"wX" Android opensource/free weather app - new beta release 3.4

[Joshua Tee]

The latest version 3.5533 has been uploaded to the URL below as "wX.apk". The next oldest version has been renamed to include the version number:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B9OogdTO1kXqYzktaHZzdGdQSEk&usp=sharing

Android 4.2 or later is required.

Changes:
- Last Fall the tile images displayed in the tabs were scaled down in size ( as a result they appeared more grainy ) at runtime to save memory. This was needed for low memory devices that needed to view Level 2 radar data. A change was made in this release to revert that change so that tile images are no longer scaled down. An option does exist in settings to scale this down. If you use Level 2 and find that the app crashes you can toggle this setting to scale down the images and then restart the app. Most modern devices should not have this problem.
- Line width for warnings and watch/MCD has been changed to 4 from 2. No impact to existing users.
- A bug was fixed in WXOGL. If toolbars were hidden and device came out of sleep the content would not refresh.
- WPC MPD ( Mesoscale precipitation discussions ) have been added to WXOGL ( default nexrad radar ), Canvas and also as an option for local notifications similar to SPC MCDs.
- Size of the location dot in WXOGL is now configurable.
- Selector wheels for numeric settings now wrap around in value ( ie scroll to the highest value, keep scrolling and it goes to the lowest value )
- Settings labels for notifications in location settings can now be tapped on to view help text.
- Notifications have been added for both EPAC and ATL NHC advisories.
- Significant increase in NHC Content. Prior to this release per storm only one text product was available. Now for each storm 8 images, 4 text products, and direct access to the GOES floater imagery has been added. "Text to speech" and "PlayList" support is also available. Testing was only done on Pacific storms so far.
- In the WFO text product viewer the PlayList submenu entry was moved from the bottom to the top.
- The lightning activity's title now includes the sector and duration.

Please let me know if you have any issues or suggestions on this new functionality.

thanks,
Josh

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Lightning Display, under MISC tab, is not functioning at all.

When I get a chance after work today, I will check out the new features of this release. Thanks, Josh!

 

[Joshua Tee]

No problem ! Please "long press" on Lightning icon which will present the beta area. Last choice is a test lightning image which uses a different activity to display one of lightning graphics. Please let me know result as this will help narrow down the problem. thanks !

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

I long press the Lightning icon and a momentary pop-up in the upper left corner of the screen comes up saying "Radar" and disappears. Is there some added functionality when I long-press the Lightning icon?

 

[Joshua Tee]

Sorry, the big lightning tile icon in MISC tab used to access the lightning activity.

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

OK.

In Beta area, the CODMeso is the only thing that is functional.
Iowa Mesonet crashes the app.
Lightning Test loads but screen is blank background.

 

[Joshua Tee]

I've uploaded a new "wX.apk" into the BETA folder. Please try this but use the normal lightning activity via the tile icon - no need to long press to get to the BETA area inside the application, thanks.

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Downloaded new file, pressed the Lightning tile under MISC and blank page (titled- LIGHTNING USA 15 min) comes up. Still non-functional...

 

[Caleb Grunzke]

When using the 3.5533 version, the lightning page works just fine for me. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy s5.

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Uninstalled beta file, reinstalled 3.5533... Lightning tile still not functioning... I have Galaxy Note 2 with Android 4.4...

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Josh, could it be my device?

 

[Joshua Tee]

Josh, could it be my device?

I don't think so. It's not unheard of to have bugs on ROMs from certain vendors while most are fine.

Next week I'll upload another beta with some additional diagnostics for this problem.

Caleb - thanks for the confirmation with your device.

Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

Josh, could it be my device?

I have a new build under the "BETA" folder, in addition to some minor enhancements to be detailed Friday is some debugging for the lightning activity to determine if the image is even being downloaded properly. After install, go into settings and enable the "debug" setting. From there access the lightning activity via the tile icon and you should see a popup message that shows 2 numbers ( width , height of image ). Please let me know the result. Please also disable the "debug" setting when you are done with this test.

thanks,
Josh

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Enabled debug but still no response after pressing Lightning tile icon. Page header loaded but blank background is all that appeared.

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[Scott Bartholomew]

No pop-up message appeared.

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[Joshua Tee]

Enabled debug but still no response after pressing Lightning tile icon. Page header loaded but blank background is all that appeared.

