Solar Eclipse Timer App for the Great American Solar Eclipse 2017

The Solar Eclipse Timer app will put you front and center of the Great American Solar Eclipse 2017 which will cross the United States on August 21, 2017.

The app calculates what you can see from the eclipse from any spot in the eclipse’s path with just a two-tap set up that provide your specific location information for first contact through the end of the eclipse. This “Talking” timer app offers unique features that will provide you with the ability to observe, enjoy and photograph the 2017 solar eclipse.

The app provides Auto geolocation; Auto Contact Time Calculation; Auto Duration Calculation; Max Eclipse Mark; Spoken Phenomena Reminders; Spoken Countdowns; Partial Phase Image Sequence Calculator: and Built-in Totality Video.

And most importantly, the app works whether you have cell service, internet, or any other connectivity. During the day of the event there could be a spike in the load of cellular usage on eclipse day and networks could get overloaded, be intermittent or go down.

The map shown here has the T-Mobile cell service map laid over the totality path map.  You see there are many areas with limited or no cell service. Pink has service, gray does not.  Out West the strongest coverage follows the main roads.

Most cellular providers are going to have coverage very close to this.  If you are relying on a navigation app that requires cellular service and/or internet service you may not have data, therefore, not have the ability to locate in the gray areas.

Here is why. Geolocation systems in smart phones and cellular enabled tablets use several complex methods to find your location in addition to using GPS satellites. It is a mixture of Wi-Fi, Assisted GPS, Digital Compass and Cellular information. The goal is to provide the most accurate geolocation information as quickly as possible. If one of these methods is not available, your smart device may not provide the information you need.

To cover this specific situation, the Solar Eclipse Timer app does not require cell service to work. All of the calculations for contact times are done in the app. The only thing you need are your GPS coordinates in decimal format and you can calculate your contact times.  Whatever way you can get your coordinates – your phone based on cellular geolocation, GPS satellites from your phone, a GPS handheld device, GPS in your car, or path maps – you just have to get those values into the app in decimal format and you are set!  The Solar Eclipse Timer does not require an internet connection to work.

There are a number of tutorials on the app’s website to learn more about how to prepare for the 2017 American Solar Eclipse. The app is available for iOS and Android powered devices.

The Astronomy Technology Today editorial staff would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the availability of our Solar eclipse equipment guide –The Definitive Equipment Guide to the 2017 Solar Eclipse.  Our goal with the 40 page publication is to provide an easy-to-consume introduction to the technological options for viewing and imaging the Great Solar Eclipse. We cover the gamut of options available including building you own solar viewer, solar glasses, smart phones, DSLR cameras, using astronomy telescopes, solar telescopes, using binoculars, solar filters (including a DYI filter option), CCD astro cameras, astro video cameras, webcams and much more. You can view the guide on our website here – its free and there is no requirement to sign up to read the guide.

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