Softpedia >Mac >Math/Scientific >SkyORB >  Changelog

SkyORB Changelog

What's new in SkyORB 2021 LTS 1

Nov 1, 2023
  • We appreciate your use of SkyORB. Here are the enhancements in this version:
  • Enhanced engine for reduced lag and improved stability.
  • Improved French language support.
  • Kindly be aware that a new SkyORB 2021 version is gradually being phased out, while an exciting new SkyORB app is set to debut in Q4 2023.

New in SkyORB 2021.12.6 (Mar 5, 2023)

  • Bug fixes and maintenance update.

New in SkyORB 2021.12.5 (Feb 20, 2022)

  • Fix and improved french texts.
  • Fix light speed time calculation
  • Show GPU memory usage and improve support for system with less than 1GB of VRAM.
  • Changed the page when full version is unlocked.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements

New in SkyORB 2021.12.1 (Feb 8, 2022)

  • Improved restore purchase and fix an issue with expired subscriptions.
  • Bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2021.11.1 (Dec 2, 2021)

  • Improved engine, reduced loading time and lags.
  • Fixed the selection of planet in space view.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2021.9.2 (Oct 3, 2021)

  • Fixed links in account page.
  • Changed ground texture in astronomical local view.
  • Fixed an issue with object picking in local view.
  • Improved time of light travel in space view.
  • Made lot of internal changes.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2021.9.1 (Sep 30, 2021)

  • Fixed links in account page.
  • Improved time of light travel in space view.
  • Made lot of internal changes.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2021.8.1 (Sep 2, 2021)

  • Improved space slider, with smoother transitions.
  • Deep objects now visible in space view.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2021.7.1 (Jul 28, 2021)

  • Ability to change the method of rise and set time notification (official, civil, nautical, astronomical twilight).
  • The release notes can be displayed by selecting the version number in the account settings.
  • Fix corruption when displaying 2D chart.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2021.6.1 (Jun 24, 2021)

  • Addressed time of solar eclipse and lunar eclipse according the time zone.
  • Time of event now shown in astronomy events for the current day.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2021.5.1 (May 19, 2021)

  • Redesigned timeshift interface using a dial. Orbits are now displayed when using it.
  • Improved search engine : stars can be search by Hyparcos, Gliese or proper name.
  • Added Methuselah star.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2021.3.1 (Mar 29, 2021)

  • Satellites now appears in 3D planetarium.
  • Improved loading time of large satellites database.
  • Updated Starlink icons.
  • Arm 64 support

New in SkyORB 2021.2.1 (Feb 8, 2021)

  • Added new buttons for displaying the artificial satellites.
  • Satellites now appears in stereographic view and in the world map view.
  • Satellites now display the ground position coordinates.
  • Improved slider in stereographic view.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.12.1 (Jan 4, 2021)

  • Day and night color can be toggled directly from a new button in the local view.
  • Improved star rendering.
  • Improved pick-up cursor.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.11.1 (Nov 29, 2020)

  • Redesigned deep objects database, more complete. More information when selecting a deep object.
  • The light travel time from earth is now calculated when navigating in the space view.
  • Added Starlink MPC database.
  • Support for macOS Big Sur and Apple Silicon.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.10.2 (Nov 6, 2020)

  • Redesigned the gallery view mode in the space 3D view.
  • Ability to sort the planet by size, swipe gesture to change planet.
  • Improved label display.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.9.2 (Sep 8, 2020)

  • When showing the moon phase in full screen, the orbit of the moon is now displayed.
  • Redesigned Today Widget, showing the stereographic star map,
  • Other bug fixes, resolving stability issues in 2020.9.1

New in SkyORB 2020.9.1 (Sep 1, 2020)

  • When showing the 3D Star Map, a grid in light-years is now displayed.
  • Fixed some invalid MPC parsing.
  • The timeshift now allows a step by step forward and backward with the '0x' multiplier mode.
  • Updated engine, with improved performance.
  • Other bug fixes.

