Hey guys,
does anyone know if we can load google skymap on the PB?
Thx
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Hey guys,
does anyone know if we can load google skymap on the PB?
Thx
Thanks Mucho. I've been waiting for this and it works very well in my brief evaluation. I thought I had read that this does not work. So Hurray! Will certainly put it through its paces on the next clear night.
For those who are not familiar with sideloading, there is a native PlayBook sky map available although it is really expensive.
Unfortunately that link doesn't (no longer?) work. Can anyone please either repost or PM me? Thanks.
You got that right! Almost broke the bank when I had to fork over that $1...:rolleyes: C'mon folks, support native developers!
Yeah I dunno about my hard earned dollar going to an app that only opens up night sky up to me, seems a bit simple doesn't it? lmfao. :P
I've been working on my pitch. How is this?
For those who have spare change, there is a native PlayBook sky map in App World and it's really impressive.
Oh, see now you're coming on too strong! ;)
Was walking home with my daughter (6) after supper out at a restaurant tonight. As we arrived home with a cloud sky overhead, the only things we could see were two rather bright objects in the west over our house.
Since we'd been watching the sky a few times this winter with What's Up, I knew enough to point them out to her and say they were, guessing here, Venus and Jupiter. Maybe Mars. She nodded sagely and agreed they were probably Venus and Jupiter. Or maybe Mars.
We popped into the house** and grabbed the PlayBook, fired up What's Up (still only $0.99 in App World and a bargain at that), and sure enough Venus (above and to the right) and Jupiter (dimmer, lower and left). Then we got a beach blanket and lay on the lawn in the back yard for a while until the rain started.
** For those who know me and wonder why the heck I didn't have the PlayBook with me, it's simple. A big thunderstorm was expected, and I gave the PB to my wife at the restaurant as she was going to drive the car home while my daughter and I walked, ready to sprint if required. I didn't want the PB to get wet! Little else could have separated us. :-)
Drat... how's this then?
Don't be evil... For every dollar you donate to me, I'll give RIM 30 cents.
Mars is prominent in the evening sky too these days. If those stupid clouds dissipate, look for that bright reddish object over toward the southeast. They tell me (I mean my app tells me) that you could also catch a glimpse of Mercury too, but it's very near the western horizon so conditions need to be ideal. I've never seen Mercury with my very own eyes after years of trying. I would enjoy hearing from any of you if you are ever more successful.
Living in a valley is probably not "ideal conditions" for viewing something near the western horizon, but I'll keep an eye out for it! At least way out here we don't have the light pollution that blinds you city folk!
Now look folks, when's the last time the authors of Google Skymap gave you personalized advice like that?! ;-)
You do realize that you complicated an otherwise touching family scene by adding the part that makes it sound like it is okay for your daughter to get wet but not your Playbook....
I don't really know for sure, but I think that the warranty on a daughter isn't voided if it gets wet whereas the PlayBook's is. Can anyone confirm this for me? Has anyone had to send a daughter in for an RMA and got told to take a hike?
LOL
But seriously, I liked the point someone made earlier about you being on here, it's pretty cool to have the app's developer right here, chiming in. I think I'm gonna splurge and buy your app tomorrow. :P The sideloaded copy of skymap I have is kind of buggy, and that's some solid dev support haha.
EDIT: You should be proud, it'll be my first App World purchase. Lol
You have no idea how good this makes me feel. I try to be goodnatured about it but sideloading Google Sky Maps really bugs me. Now I know perfectly well why people sideload Android apps and I do not seek to stop the practice. It is true that I think that it is "piracy" even if it is a free app that you are self-converting and signing as your own. But, I can live with it.
What bothers me about sideloading is that it seems to be the first choice among people who have recently been attracted from the Android world. I know that my app is not quite as good as Google's product but holy cow guys you should at least look into the possibility that a native app is available in App World before posting in this particular forum. And I include Android apps that have been submitted to App World as true "native" PB apps. I am very pleased that there are a couple of other astronomy apps in App World. The author of these apps posted in this forum yesterday and I hope that he continues his participation. We need more of his kind here!
On the other hand, I try to stay away from the "Sideloading" subforum because I find it so depressing to watch the feeding frenzy. Many of the apps being sideloaded have equivalent offerings already in App World and I really wish that people would think twice about what they are doing. If the sideloaded app is vastly better that the native app then I say, go for it. Al I ask you to do is consider the alternatives first.
As I said in the first paragraph, zethaaron, I really appreciate your support. And I also appreciate the new review that I received in App World. If you are the one who left it (and even if you are not), I want to thank you personally because you made my day:
Title: next best thing to Google sky
Review Body:
does all the same stuff as google sky. My only complaint is that it doesnt track the sky as smoothly when you move the tablet but it still does it so this is minor. has a night mode and other great features. very well done.