Frequently Asked Questions

iPhone App Questions

This page contains answers to the most frequently asked questions about our SkyVoyager and SkyGazer iPhone apps.

I purchased one of your iPhone apps, but I lost my iPhone/iPod (or I bought a new one). Do I have to buy the app again?

No. Just download it again from the app store. Even if you "purchase" it again, you won't be charged. The App Store folks are very careful to make sure you won't pay for the same purchase twice.

I purchased your apps, but they won't work on my iPhone/iPod Touch! Can I get a refund?

Make sure you are running iPhone OS version 3.0 or higher. Our apps won't work on any older version. You can update to the latest iPhone OS from Apple, free of charge, using iTunes.

It is possible to get a refund for your purchase, but not from us, since the apps are sold through the App Store. Instead, you should contact Apple about this.

I purchased your app, but I get a message saying it's too big to download. How do I get it onto my iPhone?

AT&T restricts you from downloading any apps larger than 10 MB over their 3G network. To get around this, join a WiFi network from your iPhone, then download the app over the WiFi. Or, download the app to your computer with iTunes, then sync it to your phone.

Apple's How to do everything on iPhone site has information on how to do all of this, and more.

I have a BlackBerry/Android/Windows Mobile/other mobile device. Do you have a version of your iPhone apps for my device?

No. The only mobile devices we currently support are the iPhone and iPod Touch. If/when we release versions of our applications for other mobile devices, we will announce them very publicly on our web site!

How about the iPad?

We're working on it! Expect new versions of our apps for the iPad, shortly after Apple releases the iPad for sale to the public. The current versions of our apps should run on the iPad, but we haven't actually been able to test them yet, since the iPad has not yet been released. (They work just fine in the iPad simulator, though.)

I purchased the SkyVoyager Expansion Pack. How can I be sure it's installed? Why is the Expansion Pack bundled with the app?

Please see the Expansion Pack page. Zoom in on the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades, or something similar - the difference should be obvious. The Expansion Pack is bundled with the app, instead of being offered as separate download, for several reasons:

• A separate download could be interrupted by a phone call, network failure, etc. On the other hand, app downloads are a background process that continues regardless of interruptions like phone calls, and they resume automatically in case of network failures.
• Most users don't back up their iPhone/iPod data. If lost or upgraded, those users would have to download the data again. By bundling the Expansion Pack with the app, iTunes backs up the data automatically, and ensures that it will be transferred to any new devices that the user may upgrade to.
• Purchasing the Expansion Pack on multiple iPhones/iPods is very easy - you only have to pay for the first purchase, and you don't have to download 100+ MB of data multiple times on different devices.
• Even if not used, the Expansion Pack occupies less than 2% of the capacity of the smallest iPhone/iPod touch - and the vast majority of iPhone/iPod users have gigabytes to spare.

It would be difficult for us, at this point, to un-bundle the Expansion Pack from the app. If we did so, everyone who's already purchased the Expansion Pack would lose it. For users who are very concerned about storage space, we may release a version of our app without the Expansion Pack - but that version would be a separate app, and hence require an additional purchase.

Your iPhone apps won't show me the sky where my phone is pointing! I can't see the green arrow that leads me to an object! How do I make your apps show me the sky as I move the phone around?

First, make sure you have an iPhone 3GS with a compass. The original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod touch all lack a compass, so you won't be able to do this. At most, you'll be able to see the stars move "up and down" as you tilt the phone vertically. If you know where north is on the horizon, you can swipe the screen horizontally to "dial-in" the correct view.

If you do have an iPhone 3GS with a compass, and you are running version 1.4, just shake the phone to activate its compass and/or accelerometer. One quick shake will do it!

If you're running an earlier version, update to 1.4 - it's free! Alternately, go to Settings > Coordinates (if you are running SkyVoyager) or Settings > Field of VIew (SkyGazer). Then turn on the Use Compass and Use Accelerometer switches.

I haven't used your app in a while. Now, when it starts up, I only see an empty black (or green) screen. What's broken? How do I fix it?

The last time you used the app, you were probably zoomed in on a very small field of view, and the thing you were looking at is no longer there. (Were you looking at Jupiter's moons?) Try zooming out by placing your finger on the - sign in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

If the entire field of view is green, you are probably looking below the horizon. If the Use Accelerometer setting is turned on, then you'll always be looking below the horizon if you're looking down at the phone (see the question above). Turn off this setting, or hold the phone above you.

Zooming out should make this clearer. You can also try making the horizon translucent to view the stars underneath it; go to Settings > Sky & Horizon to do this.

I have a bluetooth serial adapter. Can your iPhone apps use bluetooth to control my telescope?

Unfortunately, no. The iPhone OS does not allow third-party applications to have unrestricted access to the bluetooth capabilities built into the iPhone and iPod Touch. That is what we would need in order to make this work, and not having it is a major reason we developed SkyFi in the first place.

Unrestricted bluetooth access may be possible with a jailbroken phone. But as licensed Apple developers we can't support that, so currently our apps do not use bluetooth at all. If unrestricted bluetooth access is allowed in future versions of the iPhone OS, this may change.

How about the serial pins in the iPhone/iPod dock connector? Can I make a cable to control my telescope with a wired connection from my iPhone?

Yes, you can make such a cable (google for directions); you can even buy one pre-made. But, as with bluetooth, you'd have to jailbreak your phone in order to use it. As licensed Apple developers we can't support that; our apps have no direct serial support because the iPhone OS does not allow it. Again, this is a major reason we developed SkyFi - there are no OS restrictions on the iPhone's use of WiFi; it's universally available, and the range is much better, anyhow.

I'm using your iPhone app to control my telescope. But the directional arrows don't work - I get an error message that says "Use the telescope's hand controller". What's up?

Some telescopes (for example, the Celestron Ultima 2000 and original NexStar 5/8; and the Argo Navis) lack external commands for directional motion. Even though they are mechanically capable of doing so, their control language has no command to (for example) "move north" or "move south". When these telescopes' manufacturers add those commands, we will be happy to support them!