New in SkyORB 2020.7.1 (Jul 19, 2020)

  • Jovian events now includes full screen, System II longitude, magnitude and time-shift.
  • When selected, comets and meteors now display rise and set times and magnitudes. Positions for the next 7 days are plotted in the local view.
  • Improved phase calculation. Elongation are now displayed.
  • The information of planet, star are now improved and widgets have been redesigned with a 'close' button.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.6.1 (Jun 12, 2020)

  • The minor planet database is now updated with many of new features ! New redesigned page, better synchronisation, shows the last date of synchronisation, a 2D sun chart of the comets/satellite path with time shift, shows date of last observation and orbital period.
  • The local view and space view now display only the selected comet or satellite. the path is also calculated.
  • Improved gesture management in the 3D local view and space view.
  • Sun clock world map can be zoomed in and out, improved rendering of the planet culmination chart.
  • New 3D model of promoteus, phobos, deimos and vesta.
  • Improved translation for some language
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.5.1 (May 6, 2020)

  • New 3D star map is now more interactive than ever!
  • Searching for a star will now show directly to the space view (3D star map) and in local view.
  • New build star database, with 30% more stars !
  • Accurate colors of the stars from BV color index instead of the spectrum class.
  • Improved transition when zooming from solar system to 3D star map.
  • Improved zoom in local view.
  • Searching for an exoplanet now shows the star which it is orbiting.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.4.1 (Apr 7, 2020)

  • The moon page can be toggled to fullscreen with larger display of the moon.
  • Added moon craters and features
  • Added moon time shift with phases and librations.
  • Location position now visible in space view.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.3.1 (Mar 5, 2020)

  • New app icon and updated menus.
  • Added asterisms (pattern or group of stars that can be seen in the night sky).
  • Timeshift now autoplay and display the advance time per secs.
  • Constellations can be displayed in space view, also in real 3D coordinates.
  • Stars labels added in space view in 3D
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2020.1.1 (Jan 30, 2020)

  • Improved planet rendering around the poles.
  • Corrected planet period display.
  • Improved constellation names rendering.
  • Improved star pick and major stars in constellations.
  • Updating the app now show a release notes.

New in SkyORB 2019.12.2 (Dec 19, 2019)

  • Fixes the stability issues with MPC (Meteor Database)

New in SkyORB 2019.12.1 (Dec 12, 2019)

  • In this update: Added a new view in local view 'stereographic projection', fixed the 'user defined time', improved search engine, other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2019.10.4 (Nov 7, 2019)

  • In this update : Updated planets chart rendering, updated for macOS 10.15, other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2019.10.1 (Oct 8, 2019)

  • In this update: Improved font rendering, fix for notifications, other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2019.8.1 (Sep 3, 2019)

  • Thanks for using SkyORB - Astronomy for Everyone app., in this update, you can switch the view of the sun graph in the ephemeris page, also added a link to privacy settings in the location page, other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2019.7.1 (Aug 7, 2019)

  • This update has an entirely redesigned sun clock and sun graph, including current day and whole year sun graph, with night, nautical twilight and civil twilight. Time of sun set and sun rise are now even more improved. Also includes other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2019.6.1 (Jun 28, 2019)

  • Thanks for using SkyORB - Astronomy for Everyone. In this update, you will get a new improved meteor shower engine, with up to 400 meteor showers, with exact time of peak of fall, display of the active apparent radiant of a meteor shower is the celestial point in the sky from which the paths of meteors appear to originate.
  • Also improved the space view and the notification of astronomy events page.
  • Please note that this version now requires at least macOS 10.12 to operate with Metal.

New in SkyORB 2019.5.1 (May 14, 2019)

  • In this update, weather information is working again with a new server, added jovian events page, with jupiter and moons position seen from earth and list of events like occultation, shadow, transit and more.

New in SkyORB 2019.4.1 (Apr 22, 2019)

  • In this update, the astronomy calendar of events now reports longest elongation days, improved accuracy, improved local view rendering and other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2019.3.1 (Mar 14, 2019)

  • Thanks for using SkyORB Lite! In this update, updated milky way star map, with proper orientation, colored orbit and ability to zoom with trackpad in space view, improved navigation in the settings page, detailed astronomy event in the calendar, and other bug fixes and improvements

New in SkyORB 2019.2.1 (Feb 11, 2019)

  • This update address the support for macOS 10.12 and earlier without compatible Metal support, and other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2019.1.23 (Jan 28, 2019)

  • This update addresses an issue when clicking on astronomy news notifications, improves 'view' button in Space View.

New in SkyORB 2019.1.5 (Jan 21, 2019)

  • This updates improves push notifications when changing of time zone during a travel, improves the automatic location, ability to time shift in the calendar of astronomy events and moon eclipse are now notified only if the moon is visible from your location.

New in SkyORB 2018.12.1 (Dec 28, 2018)

  • New textures of Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
  • New Messier Catalog texture, with twice the size than the original version and updated from 2017 and 2018. Improved display in local view.
  • Improves calendar calculation for perigee and apogee date.
  • Sun rise and set time notifications now calculated for a week instead of 48 hours.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 2018.10.2 (Oct 22, 2018)

  • This updates address compatibility with iMac 2013.

