Xasteria Plus - Astro Weather5.2 - App Store

Xasteria Plus is the expanded version of the free Xasteria Weather app. It adds premium forecast sources, an Apple Watch companion app, Home Screen widgets, and more observing tools and features.

It also helps fund the 7Timer forecast servers that power the free ASTRO forecast used by Xasteria and observers around the world.

If you haven't tried Xasteria yet, the free version is a good place to start.

Forecast sources
. 7Timer / GFS: worldwide ASTRO forecast covering cloud cover, seeing, transparency, temperature, humidity, rain/snow, instability and wind
. Apple Weather: configurable hourly hyperlocal forecast, up to 10 days
. MET Norway: ECMWF-based, useful in terrain-heavy regions
. OpenWeather: hyper-local real-time conditions at your precise location
. Cloud Map: animated EUMETSAT and NASA infrared satellite imagery covering the last few hours
. Multi: combines 7Timer astronomy data with the optimal short-term forecast from MET Norway or Apple Weather, blending both beyond a configurable crossover time and highlighting disagreements

Apple Watch
A companion Watch app lets you check key forecast data without picking up your phone plus a Weather Tonight complication and Smart Stack widget.

Home Screen Widgets
. Configurable Tonight's weather and Multi-source astronomy weather forecasts
. Satellite passes
. Aurora forecast

Solar eclipses
Find every solar eclipse visible from your location, past or future, and rehearse it in an animated simulator with real-time audio cues calling each stage. The photo tool then runs the camera for you: timed shots through the partial phases, and automatic diamond ring, Baily's beads and bracketed exposures around totality, as stills or video.
More Tools
. Aurora forecast, with worldwide and local data/maps.
. ISS and satellite passes, with simulation, sky charts, live map tracking and dedicated Tiangong and Hubble views and an ISS live feed.
. Interactive light pollution map using World Atlas 2015 or Xasteria/VIIRS 2025 data.
. Lunar calendar with Sun/Moon graphs and rise/set/twilight data.
. Full Location Manager: online search, offline database, map picking, GPS accuracy, elevation and barometric pressure on supported devices.
. Quick access to Clear Outside, Meteoblue, Windy, Astrospheric, Sat24, water vapor imagery and more.

Display and usability
. Night vision mode: red, green or blue, with dimmer control, switching on manually or automatically at dusk.
. Three forecast display modes: icon/graphic, color-stripe, raw text.
. Summary icons for Apple Weather and 7Timer, configurable in Settings.
. Left panel switchable to icons.
. Extended help system.

No in-app popups asking for a review, but one on the App Store is always appreciated.

For suggestions or feedback:
http://astro.ecuadors.net

Version History • Redesigned Light Pollution tool with an interactive map using World Atlas 2015 or Xasteria/VIIRS 2025 data. Pan, zoom and tap any location for sky brightness and approximate Bortle estimates. Includes road and satellite backgrounds, adjustable opacity, night colours and an expandable information panel.
• New Multi forecast combines 7Timer astronomy data with the optimal short-term forecast from MET.no or Apple Weather, then blends both sources beyond a configurable crossover time for a longer, steadier forecast. Disagreements are highlighted, and Multi is now the default forecast source.
• New animated Cloud Map using EUMETSAT and NASA GIBS infrared imagery.
• Redesigned Location Manager with a cleaner interface that is easier for new users.
• Redesigned settings screens, with integrated help.
• All Sky Map for Satellites shows the entire night on one chart.
• New ISS Live Feed lets you watch NASA’s live video stream from the International Space Station.
• New configurable Weather Multi widget with selectable fields, multiple display styles, day/night shading, Moon phase and source update details.
• Improved Weather Tonight widget with automatic source selection and a configurable extra row.
• Clearer Sun and Moon altitude charts, with a vertical line indicating the current time.
• New coordinate units setting: DMS or decimal.
• Fixed Himawari and Eutelsat links.
• Various help, localisation and visual fixes.

