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New User - 2 Bugs to Report

Jason Koltz

October 06, 2018 18:27

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Good Day Folks!

Firstly, I must compliment you on your amazing software - new user here and it's an incredible feat of software development in my opinion...KUDOS! :))). Running 6.0.4.34 on a "OnePlus X" device for now, Oreo 8.1.0, fully stable. I am experiencing a couple of subtle bugs that may be helpful to report.

1. In "Settings/Stars/Magnitude Limit" if you set the value to say, 6.0, the app will consistently randomly reset to a lower number (i.e. 5.7) when you reopen it later. Same thing for "Deep Sky" - I will set it at 9.0; it will reset to something like 8.8 - when I recheck upon reopening the app later, both settings will change in the same way. The app does this on both Nougat (7.1.2) and Oreo (8.1.0). It is a bit frustrating to have to constantly reset the values - seems to be a potential bug (?). Can't think of why the app would be designed to do this.

2. When you activate the notifications under "Settings/Appearance & Behavior/Notifications section - "Planet Risings" & Satellites and Flares" both checked (or, either/or) - when run on Oreo 8.1.0, the visual notifications (tray) do not fire but the audio does - ONLY when you have the app exempted from "Battery Optimization" or running (neither will fire if the app is inactive and optimized); however they do fire properly in Nougat 7.1.2 unoptimized (no issues EXCEPT that they seem to override "Do not disturb", which is another issue I discovered at a meeting LOL). Something else to note is that when you check under Notifications in Android (Nougat & Oreo), the notifications options in Nougat are extensive and complete - yet in Oreo, there are only 2 options visible: a toggle to turn notifications on or off, and a toggle for "Allow  notification dot". That's it, so something seems missing or incomplete there as compared to Nougat and perhaps that is a clue or symptom of the issue (?).

Overall impressed as heck with your work and happy to be a client and user of the app as an avid Astronomy buff. I hope something here helps and maybe these things can be fixed if it turns out they are not isolated to just me and can be replicated. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

Jason

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6 comments

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  Chris October 07, 2018 16:20

  Hey Jason
  On the first item above, the app sets those numbers based on the degree field of view currently set. For example, when you zoom in, the limiting magnitude of stars and DSOs automatically scales up based on a scale that they've preset. The reason for the setting is so you can increase or decrease the amount to your liking at each given level. For me, I zoom in to the FOV of my highest power eyepiece and set the limit there to three limit I might be able to see. Unfortunately, the scale doesn't scale fast enough, in my opinion, so when I zoom out, I have to deal with TONS of stars, even when I'm zoomed all the way out. I've reported this and hope it's on a list to be reviewed. There's a fast way to see these limits, click the top left corner of the screen when viewing the star chart and there's a setting there so you can test and get it set just right. Hope this helps!

  Chris

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  Jason Koltz October 08, 2018 05:18

  Hey Chris:

  Thanks for chiming in on my message and explaining the way the magnitudes work. Ah, OK - I do see what you mean with regards to the field of view and the magnitude changing, and I appreciate that tip...I tried it out and it's great - thank you. I suppose I'll need to tinker around with the app some more but I find it odd that it would allow you to set those magnitudes globally and then override them...in other words, why let the user set them at all then?

  I thought those would be global overrides that would fix the magnitudes of visible objects - AND THEN - you could override those in the "on-the-fly" top left corner tap you pointed out (?). Just thinking out loud - anyway I'm sure they have it set up that way for good reason, but seems backwards to me.

  Do you know anything about the notification bug in Android 8.1.0 - and are you "Sim Cur" support? Thanks Chris!

  Jason

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  Chris October 09, 2018 20:58

  Hey Jason--

  I'm actually not Sim Cur support, I just try to pitch in around here where I can.  I agree it seems odd, but I think the point of letting the user change them is to get the scale to more closely match what a particular user sees in the eyepiece.  For example, using my 12" dobsonian, at 200 power, I've set my star magnitude to 15.5, which should include every star I'm likely to see with my scope, and nothing dimmer. My DSO mag is set to 15.0, which should do the same, keeping in mind that a lot of DSO magnitudes are off, in some cases by at least 1 magnitude or more, so I've padded these numbers just slightly.  Then as I scale back to 75 power, those numbers change to 13.8 for stars and 13.3 for DSOs.  When I go back to 90 degrees, they are set to 6.2 and 5.7.  The 6.2 is just a little bit high for my taste at this power, but if I set it to 5.0 for stars, then zoom back to 200 power, it's now only showing stars up to 14.3 instead of 15.5, which won't work for me at all, so I just have to deal with the too-high of mag stars being shown as I'm zoomed out.  Whether you change the magnitudes in the settings menu or using the top left corner, it doesn't matter, they're the same setting.  

  I'll have to let someone else speak for the notification bug, sorry I can't help there!

  Chris

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  Keiron Smith October 10, 2018 18:54

  Massive thanks, Chris!

  Bill is away at the Okie_Tex star party this week so his comments may not come until next week.

   

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  Jason Koltz October 10, 2018 19:28

  Hey Guys!

  OK I see - well, thanks a million for your help Chris, you seem very knowledgeable on the app. Like I said I'm sure the software is set-up the way it is for a reason and it's fun to figure out. Not sure what's with the notif's on Android 8.1.0 but if it's not isolated to just me it will become evident at some point. Appreciate the info very much - have a great day!

  Jason

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  Chris October 17, 2018 21:13

  Bill, any thoughts on this?