New in SkyORB 2018.10.1 (Oct 19, 2018)

  • This update now supports macOS 10.14 'Mojave' and optimized for Metal API.
  • This version now requires macOS 10.11 or better with Metal support.

New in SkyORB 2018.8.1 (Aug 15, 2018)

  • Better handling when the device is not connected to the network, removing unnecessary screens, showing offline icon, remember last known position.
  • Fixed the location search, added more cities.
  • Astronomy twilight notifications and civil notifications are both generated from your location.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements

New in SkyORB 6.4.4 (Jun 28, 2018)

  • This updates improves Ceres and Vesta dwarf planets position with higher accuracy, the planets are using position in equal distance or in realistic distance from the sun.

New in SkyORB 6.4.3 (Jun 1, 2018)

  • Improvements for speed and reliability.

New in SkyORB 6.4.2 (Apr 21, 2018)

  • This update improves some text rendering and other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 6.4.1 (Mar 19, 2018)

  • Improves 3D rendering, new font and bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 6.4.0 (Feb 5, 2018)

  • Improvements for speed and reliability. This update improves 3D rendering, new font and bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 6.3.0 (Jan 24, 2018)

  • Added the Astronomy News page.
  • Improved layout and screen usage.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 6.2.1 (Dec 28, 2017)

  • Added full-screen button on Touch bar
  • Other bug fixes and improvements

New in SkyORB 6.2.0 (Nov 14, 2017)

  • macOS 10.3 'High Sierra' support
  • Touch bar support: with compatible Macbook, you can scrub the planet and galaxy from Messier database and shortcuts.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements

New in SkyORB 6.1.1 (Sep 12, 2017)

  • New eclipse notification calendar using besselian elements, which give exact time from your location.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements, restore compatibility with OS X 10.8.

New in SkyORB 6.1.0 (Aug 11, 2017)

  • Fix sky rendering issue, improved font, improved loading page.
  • Other bug fixes

New in SkyORB 6.0.9 (Jul 22, 2017)

  • Improved compatibility for every Mac.
  • Updated astronomy engine.
  • Other bug fixes

New in SkyORB 6.0.7 (Apr 26, 2017)

  • Improved reliability for push notifications.
  • Bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 6.0.6 (Mar 10, 2017)

  • Improved reliability for push notifications.
  • Bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 6.0.5 (Dec 30, 2016)

  • Updated font, improved for retina display
  • Other bug fixes and improvements

New in SkyORB 6.0.4 (Nov 28, 2016)

  • Improved support for non-latin language.
  • Improved local view with god rays rendering for moon and sun.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 6.0.3 (Oct 14, 2016)

  • Hot fix for moon display, and compatibility for older devices.

New in SkyORB 6.0.0 (Oct 2, 2016)

  • Support for macOS 10.12
  • Improved UI, address overlap page, more information on the local weather
  • Many Other bug fixes and improvements

New in SkyORB 5.2.9 (Aug 29, 2016)

  • Restore compatibility with OSX 10.8 due to method used for notifications not available until OS 10.9
  • Other bug fixes.

New in SkyORB 5.2.8 (Aug 21, 2016)

  • Improved text localization.
  • Improved notifications.
  • Bug Fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 5.2.7 (Jun 23, 2016)

  • Multisampling support, address rendering issues on old devices
  • Improved constellation rendering (dotted lines).
  • Addressed notifications page, sometimes not displaying when opening the app.
  • Many Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 5.2.6 (May 9, 2016)

  • Improved push and local notification support.
  • Improved MPC data retrieval.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 5.2.5 (May 3, 2016)

  • Improved push and local notifications.
  • Improved data recovery comets and asteroids.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 5.2.4 (Mar 11, 2016)

  • Improved notifications
  • Bug fixes and improvements

New in SkyORB 5.2.3 (Feb 3, 2016)

  • Push notifications support, with hand picked news notifications.
  • New icon set and new app icon. Reworked app layout.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 5.2.2 (Dec 3, 2015)

  • New rendering engine, optimized for all Mac and OS X 10.11.
  • Address an issue with time zone in 1/2 and 1/4 hours when displaying the current time.
  • Many bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 5.1.0 (Sep 21, 2015)

  • MPC database query and weather retrieval using SSL encryption.
  • At glance page: Improved text and past/future tense for event happening in the past.
  • Improved UI with updated font, longitude and latitude edition.
  • Many bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 5.0.5 (Aug 7, 2015)

  • Update of Pluto from pictures of New Horizons
  • Improved OpenGL rendering 3 and higher. Updated rendered planets.
  • Supports moons Nix and Hydra plutons.
  • Other bug fixes and improvements.
  • Settings and UI improvements and the very high definitions screens.
  • Improved support for the trackpad.

