Solar Eclipse Timer 4+

Saw this on SmarterEveryDay, and used it for the 2017 eclipse in Oregon. Well done. But the voice never came on. I saw ticker tape messages, which were great, but despite following all instructions on my iPhone SE (mute off, volume up, all notifications enabled, this app only one running after restarting it) I got no voice prompts. The only thing I did that might (but shouldn't) have caused an issue was switching to camera and back to this app.

The word "Stop" does not look like a button, rather just plain title text, so it took me a long time to figure out I could tap it.

The main screen has to scroll (not obvious) so the critical Check Position button (which DOES look like a button unlike the Stop "button") is hidden off the bottom of the screen, so you just stair at the main screen wondering what to do with a dead timer app.

The "Check Position" button leads to another counterintuitive screen where you "Get My Location" (that sounds different than "check location") and "Calculate Contact Tines"). Why do I have to press these manually? Can't the contact times update automatically? It feels clunky, like Excel with auto calculate turned off. Further, I have to "Load Contact Times". Load from a disk drive? How about "apply" or "use"? The terminology on the page is a bit confusing.

I love the developer's engagement and contribution to science. I look forward to improvements, and of course 2024.

Thanks for your comment. You points are noted and I am making a list of things to do to improve the next version.

Like many others, I saw the app and Dr Telepun with Destin on SED, and downloaded immediately. I didn't do a ton of advance work, but did familiarize myself with the functionality for thirty minutes and a few practice runs, and corrected the times for lunar limb profile at my location. I don't know how difficult that would be to integrate into the app, but allowing the calculation to occur as an option within the app would be nice -- although there are websites that do most of the heavy lifting on the calculation now anyway. On the day of the eclipse, I used a Bluetooth earbud to hear the vocal cues, and kept my eyes in the sky (and my kids). Great app, very accurate with the times once corrected -- which was very easy to do. Helpful verbal reminders, too.

I found the app very easy to use, and sufficiently comprehensive if a bit utilitarian. But as an engineer, utilitarian is as much a complement as comprehensive is. You might not confuse the GUI for a pretty Apple produced piece of software, but it's every bit as functional as one.

I was in Chile earlier this year -- and having an app like this at least makes me think about wanting to go back for the eclipse in 2019. Good work to the developer and team. Apps like this are the fantastic part about the smartphone world we live in.

Thank you for your thoughtful review! I am happy the app helped you with the eclipse! I will be updating the elements for the upcoming eclipses including Chile. I am happy that you did corrections for lunar limb adjustments, the vast majority of users would not. But I believe I have the only app out that there that even discusses it and then provides the adjust ability to the contact times to correct for it. I don't think I will be able to provide the function to have the times corrected automatically. Even Xavier Jubier, who has done extensive work on this subject does not include it in his bass calculations, he provides the data separately for those who want to adjust. I am beginning a list of things that I will do to improve the app in Version 2. Thanks again!

We used this during the eclipse today just into the path of totality in SC. We didn't have an exact plan today, so being able to check our position was great. The built in announcements of when eclipse events were occurring were right on cue! We noticed temp changes, wildlife behaviors, and solar bands!

The only things I would change about this would be to have the choice for military time, as many people prefer not to use it. Also, I would like to see a digital countdown for each occurrence such as first contact, second contact... Another useful feature would be to know exactly what percentage of the eclipse you will see based on GPS location.

Another nice feature would be to know what percentage of the eclipse we are currently viewing during the eclipse. We would often look up and guesstimate about what percentage was covered and look around at the amount of light. It would be kinda of cool to know exactly what percentage of sunlight we were experiencing. It's crazy how much daylight the smallest sliver of sun can produce!

Again, amazing app with just a few convenience features missing. I'm looking forward to using it again in 2024!

Thanks for your comment!