PrediSat

PrediSat is an Android app that grabs Iridium flare and satellite pass data from Heavens-Above.com and formats it for the small screen of the phone. It also includes a few features to make satellite watching easier, such as alerts, countdowns, and night mode.

Links

PrediSat.com (currently forwards here)
PrediSat in Android Market (Android-only link)
PrediSat Pro in Android Market (Android-only link)
PrediSat on AppBrain
PrediSat Pro on AppBrain
Heavens-Above (the source of satellite data for PrediSat)

Pro version

The Pro version adds some advanced features on top of what is available in the free version. It may also include early features that will later be added to the free version.
Price is $1 (USD).

Current Pro-only features:

• Ads are disabled by default and can be toggled.
  
• Multiple alert times can be set, space separated.
  
• Text-To-Speech alerts (optional).
  
• Alerts automatically created based on custom magnitude when list is loaded with new data (optional).
  
• Sightings log.
  

Changelog

^ = Based on error report from a Froyo user
Dates are based on GMT.

v1.0.7 [in development]

• Changed: Alerts & sightings data moved from app cache to files, so clearing cache from Android app manager won't delete it.
• Removed: Preference to delete data. Avoids accidental deletion, menu on Alerts/Sightings screens should be safer.
• Removed: Preference to clear coordinates. Not necessary since it's just as easy to manually clear coordinates.
• Changed (Free): Existing alerts/sightings are automatically updated when new data is loaded. (Pro already had this with auto-alerts)
• Added (Pro): Option in preferences to export sightings to sdcard as CSV files, uses WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.
• Changed: Messages for updated alerts will only appear if the time has changed.
• Changed: Threshold for duplicate alert/sighting check increased from 10 seconds to 10 minutes.
• Changed (Pro): If event is in alerts, Add Sighting becomes Move to Sightings in context menu.
• Changed (Pro): Add Sighting is disabled until 2 minutes before event start.
• Changed: Add Alert is disabled for events that have already started, also applies for auto-alerts in Pro.
• Changed: Buttons on main screen repositioned.
• Added: ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE permission for connectivity detection, also required by Greystripe in Free version.
• Changed: Connectivity is now checked before attempting to access.
• Added: Fetch 10-day ISS list. (optional) [Suggested by Seth]
• Changed: Countdown to start, max, and end instead of just start.
• Changed: Countdown is initiated by tapping an event instead of from the context menu.
• Added: Include daytime flares in list. (optional)
• Added: Progress dialog in list showing what is loading and percentage of each process. [Suggested by SuM_WuN]
• Improved: Better performance with the use of multiple threads.
• Added: Quiet time: No alert notifications between certain times of day. [Suggested by Rick]
• Fixed: Location search stopping when invalid coordinates received.
• Added: Network location. (Works seamlessly with GPS)
• Changed: After opening notification, pressing back button from Alerts opens main screen.
• Fixed: No indication of disabled GPS on GPS button. [Reported by ka0ticstyle]
• Changed: Volume buttons control notification volume, or media volume if TTS is enabled.
• Fixed: Browser closing when orientation changes.
• Added: Date on satellite passes lists. [Suggested by Rick]
• Added: Button backlight turned off in Night Mode if supported by API and hardware.
• Fixed: Exiting with back button causing home screen folder in background to close.
• Fixed: Empty countdown view and list header color missing when returning to list from web browser.
• Tweaked: Main and preferences screens are not restarted when changing timezone or alert time.
• Added (Free): Option to toggle between banner ads or full screen ad at launch.
• Added (Free): READ_PHONE_STATE permission required by Greystripe.
• Added (Free): Greystripe ads.
• Updated (Free): SDK's for AdWhirl and AdMob.
• Removed (Pro): Option for ads.
• Changed: Instead of buttons for each list on Heavens-Above site, one button for the homepage.
• Removed: Changelog.

v1.0.6 [2010-10-14]

• Initial release of Pro.
• Fixed: Countdown timer way off after orientation change.
• Pro: Sightings log.
• Pro: Alerts automatically created based on custom magnitude when list is loaded with new data.
• Fixed: Back button not working as expected in web view.
• Changed: Night mode uses color filtering instead of replacing graphics with plain colors.
• Changed: Ad manager is AdWhirl, which provides much more flexibility with multiple ad networks.
• Pro: Text-To-Speech alerts.
• Pro: Multiple alert times can be set, space separated.
• Pro: Ads are disabled by default and can be toggled.
• Fixed: Detection of existing alerts with certain differences in data, alert is updated when required.
• Fixed: Value shown in title of 'Alert time' preference stacking when changed.

