FLO Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 The Clear Outside app for Android has been released and is available to download from Google Play. Clear Outside astronomy weather forecastsThis is our first Android app. It has been tested by a small group of private users prior to release but will remain in beta until we are confident it is stable and robust.A huge thank-you to all the beta testers. You have been fantastic Please let us know if you have any suggestions and if you find a bug we'll squish it ASAP Hope you like it... Steve & the FLO team. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purdo Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Just downloaded it, thank you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLO Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 A brief history for those who might not have heard of Clear Outside Back in June 2014 we released the Clear Outside weather forecast site for astronomers wanting to plan their observing sessions. In November 2014 we released a Clear Outside App for IOS (iPhone). Today we have released the Android version. Clear Outside is built entirely in-house and is available free of charge, it is our thank-you to you the astronomy community for your support over the years. Features includeSeven-day hourly forecasts, updated hourly. Low, medium and high cloud cover. Detailed Sun and Moon rise, set and meridian data. Civil, nautical and astronomical darkness. Space Station (ISS) pass over times. All data, including ISS times, is accurately modelled on your precise longitude/latitude. For accuracy we use an aggregate of a number of weather models including the UK Met Office, the Norwegian Met Office and the American NOAA. Forecasts are also updated hourly because the clear sky between showers often provides the best seeing conditions and 30-min sessions under a dark sky with a grab-&-go telescope are golden. For reliability and long-term stability we have invested in commercial weather data services and a dedicated infrastructure. We have had fun building Clear Outside and hope you find it useful. We are also keen to develop it further so if you have any thoughts or suggestions please let us know. And if you find a bug we'll happily squash it! Thank-you, Steve and the FLO team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLO Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Just downloaded it, thank you. Please use it a while then let us know your thoughts Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathalferris Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Looks good. Unsure why it wants to know my phone number and phone details and identification (as shown by xprivacy) Sent from my GT-I9295 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant_FLO Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Hi cathalferris,Firstly, let me reassure you - the Clear Outside app does not need any of that information, it doesn't request any of that information and it certainly does not store or transmit any personal information. If you check the security settings for the app you will see the only things it needs access to is the network (to download forecasts) and your location (to display the forecast at your 'current' location). That's it! You don't even have to grant it access to your location if you don't want (but the current location function will not work).I had not heard of Xprivacy before you mentioned it so I've spent some time over the past few hours installing it and testing it.I cannot see anywhere in Xprivacy where it suggests the Clear Outside app accesses phone number, phone details and identification. I can see that it does access something within the 'Phone' section but if you expand it out, you will see the only thing it accesses is the network Country code information.If you are seeing any other flags in XPrivacy that indicate the Clear Outside app has tried to access them, please take a screenshot and either post here or PM me, it would enable me to investigate further.Thanks,Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelmorris Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Hi Grant Great app thanks. One bug I'm afraid (or is it a feature?:-)) Put Worcester in location search screen and it only comes up with Worcester, MA. United States. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael23 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Just installed, seems to work ok. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prusling Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Many thanks for this app. I've been using the web version for some time and this will be very useful.One minor issue that can affect a number of apps, I have a large phablet and generally use the large text option in accessibility settings, otherwise scaled down normal text can be harder to read. Although the app still works in this mode the change in size of the title to the left of each row means that it gets out of alignment with the corresponding row. Not sure how easy it would be to fix this - it's not a big issue.Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prusling Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Many thanks for this app. I've been using the web version for some time and this will be very useful.One minor issue that can affect a number of apps, I have a large phablet and generally use the large text option in accessibility settings, otherwise scaled down normal text can be harder to read. Although the app still works in this mode the change in size of the title to the left of each row means that it gets out of alignment with the corresponding row. Not sure how easy it would be to fix this - it's not a big issue.Thanks againRe-reading my post it's more driven by the display resolution (full HD in my case) rather than the screen size so this may be an issue for more people as resolution increases and more people may want to use larger text sizes (although the way large text is handled may be phone specific?). Are there other ways to allow apps to scale with resolution / screen size?Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy-kat Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Installed on my nexus 7 2012 running 4.4.4 and it only wanted my network in permissions thumbs up from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingergeek Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Installed OK on Samsung Galaxy 4 and Nexus 7 2012 running 5.0.2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knobby Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Works fine on HTC One M8 running Lollipop ... Not a criticism flo but the arrow in the rain column points up next week ... Does that mean its going to rain upwards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLO Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Firstly, let me reassure you - the Clear Outside app does not need any of that information, it doesn't request any of that information and it certainly does not store or transmit any personal information. If you check the security settings for the app you will see the only things it needs access to is the network (to download forecasts) and your location (to display the forecast at your 'current' location). That's it! You don't even have to grant it access to your location if you don't want (but the current location function will not work).Grant stayed up all night investigating cathalferris concern so I am reposting his response this morning. I can understand someone being suspicious when a retailer offers something free of charge but rest assured Clear Outside really is a gift to the astronomy community, not some cynical wheeze to obtain personal information HTH, Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Lloyd Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Gonna have a look at this. It will be interesting to see how it compares to my met office app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Lloyd Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Looks good. Unsure why it wants to know my phone number and phone details and identification (as shown by xprivacy) Sent from my GT-I9295 using TapatalkJust installed it. All it asked for was location access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargazer33 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) Couldn't find the app on 'Play Store' after searching through 250 apps! Why it showed me things like 'Nigerian Newspaper' when I searched for 'Clear Outside' I don't know!!! :icon_scratch: So I had to download it from the site link above. It wasn't compatible with my Samsung Galaxy S Plus, running Gingerbread, but I have managed to load it onto my Hudl 2 tablet. Edited February 8, 2015 by southerndiver357 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganymede12 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I've just downloaded it and everything looks great! It runs a bit slowly on my Samsung Galaxy Fame but then tha'ts a problem with my phone, not the app (it makes playing temple run impossible!). I'll be sure to use it regularly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrodave Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Been using the website since it came out, and have just installed on my galaxy S4 mini with no problems so far , many thanx guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbhyde Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 just installed the app on my Samsung s3 all fine thank you . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knobby Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Works fine on HTC One M8 running Lollipop ... Not a criticism flo but the arrow in the rain column points up next week ... Does that mean its going to rain upwards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JG777 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 On installing it wanted location only, but something is wrong it is clouds until Saturday ! Seriously though it works fine on HTC one and Pegatron Hudl2. Just saved all my observing locations.Thanks FLO this is genuinely useful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev100 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Hiya ... not available for my HTC Desire S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant_FLO Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Hiya ... not available for my HTC Desire S Sorry - it requires Android 4.0.3 or above to run - we had to pick somewhere as a starting point and didn't want to go to far back and miss out on some of the newer features etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant_FLO Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Just realised the text isn't aligned to the imagesHi Knobby,Darren has reported something similar, he is running an LG G3 and Lollipop too.I cannot replicate this problem no matter what I try in the Android emulator so it's proving impossible to track down the cause. The two common points are Lollipop (but I've been able to test against several lollipop devices without issue) and the high density screens both devices use.I'll keep trying Cheers,Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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