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

[Joshua Tee]

The latest version 3.5969 has been uploaded to the URL below as "wX.apk". The next oldest version has been renamed to include the version number and place in the "OLD" folder:

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

Android 4.2 or later is required.

Changes:
- New radar product for WXOGL: Hydrometeor classificatio
- In SPC Mesoanalysis if radar overlay is not selected some images will show a solid fill instead of a hatched area. Example for 500mb is show below. ( last image is what is now shown if radar overlay is not used )
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/s19/500mb/500mb.gif
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/s19/500mb/500mb_sf.gif
- NCEP and COD Models now restore the last used time parameter when starting the activity.
- SPC COMPMAP: This activity had an existing bug in which some images did not show at all. Now most are showing. Additionally the current selections are restored when the activity is started again along with the zoom level and X,Y position similar to most activities that display a single image. Finally, the labels shown in the pullout nav drawer were changed to more verbose labels.
- In the COD mosaic activites CAPE,CINH,SCP parameters were added in mesoanalysis.
- In COD Model interface add H7-H5 Lapse Rates for GFS and NAM


NOTE: This will be the last development release before the 3.6 production release provided no bugs are reported and not resolved by mid-week of next week.

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


thanks,
Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

The latest version 3.7015 has been uploaded to the URL below as "wX.apk". The next oldest version has been renamed to include the version number and place in the "OLD" folder:

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

Android 4.2 or later is required.

Changes:
- wX is now available via the Play Store. You can search for "joshuatee.wx" or access directly at:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=joshuatee.wx

There is a noticeable delay (hour(s)) from the time I upload to the time it's available to devices.
I hope to release via the Play Store at the same time as via this thread unless a new release is considered potentially risky from a stability point of view. The only downside is that if you do want to move to the Play Store as a delivery mechanism you must uninstall your existing wX which means you will loose your preferences.

- Version number was bumped into the 3.7 range to indicate the "freeze" period has passed.
- Fixed pervasive bug introduced by save/restore of zoom/x/y in most single image activities ( If you exited the activity before the image loaded it would crash the app )
- Development environment (SDK) and Android Design/Support libraries updated to latest version.
- target SDK was set to match the latest Android "6.0" and initial testing in emulation shows no issues with 6.0 but impacts on notifications via battery optimizations was not tested.
- SPC Storm reports, NHC summary, and US warnings recieved cosmetic enhancements via "Cards"
- Additional activities in which zoom/x/y are saved/restore include soundings and observations.
- bugfix in NHC in which one text product in submenu wasn't working
- WPC ( really general purpose ) text product viewer now includes an "NHC" submenu for convience.
- minor additions in text to speech translations
- in COD Model add dewpoint depression to GFS
- I'll start a new thread at some point soon since I can't adjust the title and 1st point ( which contains inaccurate download info )

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


thanks,
Josh

 

[Andrew Kajfasz]

Sweet, for whatever the reason, the Play Store already recognized the app on my phone and showed it as installed already. I didn't have to reinstall it or anything. I was even able to update it through the Play Store without having to do anything other than press the update button and it still has all my settings.

 

[Joshua Tee]

Andrew, thanks for this report. Based on your experience and a change I made in the app's "manifest" ( before the post last Fri but after I tested this on one of my devices ) I think it should work fine for anyone now. If anyone doesn't see the update option in play store please let me know.

thanks,

Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

Released 3.7031:
- bugfix - SPC Storm reports, some entries were not formatted properly as cards
- bugfix - NHC notifications, on touching the notification the application would crash
- bugfix - notification for local alerts, "read aloud" action was not working
- NHC and SPC Storm reports, move remaining text content to cards
- In Settings->Playlist/Autodownload, Settings->Location and "Modify" in Radar, WFO text, SPC Sounding, SPC SREF, SPC MESO, move most commonly used action to a floating action bu
tton (FAB). As a result of this change the colorAccent was changed which impacts the on/off toggles in all settings activities if running Android 5.0 or later.
- In settings -> playlist -> autodownload moved the trash icon to the top toolbar and removed the bottom toolbar completely as the add button is now in FAB.
- In settings, enable control of UI Elevation impacting shadows for top toolbar, FAB, and cards. Default setting "0" disables Elevation. I'm currently using a setting of 10 and finding it reasonable. This setting only works for Android 5.0 or later.

NOTE: Google play only allows 500 characters in "whats new" so the authoritative changelog will be found here. apk has been pushed to play store but may take one or more hours before it's available.

thanks,
Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

Released 3.7057:
- WPC Text prod activity now has "favorite management" similar to other activities such as WFO text and Radar
- Optional ( and default for new users ) new look for main screen using cards.
- If cards are enabled you can enable 4 additional cards ( 2 text prod, 2 images ) for the main screen and for each you can pick from a list of choices. If you tap on the card it will expand the content shown for text producuts.
- Dividers added and vertical spacing increased in settings to make selections easier on big screens.

One additional note is for the dropdown list in the image selection on the main screen you will see entries that reference SPCMESO Favorite #1. These reference the favorites in the SPC Mesoanlaysis activity which can be modified in the top pulldown of that activity or by touching the star icons when the chosen image is displayed. Reasonable defaults are presented if no favorites have been chosen yet.