New in SkyORB 5.0.3 (Mar 30, 2015)

  • Fixed the display of text in German
  • Improved hours of notification and updates of the texts.

New in SkyORB 5.0.2 (Mar 10, 2015)

  • Bug fixes in the today notifications page.
  • UI tweaks and improvements.
  • Screenshots now in PNG format instead of BMP.

New in SkyORB 5.0.0 (Feb 13, 2015)

  • Support for deep space probes (Pionner, Voyager, New Horizons) realtime positions.
  • Added pluto moons realtime position (Nix, Hydra).
  • Improved rendering: new moon HD texture, better rendering of the constellations.
  • Added saturn troyans moon 'Helene', 'Telesto', 'Calypso' realtime position.
  • More accurate orbital position.
  • Update MPC update mechanism.
  • Upgraded list of exo-planets.

New in SkyORB 4.9.11 (Jan 3, 2015)

  • More detailed calendar displaying meteors rate per hour, distance topocentric for aphelion date.
  • Reports days when planet are close together in the sky (less than 6 degrees).
  • Fixed accentuated text on title
  • Support for Indonesian language.

New in SkyORB 4.9.9 (Nov 20, 2014)

  • Updated at a glance page.
  • Bug fixes and improvements.
  • Support for app extensions (OS X Yosemite).

New in SkyORB 4.9.7 (Oct 9, 2014)

  • Hot fix reducing CPU usage and energy when the app is not in front
  • Improved space rendering view
  • Fixed some rendering issue on some configuration.

New in SkyORB 4.9.3 (Sep 1, 2014)

  • Fixed notification in Korean language.
  • Super Moon / Micro Moon notification
  • Better Moon eclipse day calculator using ascending node date.
  • Other bug fixes

New in SkyORB 4.9.1 (Jul 18, 2014)

  • Address issue with OSX 10.8 and __sincosf_stret link error.
  • Improved accuracy of rise and set time.
  • Calendar now report moon ascending and descending node days.
  • Improved OpenGL performance for latest version of OSX.

New in SkyORB 4.9.0 (Jun 5, 2014)

  • Fixed compatibility with OS X 10.8
  • Improved Chinese and Korean support.

New in SkyORB 4.8.3 (May 7, 2014)

  • Address issue with OSX 10.8 where the app failed to run to due usage of advanced OSX 10.9 function like NSURLSession
  • Fixed the issue when resizing the windows on OSX 10.9.2
  • Improve support for non retina display Mac.

New in SkyORB 4.8.2 (Apr 29, 2014)

  • Improved local view rendering.
  • Updated moon page with more information like synodical day and constellation (useful for moon gardening).
  • Bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 4.8.1 (Mar 21, 2014)

  • Improved satellites, comets and weather retrieval, faster and less overhead.
  • Other bug fixes

New in SkyORB 4.8.0 (Feb 6, 2014)

  • Improving world map sun terminator, including planet culmination map.
  • Other bugs fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 4.6.2 (Dec 27, 2013)

  • Updated for OSX 10.9
  • Addressed zoom display in local view, information panel disappear when releasing the mouse.
  • ISS 15th Anniversary special: When updating the International Space Station in the Satellite and comets page, you can see the 3D model of the space station in the space view with position computed in realtime.
  • Other bug fixes and improvement.

New in SkyORB 4.6.1 (Oct 17, 2013)

  • Milky Way now displayed in local view.
  • Improved sky dome simulation (to enable, check 'extinction').

New in SkyORB 4.5.1 (Aug 30, 2013)

  • Restore the compatibility with OSX 10.6 and OpenGL 2.0

New in SkyORB 4.5.0 (Aug 22, 2013)

  • Added 'at a glance' tonight sky page.

New in SkyORB 4.4.4 (Jun 7, 2013)

  • Angular fisheye projection in local view
  • Improved and updated Asteroid and Satellites retrieval.
  • Fixed sunset/sunrise notifications.
  • Other improvements and bug fixes

New in SkyORB 4.4.0 (Apr 30, 2013)

  • Improvements:
  • New feature: Zoom all the way in to the solar system, or zoom all the way out to the rest of the Milky Way
  • Address an issue in the the local view when sometimes, the orientation was locked back to north.

New in SkyORB 4.3.0 (Apr 3, 2013)

  • Bug fixes and improvements.
  • Address text issues in some languages.

New in SkyORB 4.2.9 (Mar 14, 2013)

  • Support for NEA (Near Earth Asteroids)
  • High definition Messier objects
  • Bug fixes and improvements.