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Thanks, it's going to take several more iterations to identify this. I've uploaded a new beta and again you'll need to toggle debug on then off after the experiment. This time instead of a popup you should see the title change to a series of numbers such as "123" indicating certain areas in the code that your device has made it past. Also, as an FYI this BETA contains changes to the default radar activity WXOGL to support archived Level 2 as triggered from the SPC Storm reports activity. I've tested pretty well but just a heads-up. You shouldn't see anything different in WXOGL itself.

Thanks

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Pop-up displayed "997 740", Lightning screen displayed properly with page heading of "12345".

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[Scott Bartholomew]

I went through several time periods and several different display options and the Lightning data appeared to be displaying properly.

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[Joshua Tee]

I went through several time periods and several different display options and the Lightning data appeared to be displaying properly.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

Good news, is "debug" option off and things still working fine?

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

OK, I turned off debug. I reinstalled the latest release from last week, went back to the Lightning tile and now it is working... I didn't do anything different from last week... I'm at a loss...

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[Scott Bartholomew]

Another piece of the puzzle... all the previous times I had tried to load the Lightning screen and it did not load- I was using 4G.
When it did load this morning, both the debugged beta and the latest version, I was using Wi-Fi!

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[Joshua Tee]

Another piece of the puzzle... all the previous times I had tried to load the Lightning screen and it did not load- I was using 4G.
When it did load this morning, both the debugged beta and the latest version, I was using Wi-Fi!

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

Thanks that helps, to confirm you are back on 3.5533? ( I want to cleanup some stuff related to this )

When you have problems on cellular network are there any other images that you are seeing issues with? I did notice last Friday the provider of the lightning data was having some server issues but the few times I've tried since then have been fine.

Appreciate the feedback,
Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

The latest version 3.5545 has been uploaded to the URL below as "wX.apk". The next oldest version has been renamed to include the version number:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B9OogdTO1kXqYzktaHZzdGdQSEk&usp=sharing

Android 4.2 or later is required.

Changes:
- Prior to this release in SPC Storm reports if did a long press on any particular report you could see the reflectivity of velocity data for that location at that time. Data was in bitmap format from Iowa Mesonet since they offer a nice archive. Now you can also view Level 2 data but only if the report is not older then 2-3 days since they store the most recent 2-3 days at any given time. The data is viewed in WXOGL but the bottom toolbar is hidden since the intent is to view just this one time/location. However, you can still long press on any area in the CONUS to switch to a different radar site at that particular time. You need to have the "location dot" enabled in the global radar settings to have it show the approximate location of the storm report. This feature is still consider BETA and occasional crashes have been observed.
- On the main screen in the default view the summarized list of temps/conditions for the nest 7 days shows the day of week truncated to 3 characters. This works fine save the current day which shows as "Thi" ( short for "This afternoon", etc ). This is now replaced with an abbreviation for the current day.
- For locations in HI, AK, or PR force the cloud icon to use the GOES activity as COD only supports the CONUS.
- in Model activities for NCEP, HRRR, and SPC SREF the share icon will now produce a subject line which contains the time of the image. ( already done for COD )
- All voice recognition phrases have been added to the help text which can be shown by tapping "Help" to enter "help mode" and then tapping the microphone icon
- The activity to manage locations now hides certain notification settings if the location is in Canada ( only shows 2 ) or Australia ( shows 0 )
- In location settings the map selection has been moved back out of the sub-menu to the bottom toolbar now that sufficient room exists.
- In COD NAM4KM sigtor was incorrectly listed as a choice, removed it.
- In COD mosaics ( images tab ) and COD KM mosaics ( cloud icon and images tab , top row, 2 right-most icons ) 36 frame animations are now available to supplement the existing6,12,18.
- If you have text products saved in the "PlayList" the content in "Playlist" will automatically get updated for offline or text to speech capability anytime you view the related activity. ( enabled so far in WFO text prods, WPC text prods, and SPC Convective outlooks )
- In the "PlayList" activity itself the time the text product was last downloaded and saved is now displayed.
- In WFO text product viewer "Hydrologic Outlook" ESF has been added.

Please let me know if you have any issues or suggestions on this new functionality.

thanks,
Josh

 

[Steve Burtis]

The app is working great for me. Best weather app out there.

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Josh, Lightning data is not functioning again, even with WiFi... Sorry!

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