GeyserTimes for iOS Beta 2
A lot of you have been impatiently waiting for this moment and we’re excited to announce that the wait is finally over! The latest beta release of the GeyserTimes for iOS app now includes the ability to login and enter eruptions and notes, almost in time for the start of the new gazing season. We realize that this has taken us longer than expected and apologize for the delay.
Important: please keep in mind that, unlike the Android app, you’ll currently need to manually refresh the data before heading out into the basin. If you don’t already have the app, please refer to our last introductory blog post for instructions on installing the GeyserTimes for iOS Beta release.
What’s new?
You can now log into your GeyserTimes account by selecting the More tab, tapping the sign in button and then entering your credentials. If you forgot your password you can reset it straight from within the app and if you happen to not have an account you can also sign up for one.
Once logged in, a plus icon will appear at the top right of the Day Summary and Predictions tabs. Tapping it will take you to the submit screens where eruptions and notes can be entered. These include full compatibility with all fields currently supported by GeyserTimes, including Grand codes. Submitted entries are stored offline and will be synced with the server once a network connection becomes available.
Also, when viewing any eruptions and notes entered by yourself, you‘ll be presented with a pencil icon for editing the entry and a trash icon for deleting the entry. This can be helpful for adding an eruption duration after submitting an entry, for example.
Furthermore, we’ve squashed a few bugs that were present in our last beta release. Predictions by GeyserTimes are now correctly displayed and recalculated offline. Another issue where primary and secondary eruptions were not properly connected at times has also been fixed.
If you have any issues logging in or entering data, feel free to contact us at webmaster@geysertimes.org and we’d be happy to help. Note that signing into GeyserTimes is only strictly necessary if you want to enter eruptions or notes. All publicly available data can be viewed without an account.
What’s next?
As some of you might know, the normal yearly cost for an Apple developer account until recently was $99, regardless of any non-profit status. In a change of heart, however, Apple has decided to waive those fees for non-profit organizations last December and we are currently working with GOSA on acquiring such an account. This is one of the reasons why the app still is a beta release and not available in the normal App Store. Huge thanks to the folks at GOSA for being willing to help!
We’re also hopeful to have the next feature release ready sooner. This will primarily focus on getting full support for comments, confirms, flags and attachments ready. In addition to that we’re also expecting to have automatic syncing onboard so you don’t have to worry about keeping your data up-to-date. Also planned is the ability to search for geysers both within the app and via the global Spotlight search. As always though, we cannot give any exact time frame since this largely depends on the amount of time each of us has available for development. Thanks for your continued patience!
Last, but not least, we’d like to thank all of you for dutifully entering your data into GeyserTimes. We sincerely hope that the addition of the iOS app will make it easier and more convenient for you to continue to do so in the future. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please don’t hesitate and let us know!
We wish you all a fun and joyful 2018 gazing season!
The GeyserTimes development team