Also, I welcome feedback to the new look on main screen with "cards" as the existing "look" has been in place for at least 1.5 years now.

Lastly, thanks to all who have provided feedback via google play. And, if you experience any crashes please do select the "report" button which will allow me access to the code area in which it crashed. That alone is only somewhat helpful so additional comments as to what was going on at the time are appreciated.

thanks!
Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

I should also mention that if you enable additional "content cards" on the main screen they won't populate until:

- the refresh interval has passed ( default 30min )
- you restart the app
- you tap the status area below current conditions ( shows time/data and location for obs ) - this refreshes everything on main screen

Released 3.7057:
- WPC Text prod activity now has "favorite management" similar to other activities such as WFO text and Radar
- Optional ( and default for new users ) new look for main screen using cards.
- If cards are enabled you can enable 4 additional cards ( 2 text prod, 2 images ) for the main screen and for each you can pick from a list of choices. If you tap on the card it will expand the content shown for text producuts.
- Dividers added and vertical spacing increased in settings to make selections easier on big screens.

One additional note is for the dropdown list in the image selection on the main screen you will see entries that reference SPCMESO Favorite #1. These reference the favorites in the SPC Mesoanlaysis activity which can be modified in the top pulldown of that activity or by touching the star icons when the chosen image is displayed. Reasonable defaults are presented if no favorites have been chosen yet.

Also, I welcome feedback to the new look on main screen with "cards" as the existing "look" has been in place for at least 1.5 years now.

Lastly, thanks to all who have provided feedback via google play. And, if you experience any crashes please do select the "report" button which will allow me access to the code area in which it crashed. That alone is only somewhat helpful so additional comments as to what was going on at the time are appreciated.

thanks!
Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

Released 3.7090:
- Settings for "radar on main screen" and new feature for 2 image and 2 text products on homescreen have been replaced by "Settings->Homescreen" which allows an unlimited number of text products and image products to be displayed on the home screen. Products can be reordered and default products such as 7 day forecast and current conditions can be removed entirely. Help dialogue is present in the submenu within that activity. Cards must be enabled for this to take effect. Double tap on images will zoom in, another double tap will zoomout, image will re-center based on tap location. Single tap on image will take you to the related activity in which the image is from. For text products a single tap will expand the card and show the entire text, not just the first 500 characters. If one is using GOES intead of COD for vis/ir/wv/rad mosaic clicking on the vis iamge will go to the COD activity, this will be fixed in a feature release.

thanks
Josh

 

[Joshua Tee]

3.7113 released:
- Homescreen now supports multiple OpenGL based radar, tap lightning bolt icon in Settings->Homescreen to add.
- SST images added in NHC activity. Radar Mosaic widget can now be configured to show watches/warnings under Widget->Settings.
- Bugfix in current conditions code impacting very small number of US locations ( Grand Junction showed this problem ).
- Search box to add locations now supports suggestions. Suggestions start showing after 2 characters are entered. If a suggestion is chosen it will autopopulate lat/lon and save the location automatically. 350 cities ( the same ones used when radar->show cities is chosen ) are used as the database for suggestions. This will be improved on over time.

NOTE: If you make a config change and the app fails to launch you can access settings by adding the main wX widget and then tapping the rain drop icon to show hourly data. A submenu from within hourly has been added for backdoor access to settings.

 

[Jared Martin]

I really liked the app..but it seemed slow and the layout was a little confusing..just some ideas for future updates

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Joshua Tee]

I really liked the app..but it seemed slow and the layout was a little confusing..just some ideas for future updates

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Jared,
Glad you like it, thanks for the feedback. Can you let me know with a little more detail which parts seemed slow or confusing?

thanks,
josh

 

[Jared Martin]

The part that is slow is when launching the forecast models and the the layout that says where the forecast models are and other currents models

I'm also glad you took it as positive feedback..it was hard to find wording that didn't sound negative but gave feedback

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Jared Martin]

Did that help?

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[Joshua Tee]

The part that is slow is when launching the forecast models and the the layout that says where the forecast models are and other currents models

I'm also glad you took it as positive feedback..it was hard to find wording that didn't sound negative but gave feedback

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Jared,
Few more questions for you:
- There are 4 different model activities, which one(s) is giving slowness:
SPC Tab ( top left ) - SPC SREF
MISC Tab ( top lef ) - COD
MISC Tab ( top center ) - NCEP
MISC Tab ( top right ) - HRRR Viewer
- How long does it take in seconds from when you tap the tile icon till the initial image loads?
- What type of network are you on when this happens?
- What Android OS version? ( I see this is Galaxy S5? )

thanks,
Josh

 

[Jared Martin]

Yes I am on a Galaxy S5..I'm mostly on WiFi but oi ccasionally on 4G. I would say it takes up to 10-20 seconds but sometimes quicker and sometimes longer.

