Changelog for the 8.x series

Note: New releases mentioned here might take a few days to be available to everyone in the Play Store.

SkEye 8.5.5

Release Date: 18 Oct 2021

Note: This version changes the rendering functionality and I could only test this on Android 8.1+ devices. Hence this release has been made available only for Android 8.1+ devices. After more testing, updates will be resumed on older Android devices.

  • Faster GPS fix by using network assisted GPS when available
  • Better on-boarding experience for new users
  • Internal changes: Started moving to a new app and UI architecture

SkEye 8.4.0

Release Date: 13 Sep 2021

  • Relative Scale of Stars in Map settings
  • Larger Star database
    • pro version: 400k stars, 11.5 mag (full Tycho2 catalog)
    • free version: 200k stars, 9.5 mag

SkEye 8.3.6

Release Date: 23 Feb 2021

  • Proper fix for startup bug in some Android launchers, and in other apps that use SkEye API
  • Meteor catalog: added Lyrids, corrected date for Eta Aquariids
  • Altitude Plot: Highlight the current time line

SkEye 8.3.5

Release Date: 21 Feb 2021

  • Altitude Plot: Fixed position error of background color

SkEye 8.3.4

Release Date: 19 Feb 2021

  • Defensive fix for startup bug in some Android launchers
  • Altitude Plot: Tweak the Sun background color

SkEye 8.3.3

Release Date: 17 Feb 2021

  • Optimisations to reduce CPU usage
  • Tweaks:
    • Satellite label colors are a bit more prominent now
    • Satellites below horizon are now less prominent compared to those above horizon

SkEye 8.3.1 and 8.3.2

Release Date: 16 Feb 2021

These are bug fix releases. There's also a small tweak to the color of the Telrad.

SkEye 8.3.0

Release Date: 15 Feb 2021

  • Object Details Dialog
    • Show Altitude Plot
    • Fixed the Wikipedia link in the Free version
  • Custom Catalogs now have map settings for:
    • Label Scale and Opacity
    • Marker Opacity
  • Accuracy:
    • The computations for Precession of Earth's axis are now consistently performed for all catalog objects.
    • Comet orbits are now computed with more accuracy
  • Tweaks:
    • New icons for the app
    • Changed look of catalog labels and lines
    • Changed look of ecliptic line
  • Bug Fixes:
    • Fixed searching of star by designation (example query: beta mon)
    • Ensure manual mode is not exited automatically
    • Ensure colors are rendered correctly under Dark Theme on Android 10+

SkEye 8.2.0

Release Date: 20 December 2020

  • Object Detail Dialog
    • Clicking an object on the home screen now shows the details of the object, such as
      • Type
      • Magnitude / surface brightness
      • Distance from Earth
      • Equatorial and Alt-Az co-ordinates
      • A button to search within the App
      • A button to search Wikipedia
    • Object detail button is also available on the Map screen
  • Reduced crowding of labels by dynamically showing and hiding them
  • Updated translations. New language: Telugu
  • Fixed rare crashes in Map screen

SkEye 8.1.1

Release Date: 1 December 2020

  • Fix a crash when starting to add an alignment but canceling it.
  • Updated Spanish translations
  • The default FOV was changed from 30° to 45°
  • Tuned default map settings. Colors of ground and horizon are now muted and more transparent.

SkEye 8.1

Release Date: 29 November 2020

  • Alignments are now persistent. They will be restored even after the app / device restarts. To keep the interface simple, alignments will automatically expire after 18 hours.
  • Alignments are now associated with the location. So you can view the map for a different location and then return back to your current location to resume with the alignments.
  • A list of popular cities has been added to make it easy to add a new location. The wait for satellite navigation or manual entry can now be avoided for these cities, when accuracy is not essential.
  • Translations have been improved. If you would like to contribute translations in your language, please visit this easy-to-use website.

SkEye 8.0.2

Release Date: November 2020

  • New theme: Green. This was requested by some users, as it apparently helps observing in Moonlight. Plus, it looks cool!
  • In free version: Ability to contribute to the development via in-app-purchaes. This is entirely optional and doesn't affect functionality in any way.

SkEye Pro 8.0.0

Release Date: October 2020

  • New feature: Custom catalog
    • This catalog can be populated by importing from a CSV file.
  • New feature: Pinned objects
    • Objects from Messiers, NGC and IC catalogs can be pinned. Pinned objects are always selected irrespetive of the filter setting.
  • Improvements:
    • Landscape layout for catalog filter
    • Many cosmetic tweaks to catalog filter dialog
    • Labels for stars are drawn at a distance if they are very near to DSOs. (Previously only DSO labels behaved this way). See Mirach and Mirach's Ghost for example.
  • Bug fixes:
    • Some Labels were not being drawn at high zoom level.
    • In rare cases, switching from automatic mode to manual mode was not working.