Good morning,

Until now, without exception all applications that ran in Windows 7 also do so in Windows 8 (not RT!) on the tablet, mostly in desktop mode only. Until acquisition of some astrology programmes i used Linux but do not wish to be bothered by more than one operating system, tweaking 'Wine', and the like. Me plug and play, lazy. The reason i migrated to Windows was to run some astrology software.

Getting back to telephones, Mozilla have announced that they will release a complete 'free' operating system for smart telephones late this year or early next, an event i am eagerly awaiting. As a Google slave with Android, i configure the Firefox web browser to block all Google tracking functions and have installed ex. gr. an alternate application 'shop'. If Google founders and others become milliardaires by obtaining and selling my and others' private data, i should at least like to get paid for the raw material.

Alas, i must wait two years to root my telephone unless i accept to void the guarantee i paid for.

Best regards,

lihin

lihin wrote:If Google founders and others become milliardaires by obtaining and selling my and others' private data, i should at least like to get paid for the raw material.

That's a good point, however the other way of looking at it is that Google has created the best browsing experience with their Chrome browser - easily faster and more compliant than its competitors. Most of us are not willing to pay for that. It is an accepted norm that we will not pay for the hours of exhausting work that went into creating that browser, and most of us know that a free lunch is seldom free. By marketing your personal data they can pay to provide you with things like Youtube, Gmail, Chrome etc. that most of us recognise have changed the internet landscape. Personal data is still a very big concern of course but it's worth being aware of what you're getting in return.

You mention using Mozilla, but in fact the vast majority of money that Mozilla makes (which it needs in order to create the very browser you're using) actually comes from Google, mostly from making Google the default search engine (a hugely profitable thing for Google).

There's no denying Google make huge money from your personal data, but directly or indirectly so too do Mozilla profit from this.

However, most Android (Google) smart telephone applications are usually not available for Windows and vice versa. Each big corporation tries to lock its customers into IT-slavery.

It can seem that way, and at times it really is that way, but often the real reason for this is for much more pragmatic reasons. Each company has worked on, or researched, what they feel would be the best code to create their app. Apple spent years working on their coding paradigms and obviously feel that Objective C is the best coding language for their purpose - it is object oriented and based on the C language (potentially allowing easier porting of software from C). Android chose Java instead for their own purposes, both Objective C and Java aim to do something similar with regard making something C-like, or based on C to be object oriented. But each one works differently and there are arguments with regards which is the better one for the task. Android have chosen their preference and Apple has a long history working with their own. Their choices here are less to do with trying to tie people into some IT slavery and more about what they feel provides the best user experience (does one handle memory better, have better support, quicker etc) as well as which one is financially sensible for them.

Of course everyone wants you to just use their variant, but this is true of every business and not unique to the smartphone/tablet market, or to IT.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both Android's choice and Apple's. I do not know so much about Windows based apps, but my experience with Microsoft tends to be that their work is often sloppy or does not conform to the same high standards as companies like Android and Apple tend to demand, though this is certainly changing now they are no longer the market leaders.

I just wondered what happened to the pocket Win AstroWin software I used to have on my PDA. Which became obselete as soonas the first Apple i-phone came out. The PDA not astrology software.

As the magyar taxman takes all my dough I look for freebies if at all possible, though I would welcome knowledge of a paid software that would work nicely on my Galaxy S2.

I did find two good little apps in the Android store: the first is Aquarius2go, it does natals, solar returns and synastries, gives Chiron and Lilith positions too. Chiron was a welcome new additon to the pantheon that shows up on the old astrowin, though wish they could have included less hypothetical new bodies. The other works on transits and offers transits based on natal data, not sure if you can customise the orbs though - they seem to ignore some transits and over-emphasise others to my mind. Much better than a sun-sign horoscope though.

Hello,
Someone alerted me to this thread.
I developed something which qualifies as 'serious astrology app for android' and I'm looking for betatesters.
Please checkout http://android.jcremers.com for info and screenshots and there's also a demo on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PljC206Q ... e=youtu.be

This app will be free (Gpl license).

Please help me betatest or tell me where I might find betatesters. I already asked serveral places and I am finding it hard to find people who are interested in such an app.

Hi Jean

I cannot understand the lack of interest in an app like this, I wou
ld be deligjted to have something like this on my phone!!!!

Please keep us posted....

Thanks for the heads up.
Why don't you help me and become betatester? It has already been tested by 2 friends of mine and I don't expect many bugs to show up, I just want to hear from more people/devices before I publish it on google play.
You have to sign up for google+, that's the mechanism google uses for betatestesters, then if you mail me the email address I can add you to the test group and you can download the app.

OK I will become a betatester. I have a google plus account though I di not really use it much - but it is active.

Btw thanks to this thread I now have betatesters, something I considered essential before publishing my app. A friend of mine did a search for 'serious astrology app android' when I was complaining again about lack of interest, and found this thread and forum, and voila.

I am lookung at all its features now, noth on my laptop and on my phobe. Still not really sure what betatesting involves, but will be able to comment on it soon

Hi nexus7,
Glad you can look at it now.
On betatesting, see if you see any errors or things that don't look good. I now have 4 testers and one has already found an error in the database with places (I'm going to add a dialog so you can edit/add/delete places) and gave me a useful tip.
If you find no bugs, all the better.
When the app gets published on the market you can always give me a good review there.
I also made a forum for feedback http://forum.jcremers.com/viewforum.php?id=7 if you want to comment on something.

lihin wrote:Good evening,

Can anyone recommend a serious astrology application for Android mobile telephones? What i have seen to date is only 'sun sign astrology'. The application should allow one to erect horoscopes and perhaps include an astrological clock that can be set to one's location. The software should be free of pesky advertisements.

Best regards,

lihin

Hi lihin,
You can try AstroApp ( http://astroapp.com/ ) ? it will run anywhere, on tablets, smartphones, PC, Mac, etc. There are several editions, none has ads.
AstroApp doesn't require installation or maintenance, and doesn't really depend on your hardware. It?s highly customizable, integrates with social networks, and has features ranging from advanced Medieval astrology to modern things like Financial astrology or 13 signs Zodiac.

thanks,
- Gene

lihin wrote:Good evening,

Can anyone recommend a serious astrology application for Android mobile telephones? What i have seen to date is only 'sun sign astrology'. The application should allow one to erect horoscopes and perhaps include an astrological clock that can be set to one's location. The software should be free of pesky advertisements.

Hello, Lihin.

Try "Aura Zodiac". It has many serios functions (natal, transit, progressions, solar, new NASA ephemeris, etc.).

Thread on SkyScript:
http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8168

Link to Google Play (free version):
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aura.aurazodiacfree

Video:

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