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

[Joshua Tee]

Josh, opened the new version and tapped the lightning bolt... and the app terminated ("Unfortunately, Wx has stopped ")

I see you posted another message after this one but it's just a quote.

Hopefully things are working and it was a fluke possibly a malformed radar binary ( I've tested on one tablet, one phone both at different Android versions ) but if not please post or PM me the following:

- Which radar site you are using
- Which theme you are using
- Android version and device manufacturer
- The status of various settings impacting radar like cities, warning poly, lakes, roads, location marker, etc
- If known, last version of wX that worked fine

I did already compare the code between 3.5333 and the latest and not sure what would have impacted the start of the activity and display one one radar scan. Most of the code change happened in the animation task.

Thanks for trying this new version.

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Sorry about that quote earlier... I think it might have been my WiFi connection here at work. I opened it up and it worked just fine using the Verizon 4G LTE network.

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

When is the next major update?

 

[Joshua Tee]

I plan to issue a major release once a year. Since I already release point releases every 1-2 weeks ( or more frequently if needed ) the only difference will be a few weeks of focusing on finding bugs, code cleanup, and performance optimizations followed by a major bump in version number. For point releases I try to publish them Friday around noon. There likely won't be one this week since I released the one today.

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Josh, does the change in board ownership mean I will have to pay to access future development of this awesome app?

 

[Joshua Tee]

Glad that thread was on 4/1 ...

---

The latest version 3.5361 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:
- A new setting has been added under "Radar Options -> Show Wat/MCD" which will show current SPC Watches and MCDs in all radar/mosaic type activities. Screenshot below is an example showing MCD, watches, and warnings. WPC MPD will be added in the future. Colors for everything are adjustable in "Settings -> Colors". By default it is not turned on.
- Models: in HRRR MSLP/1hr precip has been added
- SPC Mesoanalysis: added animation in 6,12,18 frame increments ( from past in 1hr time increment ) with animate and share icon now present in top toolbar.
- Animation in the OpenGL based WXOGL radar ( default ) activity now honors the animation speed in settings.
- Twitter state activity now has an overflow menu option to access the state twitter search via an external application ( your default brower or twitter client if installed ).
The twitter widget has a limited configuration so this allows for access to more and older data at the cost of a slower start-up speed.
- In SPC MCD/WAT and WPC MPD summary enhanced sharing so that if more then one in effect all images will be shared.

Please let me know if you have any issues or suggestions on this new functionality. No update next Friday as I'll be on vacation.

thanks,
Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

 

[Joshua Tee]

At the main download site referenced above I've added a folder "BETA" containing a new version and a "README" file with some tips and limitations that will be addressed soon. This new functionality has not been fully tested but might be useful to some already:

In most activities that support animations, once the animation is playing, clicking on the share icon or menu entry will create an animated GIF for sharing instead of just the most recent frame.

thanks,
Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

The latest version 3.5381 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:
This release brings significant enhancements to the total weather model data accessible via a native Android interface. In addition to COD, two more options are available that bring greater diversity in models and parameters within models. On the rare occasion COD is having availability issues they also serves as a partial backup. Both interfaces are very similar to the existing COD interface.

- New interface to SPC SREF model data. SPC tab, bottom row, left icon. ( http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/sref/ )
- New interface to NCEP model data. SPC tab, bottom row, right icon. ( http://mag.ncep.noaa.gov/model-guidance-model-area.php )
- SPC Compmap is now accessible on SPC tab via bottom row, center icon. It will be removed from the MISC tab in the future when new content is added to MISC tab.
- Models ( COD ) - GFS has been extended from 240 to 384
- For SPC convective outlook notifications, enhanced risk is now recognized - specifically if SPC conv otkl notif is on but slight risk is off it will now notify on ENH risk now.
- Support for share of animated gifs added to most activities that support animations: when an animation is playing, sharing will actually create and then share an animated gif instead of just the latest frame. A few limitations and/or notes that will be addressed in future releases:
this is not yet enabled for the default radar activity WXOGL
the actual creation of the animated gif does not yet occur in the background and thus the main UI thread will block for a few seconds while the animated gif is created.
the speed of the animation is controlled by the animation speed specified under settings and the animated gif also loops
To facilitate this feature a temporary file is written to sdcard/Download/wx_joshuatee_anim.gif . Future share requests will overwrite this file but in the meantime it can be renamed or accessed outside of WX


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

thanks,
Josh

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Good job, Josh! One thing I have noticed is that when I load up SPC outlooks, MCD, etc and hit the share button... the app suddenly stops and restarts. Any ideas?

 

[Joshua Tee]

Thanks ! Regarding the sharing the only idea at this point is to try and narrow it down. Can I bother you to try sharing something that is text only such as your AFD ( or any text product that doesn't have an image near it ) and also one of the new animated gif such as any visible sat ?

-Josh

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Text only products, I can share just fine... I tried to share the animated gif of Central US satellite view and it stopped...

 

[Joshua Tee]

Thanks - Can you share your hardware/software specs with me? Both of these capabilities ( and the only ones in wX that do this ) are writing into external storage one via a generic call to the media image library and the other to a normal path.

 

[Scott Bartholomew]

Sure... be patient with my ignorance in this department but let me know what you need and where I can find it on my phone...

 

[Joshua Tee]

No problem. I just need to know (for example) if you have a Samsung Galaxy S5 or whatever your hardware make/model is. For software I need your Android version and depending on version its found under something like "Settings" -> "About phone" -> "Android version"

thanks!