NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Peter Dijkstra
Date: 2017 Dec 4, 09:58 -0800
Frank, You’ve convinced me to procure an inexpensive Android phone. Still, are you contemplating an iPhone/iPad app, or would that require rewriting the software from zero?
Greg Rudzinski, you asked:
"What would be the best phone to use with this new app?"Nearly any Android smartphone or tablet manufactured in the past five years can run this app. It needs GPS, but that's a given these days. The app benefits from, but does not require, occasional Internet access. This does not mean that the phone needs to have actual phone "service". Nearly every compatible device has built-in WiFi so if you can get on a public hotspot once in a while, you're all set. And that means that one can go very cheap on the hardware! There are discount Android phones (like AT&T "Go" phones, for example) that sell for $30 or less. That gets you a supercomputer with full Internet capability and access to nearly all the apps on the app store for the price of a mid-range scientific calculator. I recommend getting a cheap phone for this purpose so that you don't put your primary smartphone (worth hundreds of dollars, loaded with all your recent photos and messages, and with all your contacts info) at risk when you can devote a spare to the task for $30? And on top of all that, every spare device is a spare GPS receiver!
The free version of the app includes the Sun, Venus, and Polaris as "key objects". It can operate for up to five days with no Internet access (e.g. offshore). The professional version of the app (the one that costs a little money) includes the Sun, Moon, the four navigational planets, and the 57+1 navigational stars. And the pro version can also work for up to three months without Internet access. Remember: while GPS capability on a smartphone does not require Internet access or a mobile signal, it benefits from these in initial fix speed. So if you use my app or any other GPS-enabled apps off-network, you should expect up to two minutes delay for an initial fix.
Frank Reed