New in SkyORB 4.2.8 (Jan 25, 2013)

  • Address an issue when downloading corrupted two elements items
  • Added zoom slider in space view.

New in SkyORB 4.2.7 (Dec 22, 2012)

  • Improved notifications page.
  • Improved ephemeris page.
  • Addressed some UI issues.

New in SkyORB 4.2.2 (Nov 29, 2012)

  • Fixed and improved weather retrieval.
  • Fixed and improved MPC retrieval.
  • Dutch and Russian languages added.

New in SkyORB 4.2.1 (Oct 3, 2012)

  • Addresses an issue related to localization that could prevent SkyORB from opening.

New in SkyORB 4.2.0 (Sep 5, 2012)

  • Full 2880 x 1800 Retina Macbook support
  • 3D Stereoscopic rendering (requires 3D TV with LCD 3D Glasses).
  • Added more textures for mode planets
  • Improved space view with moon orbits and better time shift functionality
  • Notification center support: Be alerted when an important astronomy event is occuring.
  • Main asteroid belt simulation.
  • Added Mimas, Hyperion, Japetus, Phoebe, Daphnis, Mab, Altas, Pandora and Cupid satellites.
  • Updated astronomy engine, support for latest leap seconds (from 1st of July 2012)

New in SkyORB 4.1.1 (May 16, 2012)

  • Improved full screen toggle.
  • Fixed mars oblatness.
  • Updated calendar generator.
  • More views added
  • Korean and German language added

New in SkyORB 4.1.0 (Mar 28, 2012)

  • App enhanced for OSX Lion:
  • Support for OpenGL 3.2.
  • Support for native full-screen mode.

New in SkyORB 4.0.9 (Jan 10, 2012)

  • Now translated in Spanish, Italian and simplified Chinese language
  • Improved local view and space view display, fixing issue with planets name, display 3D digitized Milky Way.

New in SkyORB 4.0.8 (Nov 29, 2011)

  • Fixed display when extinction mode is enabled.
  • Fixed french localization. More localization coming soon.

New in SkyORB 4.0.7 (Nov 17, 2011)

  • Fixed crash in OSX 10.6 due to usage of OSX Lion function not available.

New in SkyORB 4.0.6 (Nov 12, 2011)

  • Restored compatibility with OS X Snow Leopard

New in SkyORB 4.0.5 (Nov 4, 2011)

  • Display date are now shown in international format.
  • Updated menu and navigation.

New in SkyORB 4.0.3 (Sep 17, 2011)

  • Added catalog for variables stars and more information for major stars (Spectrum, classification, etc...)
  • Added month calendar with opposition, elongation for planets, moon phase days, days of maxima for variables stars.

New in SkyORB 4.0.2 (Aug 9, 2011)

  • Fixed and improved comet position calculation.
  • Improved timeshift function
  • Display of the constellation where the current picked star/comet is.

New in SkyORB 4.0.0 (Jun 1, 2011)

  • Major update, with redesigned user interface.
  • Weather retrieval.
  • Lot of improvements and bug fixes.

New in SkyORB 3.0.2 (Mar 16, 2011)

  • Fixed planet rendering in local view.
  • Fixed post FX in space view.
  • Other minors bug fixes

New in SkyORB 3.0.1 (Feb 5, 2011)

  • Fixed french text display.
  • Minor visuals fixes

New in SkyORB 2.1.2 (Sep 4, 2010)

  • Added more satellites, improved Deimos/Phobos rendering, support for MacOSX GDC for faster loading and multiprocessor, fixed versionning.

New in SkyORB 2.0.5 (May 25, 2010)

  • Added NGC 2000 IC database with more accurate deep object information. Display resolution text was not updated when resizing the window. Screenshot implemented on DX10 and DX11. More character for longitude and latitude user input (was limited to 5 characters)

New in SkyORB 2.0.3 (Apr 13, 2010)

  • Screen rotation support (landscape and portrait) for iPhone and iPad.
  • Option to disable/enable planetarium smooth control.
  • 2D panning in sun clock page.
  • Option to disable/enable atmospheric extinction (to see the stars during
  • daylight)
  • Fixed Sideral Time display
  • Fixed Right Ascension and Declination shown in Geocentric instead of
  • Heliocentric coordinates.
  • Space view: Added more information on planet
  • Added text facts on planets.

New in SkyORB 2.0.2 (Feb 11, 2010)

  • New version 2010. For Windows, this version requires Direct X 10 (10.1 and 11.0 are supported).
  • Fixes SxS errors, fixed location database, fixed other bugs.
  • OpenGL support is dropped.
  • For MacOSX, this version requires MacOSX 10.6.
  • Added theme changes.