edit/Create Observation process.

I killed and restarted SkySafari 6 from several times over several days. The behavior continued throughout the course of a week at TSP.  

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5 comments

  • 0
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    Ros Hartigan

    Hi Gary, sorry for your frustration.  Can you answer a few questions for me? It might help us to narrow down the problem.

    1) What version of iOS is on your iPad 4?

    2) Have you tried creating observations at other times - when the iPad is not connected to SkyFi, and it has access to internet - and been successful?

    3) How often was the observation screen delayed, approximately? (1 out of 5 times, every other time)  And how long was the delay, approximately - a few seconds, a minute?

    4) About how often did you have to kill skysafari because it hung during this process?

  • 0
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    Gary Carter

    1. IOS 9.3.4

    2. No internet access at either time. Since it is an ad-hoc connection to the SkiFi, no internet connection was possible. When observing at the McDonald 36" there was no internet service available.

    3. I would say 1 out of 10 times the observation screen showed up immediately. 5 out of 10 times it was delayed from seconds to minutes, and 4 out of 10 times it was hung so long and I had to kill SkySafari6.

    4. Probably 6 to 8 times each night of observing. 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Gary Carter

    I just created a list and tried the Create/Edit Observation from the house with internet connectivity and it works just as advertised. I suspect there is something hanging up the process when internet connectivity is not possible.

  • 0
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    Ros Hartigan

    Thanks, Gary, we're working on a solution.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Ros Hartigan

    Gary, thanks again for the extensive report.

    We tracked down an issue which meant that observations of solar system objects would saved slowly when the app is not connected to the internet.  Since this happens in the background, it's not that noticeable until you create a new observation.  Then it caused a long delay.

    The fix will be in the next update - let us know if you have any more problems!

    Ros

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