Chaser Location Android app for SpotterNetwork and ChaserTV

[Verne Carlson]

Hey Everyone,
I just released a new app for Android - check it out and get yourself a copy!

Update your location to SpotterNetwork and ChaserTV automatically. Open it up set your SN and CTV logins in the settings, close it down and it runs in the background. Updates your location, speed, and direction to SpotterNetwork and ChaserTV iMap just like the windows client. Set update times from 2 seconds and up. Also includes a button to launch the SpotterNetwork Reports page in your cell phone browser. Authenticate once and save your cookies in the browser and it will launch into the Reports page with your GPS coordinates already filled in.Designed to be a compliment to Rapid Report for Storm Chasers.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...tLmFwZXhpY2UuYW5kcm9pZC5jaGFzZXJsb2NhdGlvbiJd

 

[Verne Carlson]

For ChaserTV users, the beauty here is that you don't have to run the Webcam Max splitter or the iMap client. You only need to run the Adobe Encoder to live stream. So on your laptop you can run 3 less apps.
Skip running
1) SpotterNetwork Client
2) iMap Client
3) Webcam or ManyCam Video Splitter

 

[Verne Carlson]

I think you guys will really like this app. Since I wrote it I have been running it continually for the last 5 days, through phone calls, other apps running, other GPS apps running etc... It has been updating my SN icon and CTV car as I walk around work, ride my bike, etc every 15 minutes. (Not that you'll want to do this all the time!). When I turn on my live stream on my laptop I go live on CTV immediately at my actual cell phone location. I think you'll find this very cool when you try it!

 

[Will Campbell]

Awesome work Verne! I'm sure this will get a lot of use in the coming months.

 

[Verne Carlson]

[h=6]I just released a new version of Chaser Location that will show your number of viewers when you stream on ChaserTV iMap. Version 1.1[/h]

 

[Verne Carlson]

Just released v1.2 which will show you max CTV viewers and datetime stamp. Also supports rotation for Tablet users. (*** Anyone upgrading, be sure to stop your old service before installing any new updates! ***)

 

[Verne Carlson]

Anyone who had problems with v1.1 should find now that the latest v1.4 has cleared up all problems. Thanks for your patience. Verne

 

[Jason Clark]

Thanks for the rotation support, works like a charm on my galaxy tab. I did have to do an uninstall of the old version before I could install the latest, but after that it was smooth.

 

[Verne Carlson]

Version 1.6 includes a button to view a graph of the day's ChaserTV Viewer Count for your stream. Give it a try!

 

[Shaun R.]

I'm running ChaserLocation on my Android device, and It is not updating a location on the Spotter Activity Map. My PC/windows app, nor ChaserLocation is reporting GPS pins.

 

[Bill Hark]

I'm running ChaserLocation on my Android device, and It is not updating a location on the Spotter Activity Map. My PC/windows app, nor ChaserLocation is reporting GPS pins.

I am also using the Chaser Location app on my Samsung phone. It has worked very well for a few years, but I used it last week and it worked sometimes and other times didn't update. I don't know of any other SpotterNetwork location apps that work in the background on my phone to report my position. I previously used the website on my laptop but now, I don't always have my laptop on. Anybody know the developer of Chaser Location and can encourage them to make the necessary updates. I suspect one of Androids stupid updates that I didn't want caused Chaser Location to get glitchy.

 

[Steve Miller]

Betcha @Verne Carlson can help answer your question, Bill. Thanks!

 

[Bill Hark]

Thanks @Steve Miller , I have been in contact with Verne. With more experimentation, I've discovered that Chaser Location will last about 2 hours on my phone before it stops updating though it still has the icon on my phone as if it is running. It won't function again until I turn off the phone and turn it back on. I am curious if anyone else has had similar issues. One may not notice that it is not working unless one checks. Now is a good time to check it before the heat of chase season.

Bill Hark

Betcha @Verne Carlson can help answer your question, Bill. Thanks!

 

[Verne Carlson]

Thanks Bill for bringing this to my attention. I've been able to reproduce this on my Android device and am looking into a fix/workaround. Unfortunately Android has been tightening up network security since November last year and my app may be the latest victim. I know Pikl3 went to end-of-life because of this.

 

[Verne Carlson]

Ok I found a workaround for now:
1) If it's not updating. Open Chaser Location.
2) Move the "Update Interval" slider bar to any new number.
3) Watch the "Last GPS Time" change.
4) Put the slider back where you want it (2 mins).
5) Close the app again.

That seems to kick it in the pants and get it updating without requiring a phone reset. Let me know if that doesn't seem to help.

 

[Verne Carlson]

I've discovered the real problem. Android phone vendors (Samsung, Nokia, etc) have tried to make their battery life look better by end running Android and killing background processes on their own. Luckily you can disable this battery saving feature on a per app basis. Vendors and versions are slightly different but basically you follow this (this is for Samsung Galaxy 8 and 9):
Go to Settings -> Apps -> find Chaser Location in the list -> press Battery (Allow background activity may be checked, ignore that setting! ) -> press Optimize Battery usage -> set pulldown to All -> Find Chaser Location in the list again and UNCHECK the setting.

That will let it run in the background without being killed off after a couple hours.