v1.0.5 [2010-09-24]

• Added: Alert time preference shows the current setting in its title.
• Changed: Alert lists are sorted by event time instead of order they were added.
• Added: Description on Timezone preference clarifying that it is the standard GMT offset.
• Added: Menu option on main screen to toggle night mode.
• Added: Menu options in Alerts view to clear either list.
• Workaround: Detect incompatible alerts at launch and delete along with cache, preventing crash after version upgrade.
• Fixed: Detection of existing alerts created in different list instances.
• Added: Alerts can be removed through event lists.
• Changed: Events can be added to alerts even if alerts are currently disabled.
• ^Workaround: If invalid GPS coordinates received, show error instead of crashing.
• Added: Toast notification at alert trigger.
• Improved: Notification timer is much more efficient, using a native method instead of a very bloated and often buggy countdown.
• Added: Try setting timezone automatically at launch if not set.
• Fixed: Error when parser encounters trimmed/optimized HTML. (Thanks to SkepticBarista!)
• Fixed: Expired alerts being triggered on service modification/start if alert time is set to 0.

v1.0.4 [2010-09-02]

• Fixed: Event timer timezone not being calculated properly for timezones different from phone.
• Improved: Significantly reduced possibility of alerts being skipped because of lag.
• Workaround: If parser runs into problem, show error and try loading cache instead of crashing.

v1.0.3 [2010-08-31]

• Added: Save coordinates when opening preferences.
• Fixed: Alert time not applying to existing alerts when changed.
• ^Fixed: Crash when both pass periods are selected and one of them returns no passes.
• ^Fixed: Crash when alert is triggered and ringtone was not configured.
• Fixed: DST sometimes being 'forgotten' while running in background as service.

v1.0.1 and v1.0.2 [2010-08-28]

• Fixed: Two crash bugs in the web browser.

v1.0.0 [2010-08-28]

• Initial release to the Android Market!

Started development on 2010-06-29

Future releases

Feature requests

Feature requests are given strong consideration and if accepted they are given higher priority than other features of similar importance.
This list also includes features that were already in the internal to-do list when they were suggested.
Versions for feature releases are only preliminary and may change.

Suggestion	Suggested by	Through	Version	Notes
Automatically clear alerts that have completely passed	Rick	Email	v1.0.8
Preference for delayed alert removal	Rick	Email	v1.0.8	Sub-feature for automatic clearing of passed alerts
Custom action when tapping list item	SuM_WuN	Mumble	v1.0.8
Menu option to add alert while viewing in browser	SuM_WuN	Mumble	v1.0.8
Condense list to most important details, touch for more info	BZWingZero	IRC DM	v1.1.0
Daytime passes	Phil	Market comment for Pro	v1.1.0	Part of planned feature: More filter options
Option for white background	revmikeblack	AppBrain	v1.1.0	Part of planned feature: Custom colors
Automatically update alerts on a custom schedule	Rick	Email	v1.1.0 Pro
Compass direction in status bar	SuM_WuN	Mumble	v1.1.0 Pro

Known issues

Issue	Affected Android versions	Affected versions	Expected fix version	Notes	Reported by	Through
Alerts are sometimes off by an hour when set before a DST change and scheduled to go off after the change.	Confirmed in 2.2	Confirmed in v1.0.6
In night mode, backlight brightens when phone tries dimming from inactivity.	Confirmed in 2.2	Confirmed in v1.0.6
Some elements aren't changed to red in night mode.	Not SDK issue	All
GPS sometimes doesn't work while airplane mode is enabled.	Confirmed in 2.2	All	v1.1.0	Might be specific to phone or Android version. Planned workaround: Alternatives of network location, map selection, and typed address.
Clock is often off by more than a few seconds even when phone synchronized with carrier.	Not SDK issue	All	v1.1.0	Planned solution: Use an NTP server. User workaround: On a rooted phone, sync phone clock with NTP using an app such as ClockSync.
DST used is same as phone, so time is inaccurate if configured for a timezone currently using a different DST offset.	Not SDK issue	All
Timezone detection is extremely limited due to inconsistency between definitions in Java and Heavens-Above.	Not SDK issue	All
RuntimeException: Unable to start activity - NullPointerException at com.pilot51.predisat.List.onCreate(List.java:118)	Not SDK issue	Confirmed in v1.0.6		Error reported once in each version. Rare and may not be able to fix or confirm fix without reproducible steps.		Froyo error report