2023-08-05
We’ve settled on November 1, 2023 as the date our apps will be removed from the stores (see our post about it). We will continue to respond to support requests through December 31 but will be unable to help you if an app has been removed from your device.
ljs 2023-08-06 09:44:16
I am so sorry to learn of this shutdown, although I can certainly understand why you choose to do so. I have enjoyed Emerald Chronometer for years and gifted it to several of my grown-up kids and my late father. I don’t know if any of them had as deep a nurd streak as I have but they have enjoy the app nevertheless. I have particularly enjoyed Geneva (I even tried searching eBay for Sidereal clocks before I found yours) as well as all your other astronomical clocks. I have spent many happy hours exploring their functions, and enjoyed your information on each clock enough that I have printed and bound them all.For years I have used McAlestar as my night light and clock, although I suspect that was not your intention when you designed it. I do not own an Apple Watch, but if it is in fact possible to display your clocks on it perhaps I will do so before September 30. I wish you both the very best, and do not know how to properly thank you for the contribution that you have made to me and I am sure many others.
Sieglynda 2023-08-08 20:42:40
I am crushed to hear about you discontinuing this fabulous app!!! It is crucial to my work and I use it every day. It is the hands-down best time keeping app I’ve ever used. I recommend it to all of my colleagues. I love how easy it is to use and customize. I can’t imagine doing my job with out it. It has literally changed my life. Is there any way to convince you to keep it in the store, even unsupported? I am truly crushed. With all my appreciation and devotion. -LKB
Lippolt 2023-08-27 08:46:40
Good afternoon,
I read the news about the discontinuation of your products with great regret. I have been using the products for many years with great pleasure. There will definitely be nothing comparable for the Chronometer for iOS. I have also used Timestamp to record exact times. Even there I have not found a product with comparable accuracy. Do you have any good recommendations for a replacement?
In any case, I wish you all the best for the future. Thank you for the many years of a wonderful product.
Peter from Germany
MikeL 2023-09-04 16:10:35
The best and most informative app ever made containing a wealth of astronomical information available from no other source. I’ll miss it terribly. Thanks for all the 10 years assistance Astro observing and for the wealth of relative planetary orbit data. Wishing the developers all the best. If they make any more apps then they’re bound to be fantastic. Hoping someone else might be afforded an opportunity to support this program.
Rb 2023-09-05 08:00:02
All I can say is you have done a wonderful job creating/maintaining this beautiful app. I’m sad but I understand and wish you well. Take care.
David Free 2023-09-05 13:35:41
Very sorry to read this sad news. I love your app, which I installed on my first iPhone. Thanks for the beautiful work and best wishes for the future. David Perth, Western Australia
ipatrol 2023-09-06 08:07:31
I find it most unfortunate that apps such as yours with quiet, simple utility are being submerged under a sea of those backed by big developers and sustained by subscription revenue. I have used your Chronometer extensively over the years, and your Timestamp was one of the underpinnings of my undergraduate time and motion studies. I strongly request you provide the source code online at the end of service so that the possibility can remain, however remote, that your work can be continued.
Morten 2023-09-06 10:01:50
I am very sorry and I will miss the app a lot. Is it not possible to make it into a subskription app? I will gladly pay a subskription to keep the app alive. Regards Morten.
m-eleca 2023-09-09 05:41:34
I thank you again for this beautiful project. I do hope you consider subscription and contracting out a developer, I would subscribe at about USD $6 to $10/year, perhaps you price at $8/mo. or $9/year so that way you get a “chunk” of money up front to cover costs? Or, sharing your carefully crafted code open source or creative commons.
I also have a question - do you have any directions for buying or downloading the WearOS apps from Google Play, into an Android IDE Developer WearOS emulator, so that one can enjoy these into the future?
And for the iPad apps where we’ve already purchased, do you know of any third party apps that would allow me to “backup” a single app on a non-jailbroken iPad and restore just that app?
m-eleca 2023-09-10 11:39:44
I’ve gotten iMazing paid which has allowed me to download “offline” the iOS .api file for re-installation on a new compatible device after the app is no longer available in the app store. Others may want to try this.