A quick rating or review on the App Store is always appreciated. For suggestions or feedback:
http://astro.ecuadors.net 5.2 Sep 29 • Solar eclipse tool now covers past eclipses as well as future ones.
• Improved eclipse simulator, with animation and real-time audio cues calling each stage.
• New Solar Eclipse photo tool: an automated camera session that shoots the partial phases at set intervals, then brackets the diamond ring, Baily's beads and totality. Stills or video.
• New light pollution data option: an extrapolated World Atlas based on VIIRS 2025 satellite night-light data.
• Satellite orbits are now calculated on board, adding pass simulation, live map tracking of the ISS and satellites, and dedicated Tiangong and Hubble views.
• Weather Tonight complication and widget for Apple Watch.
• Automatic night mode, switching at dusk.
• Spanish localization.
• Recent locations moved to a dropdown: tap the current location name.
• Elevation can now be edited for manual locations.
• Further fixes, UI tweaks and expanded Help.
Remember, the app never nags you with popups, so it gets very few ratings/reviews. Support it by rating it! 5.1 Aug 5 • Improved design and layout.
• Apple Watch companion app.
• Aurora forecast in an extensive new tool.
• Widgets added: weather tonight, satellite passes and aurora forecast.
• New hyper-local real-time weather forecast (OpenWeather).
• The left panel in Weather View can now switch to icons (see Settings).
• Sun & Moon altitude arcs showing rising and setting.
• Summary icons for Apple Weather and 7timer (see settings).
• ISS / Satellites now includes a configurable Brightest Satellites tab.
• Light pollution map now uses lightpollutionmap.app.
• Expanded in-app Help.
Remember, the app never nags you with popups, so it gets very few ratings/reviews. Support it by rating it! 5.0 Apr 28 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- Light Pollution Map added as an extra button under "Other" sources (some new users had trouble finding it) and fixed light pollution source data selection.
- Increased contrast blue text in weather view and other tweaks.
- German language fixes. 4.9 06/10/2024 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- German translation added (by Uwe Spaniol).
- French & Greek translation improvements.
- Sat24.com updates.
- Clear Sky Charts locations update. 4.8 04/11/2024 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Special update for the April 2024 Solar Eclipse:
- Solar Eclipses tool (new button under the weather forecast). Shows a list of future solar eclipses from your location.
- Solar Eclipse Simulator (available from the Solar Eclipses tool) - lets you explore any eclipse with a simple slider to control time.
- On the weather forecast, the solar eclipse type and time of maximum will be displayed in place of the moon phase on eclipse days.
- Solar eclipse details are shown on the lunar calendar under eclipse days.
- Fixed barometer for iOS 17.4 devices (requires Motion & Fitness permissions).
- Apply/Tab buttons added to keyboard when editing coordinates. 4.7 03/22/2024 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- Font shadow for stripe mode and other fixes. 4.6 01/22/2024 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- Better contrast on main weather view text and icons.
- Location Manager option for coordinate entry in decimal degrees.
- Improved display of Sat24.
- Fahrenheit to Celcius switch does not require restart.
- Cloud Free Nights link for users in Australia/NZ.
- Show last good weather forecast on update failure.
- Avoid possible crash with bad Apple Weather data. 4.5 06/28/2023 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
-Apple is shutting down Dark Sky, having relaunched it as Apple Weather. Xasteria+ is being upgraded to Apple Weather, adding options (in settings) of extending forecast to 10 days and cloud layer forecast.
-A new MET Norway forecast is also added. It's based on the non-hydrostatic ECMWF model, giving better forecasts for regions with steep terrain.
-Zero values in 7Timer/icon mode are completely blank for clarity and option to turn off twilight times display.
-Added 4h forecast step option for Apple Weather and MET.no.
-ISS/Satellite entries show timezone, provide button to open Heavens-Above map view.
-Timezone shown in settings.
-DST bug fix for ISS/Satellite times. Affected Pacific and Alaska timezones.
-Other fixes and improved weather display speed.

From April 2023, iOS 9/10 compatible submissions will not be allowed on the app store, so this is the last version I can provide for those with very old devices. 4.4 03/29/2023 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- New Jetstream link for users in N. America.
- Fix visibility of light pollution map button for newer iOS versions. 4.3 10/26/2022 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- Improvements in webviews, including collapsible Back/Done buttons.
- Barometric pressure and altitude added to Location manager (for iPhone/iPad with barometric sensor).
- Full support for new iPad mini & iOS 15. 4.2 10/31/2021 Please support the app by rating or reviewing! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- Landscape mode for iPhone - fit more of the forecast on your screen.
- Updated app icon & splash so it’s easier to tell apart from non-Plus version when you use both.
- Lunar calendar updated with Sun/Moon graphs.
- Fixed wind direction icons & clarified their meaning in the info screen.
- Misc fixes, mainly around handling of retries on bad network connections. 4.1 04/29/2021 If you like the app, why not help by rating or reviewing it! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- Ability to vertically resize the main weather view - use the arrows just below-left of the weather view.
- 7Timer forecast configurable display and data options, with forecast extended to 8 days (except seeing & transparency), and cloud layer breakdown and precipitation amount options.
- Dark Sky data display/configuration options.
- Wind direction icons.
- Sat24.com added to "Other" sources.
- Dimmer max increased.
- UI styling changes and smaller app size. 4.0 03/22/2021 If you like the app, why not help by rating or reviewing it! You will never get any annoying in-app popups asking you to do so.
Here's what's new:
- Made some 7Timer icons larger/clearer.
- Fixed error when trying to display ISS passes for next year. Apologies to the affected users.
- Updated Light Pollution info page and corrected Green/White night mode colors. 3.3 12/28/2020 Why not help out by rating or reviewing the new version! There are never popups inside the app to ask you (annoying!), which leads to less reviews than other apps.
Here's what's new:
- Light pollution button with Bortle class & WA2015 color code display, that opens a light pollution details page.
- Added Windy.com, Astrospheric, Jetstream forecast to "Other" sources.
- Location Manager decimal coordinates switched to lat, lon to match popular (Google maps etc) usage, so main page switched too to match.
- Clicking the heavens-above.com bottom bar in ISS/Satellite tools opens the relevant Havens Above page.
- Opening links to web pages in night mode will try to apply a dark theme before showing them (does not work on all sites - experimental). 3.2 12/02/2020 Why not help out by rating or reviewing the new version! There are never popups inside the app to ask you (annoying!), which leads to less reviews than other apps.
Here's what's new:
-The main display shows the location name when available. Coordinates still available below and also in Location manager.
-Improved Clear Sky Chart page display.
-Replaced obsolete Iridium flares with daily bright satellite passes.
-Fix for ISS passes not returning for some locations.
-NOAA Water Vapor page got alternative links to image loops, second nearest depending on location.
-Size of main weather view is increased for most devices.
-Dimmer, Green/White night mode options added.
-Quick Help that demonstrates how the 7Timer view is easily read. 3.1 10/30/2020 This is the first public version of Xasteria Plus. It is the version included in Polar Scope Align 5.3. 3.0 09/15/2020 1.12 08/29/2020