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[Joshua Tee]

Yes I am on a Galaxy S5..I'm mostly on WiFi but oi ccasionally on 4G. I would say it takes up to 10-20 seconds but sometimes quicker and sometimes longer.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Jared,
But which icons , all, some? Specifically which of the 4 I listed earlier? Unfortunately this might be related ( just based on the timings you give and the variance ) to the issue I observed and documented on page 5 of this thread ( post on 5/15/2015 ):
https://stormtrack.org/community/th...weather-app-new-beta-release-3-4.27745/page-5

However, need more data first to know if this is it. If you click the cloud icon on bottom toolbar how long for the image to load? ( this data doesn't come from the NWS and can be used as a benchmark ) Also, on the SPC tab if you click on the top center icon how long for it to load all 8 images?

thanks,
Josh

 

[Jared Martin]

When I click the cloud icon that comes up in a matter of 2 seconds. On the SPC tab it takes about 5-10 seconds to load. And all the ones listed above took about 10-15 seconds to load on WiFi. Also the confusing part is knowing which model is being run on the SPC, it may say something at the bottom but I can't read that

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[Joshua Tee]

When I click the cloud icon that comes up in a matter of 2 seconds. On the SPC tab it takes about 5-10 seconds to load. And all the ones listed above took about 10-15 seconds to load on WiFi. Also the confusing part is knowing which model is being run on the SPC, it may say something at the bottom but I can't read that

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Jared,
Can you load this image via a browser and compare the times? 2 seconds is quite high, even on a mobile network for me it's under a second. To be fair you'll need to click the cloud icon and then use the map to select another site as the initial load of the activity will take some time.
http://climate.cod.edu/data/satellite/1km/Michigan/current/Michigan.vis.gif

Regarding SPC upper left icon this is for SPC SREF and there is only one model to choose from. Can you send me a screenshot though? With an S5 I would expect resolution that would allow you to see the lower left submenu which allows you to select older runs.

thanks,
Josh

 

[Jared Martin]

I could load that image very quickly. Below is the screen shot I'm taking about.




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[Joshua Tee]

I could load that image very quickly. Below is the screen shot I'm taking about.


View attachment 10593

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Jared,
If you click on the dropdown it should expand and show the full content. By default it's "latest" and usually that's what you would want anyway unless the current run is incomplete and you want data later then what's generated even if that data is almost outdated, etc. Here's the web interface in case you want to compare:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/sref/
( NOTE: I've noticed around 7-9pm EST daily they don't seem to generate images properly so you might see issues right now ... )

Regarding performance, when you have time can you reboot your phone and just use wX with no other apps launched? I just want to remove any resource issue as a cause. Also, are there any parts of the app that do perform as you expect?

 

[Jared Martin]

Yes..I rebooted my phone and launched it by itself and that seemed to help. I'm am very impressed for such an app that is free..is a bummer there are only 100 or so downloads... I hope you get more soon

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[Joshua Tee]

Jared,
Glad that it's performing better and you are liking it. The lack of downloads is most likely because I just posted there few weeks back and I've done nothing to really promote ( since monetization is not a goal for me ) or draw attention to it other then this thread on storm track .!

thanks,
Josh

 

[Jared Martin]

Will good luck with further development in the program

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Joshua Tee]

3.7152 released:
- Two new cards for the "homescreen": "7DAY2" and "CC2" which are meant to optionally replace the existing 7day and current condition cards. These new cards use NWS Icons and may become the default for new users in the future after more testing is done and pending no negative feedback.
- Hourly activity now has 2 graphs displayed at the top.
- WFO text viewer - add "Near Shore Marine Forecast" availbe from some WFOs
- WPC text viewer - add additional "Storm summary" products
- Add degree symbol in current conditions and 7day text
- Bugfix - current conditions status was not being properly extracted
- Bugfix - WPC text activity had some graphics that were causing the app to crash
- Bugfix - SPC Meso was crashing after screen rotation

NOTE: If you make a config change and the app fails to launch you can access settings by adding the main wX widget and then tapping the rain drop icon to show hourly data. A submenu from within hourly has been added for backdoor access to settings.

 

[Joshua Tee]

3.7180:
7day and current conditions cards ( 7DAY2 and CC2 ) are now the default for new users. 7DAY2 has been improved in the following ways since release last week:
- each half-day now has it's own card
- 100s of icons are now embedded within the apk so there is no network fetch beyond the normal 7DAY card. Dual icons are created dynamically using the local resources and might look slightly different then the NWS's dynamic version
- In addition to temperature wind direction and speed are now extracted from the main text and shown at top with larger font and whiter color.
- Easiest way to migrate to this if homescreen has not been modified is to to to settings->homescreen and choose "reset to default"
- Hazards card now lists one hazard per card. Benefit of this is you can expand one at a time instead of having to expand them all at once and then scroll down. Additionally when you tap to unexpand it will take you to the top of screen.
- Text to speech "rate" setting added.
- WPC Text activity now has a Great Lakes submenu with off shore forecasts
- Refresh interval in settings can be set to 0 to disable automatic refresh.
- Hourly now has sustained wind added as last column.
- US Warnings activity now has an entry in the submenu for the NWS watch/warning map.