I’ve also tried downloading the Google Android Studio emulator (Apple silicon M1) and have set up both an Android 11 Pixel 6a and an Android 13 Pixel 7 Pro emulator, with Wear OS Large Round Android 11 emulators paired. However, the Android Emerald Chronometer app in the Google Play store tells me “Your device isn’t compatible with this version.” Anyone have any ideas on how to get the Android Chronometer App working in an emulator WearOS? I also have an actual Pixel 7 with Android 13 (no WearOS watch) and the app won’t download there either.
And how would I save or export an Android .apk for future installation in an emulator?
SimonAllen 2023-09-10 14:44:55
I am sad to see you go. I have been using your products from the very first Observatory. As an astronomer and horologist having accurate time has been essential in all I do. I recall Leo Laporte of TWIT in an early podcast saying that his listeners should buy the then new iPad for this app alone. I will certainly miss it. I know it will linger but it will eventually fail. As you go can I thank so much for all you have done. I will miss you. The apps have been well designed and implemented. They are a pleasure to use. I registered just so I could comment and to thank you. It would be great if you would reconsider. If you do I will be overjoyed.
swbrown100 2023-09-11 08:49:34
I’ve used Observatory for a very long time now on my iPad. Fantastic app! I wrote to Apple at: https://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad/thankyou/ asking that they buy the app and make it part of their collection of apps that come built in with iPadOS. I know the attempt won’t go anywhere, but I felt better trying. If anyone else wants to send a message of this kind, please do so. Thanks Bill and Steve!
Note: There is also a URL for iPhone suggestions: https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/
rdubner 2023-09-21 03:33:29
Let me join the chorus.
For years I have used Chronometer, Observatory, and Time with appreciation and real pleasure. At one iPhone upgrade I keot the prior phone on a bookcase in my bedroom, running Time continuously for years until the battery swelled up and cracked the case open.
Your applications are beautiful and functional; real works of art. I am an electrical engineer, and have been a computer programmer for over fifty years. I am a stargazer, and I am nuts about time, timekeeping, and the clockwork nature of the solar system in the same way you clearly are. I know whereof I soeak.
I saw your notice when I opened Chronometer to see when the autumnal equinox occurs. I have rung in the New Year with Time every year for the last decade. I open Observatory every week or so just for the pleasure of looking at it.
My iPad will be a sadder place when Apple deletes those applications.
Thank you so much.
Bob Dubner Upstate New York.
Andrew Zeyfert 2023-10-02 14:13:06
I’m as sad as everyone else to see EC go, but I’ve found a way of prolonging things. There’s an app for Windows and Mac out there that lets you store apps for a given device on your local computer. It costs money, but I’ve paid and I’m in the process of checking it out. First impressions are that it can get your app back on your device without involving Apple/iTunes at all! Check out www.iMazing.com before November 1st and see what you think.
(still sad).
ckimball 2023-10-06 23:25:51
Thanks for the app and all the work over the years. Observatory is easily the most attractive app on my iPad with incredible functionality. I will keep it running as long as I can.
Is there any advice on the next best alternative?
409isOK 2023-10-07 12:42:40
I want to express my appreciation for the Observatory, it must have been a true labor of love for you both. As a lifelong amateur astronomer, I appreciate being able to have so much information readily available in one place. It’s the first app I open in the morning along with APOD. I hope that it will continue to work on my iPad. All the best in your future adventures.
azeyfert 2023-10-18 03:18:30
Update on my last - iMazing will download and store your apps locally, and restore them to any device with your AppleID (if the device has a paid-for slot in iMazing that is). I’ve got my EC and EO tucked away on my hard disk now in case of disasters. BTW, the Emeralds seem to run fine on OS17.
Still sad though…
JimW 2023-10-22 23:08:36
I join the others who just want to say a big THANK YOU for your beautiful and useful apps and to wish you well. As for the availability of the apps to existing users, I have a few other apps that were withdrawn from the Apple App Store, but which I’m still able to download as part of a restore to new devices. In fact, Apple themselves made updates to a couple of them to comply with something or other that I don’t actually remember. So there is hope that your apps might remain accessible to current users, at least for restoring backups of devices, until Apple makes some change that disables them.