An update for Android 1.8.0, and version 1.12.0 for iPhone
APRS Connect has two releases this week. Android phones running version 1.8.0 received an update on Sept 9th, delivered over the air. iPhone gets version 1.12.0 through the App Store. It has been sent to Apple and will appear as soon as Apple approves it.
Most of what is new is the same on both. A few items differ, so every section below says which phones it applies to:
- Android and iPhone: in the Android update now, and in iPhone 1.12.0 when Apple approves it.
- iPhone only for now: in iPhone 1.12.0. It needs a new Android app from the Play Store, which is coming soon as Android 1.12.0.
- New on iPhone: Android phones already have these from the 16 September update.
How each one arrives
Android. The update is delivered over the air. It does not go through the Play Store, so there is nothing to download from the store. The rest of this post explains how to check for it.
iPhone. Version 1.12.0 arrives as a normal App Store update once Apple approves it. If automatic updates are on, there is nothing to do.
Android: what an over-the-air update is
An over-the-air update is new app code that downloads directly from our update server.
The app checks for updates each time it starts. When it finds one, it downloads it in the background. It does not switch to the new version while you are using it, because restarting would drop your radio connection and stop your beacon. The update takes effect the next time the app starts from scratch.
The version number does not change. Your phone still shows 1.8.0 before and after the update. The update has its own ID, which is how you can tell the two apart.
This update only applies for Android phones running version 1.8.0.
Android: how to check that you have it
- Open the menu and tap About.
- Look at the line under APRS Connect.
If it reads Version 1.8.0 · update [UPDATE ID], you have this update.
If it shows a different update ID, or only Version 1.8.0, your phone has not installed this update yet. The Updates section below that line shows what the app currently knows:
- Up to date: the app found nothing newer. If you see this without the update ID above, tap CHECK FOR UPDATES.
- Not checked yet: the app has not checked since it started.
- Update available: the app found the update but has not downloaded it yet.
- Downloading…: the download is in progress. You can leave the screen and the download will continue.
- Update ready: the update is downloaded and waiting for a restart.
- Could not check: the update server did not answer. This is usually because the phone has no internet connection.
Android: how to update now
The update will install on its own the next time the app starts from scratch. APRS Connect keeps running in the background by default, so closing the screen may not restart it. To install the update now:
- Open the menu and tap About.
- Tap CHECK FOR UPDATES. The app finds the update and downloads it.
- When the status changes to Update ready, tap RESTART TO APPLY NOW.
- Tap CONFIRM - RESTART NOW.
The app then restarts on the new version. The restart disconnects any radio or TNC that is connected, stops beaconing until the app is running again, and restarts the background service. The screen tells you how many connections it will close before you confirm. If you are in the middle of something, tap Wait for the next start - cancel, and the update will install the next time the app starts.
The first start after this update takes a few seconds longer than usual while the app updates its database. Your stations, messages and packet log are kept.
After the restart, open About again and check for update [UPDATE ID].
What's new on Android and iPhone
New
- Optional accounts. An account ties your devices together. Sign in with an email and password or with a link sent to your email. It is in Settings, Account. The app works as before without one.
- Settings on all your devices. With an account, your settings follow you from one device to the next. You can keep a setting different on one device when you need to.
- Messages on all your devices. Your messages, threads, pinned stations, blocklist and coverage stay the same on every device, and update live while the app is open. Requires APRS Connect Pro and an account.
- One station, several devices. When two of your devices share a callsign and SSID, only one of them beacons, acks and digipeats at a time. You can name each device, and take over from the map on the device in your hand. Requires APRS Connect Pro and an account.
- The rest of the world on the map. Stations heard anywhere on APRS-IS appear on the map, not only the ones your device heard. Turn on Rest of the world in the map's layers. It uses mobile data when you are away from Wi-Fi. Requires APRS Connect Pro.
- Station details in tabs. A station's page is split into tabs
- Better with screen readers. Buttons have names in TalkBack and VoiceOver, controls say what state they are in, and an open conversation reads new messages aloud.
- What's new. After an update, the app shows once what changed. The same list is kept under About, What's new.
- LoRa iGate text feeds. Network TNC can listen to the text feed of a LoRa APRS iGate.
- Change plan. The Subscription screen has a way to change between plans without leaving the app.
Changed
- On a phone, the map sheet has a third, full-screen height.
- In the welcome steps, Start beaconing my position is ticked to begin with. You can still untick it.
- A callsign with an SSID above 15 is accepted where APRS carries it as text. It is still refused on AX.25 radio links, which cannot carry one.
- The Account screen explains what an account does.
Fixed
- A beacon uses the callsign you have set now. Before, a beacon that was already running kept the callsign it started with.
- The paywall no longer offers a trial to someone who already subscribes.
- A confirmed APRS OTA contact shows what the chaser said.
iPhone only for now
This needs new native code, so it cannot be sent to Android over the air. It is coming to Android soon, in version 1.12.0 from the Play Store.
- LoRa APRS trackers over Bluetooth. Connect a LoRa APRS tracker over Bluetooth LE as a channel. The app tells a tracker sending plain text from a KISS TNC by itself, so the same channel works with the tracker in either mode.
New on iPhone
Android phones received these in the 16 September update. They reach iPhone for the first time in 1.12.0.
- Choose how messages go out. Messages can go on the radio first, APRS-IS first, one link only, or all channels at once. The choice is in Settings, Messages.
- Packet copies. When a packet arrives more than once, the app keeps every copy, and the coverage map counts the copies that arrived second.
- Packet page. The page links to the stations and objects in the packet, shows every decoded field, and returns you to the packet when you go back from the map.
- APRS OTA. Ops can use an internet source. Each op has a map, stations show their positions from the server, and the distance to each station is shown. A blast is sent from its own sheet.
- ISS. You can set more than one reminder before a pass, and the ISS screen links to spaceaprs.com. Detection of packets repeated by the ISS is more accurate.
- The dot under each callsign on the map has been removed.
- A message split into parts is sent in full before any part is retried.
- A frozen APRS-IS connection is restarted even while a radio is connected, and the Radio screen no longer shows it as connected.
- Background beaconing keeps its access to GPS.
