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Polar Finder 2.3

147 KB / 10K+ Downloads / Rating 3.0 - 402 reviews


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Polar Finder, developed and published by TechHead, has released its latest version, 2.3, on 2020-03-05. This app falls under the Tools category on the Google Play Store and has achieved over 10000 installs. It currently holds an overall rating of 3.0, based on 402 reviews.

Polar Finder APK available on this page is compatible with all Android devices that meet the required specifications (Android 2.3+). It can also be installed on PC and Mac using an Android emulator such as Bluestacks, LDPlayer, and others.

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App Screenshot

App Screenshot

App Details

Package name: com.techhead.polarfinder

Updated: 5 years ago

Developer Name: TechHead

Category: Tools

New features: Show more

Installation Instructions

This article outlines two straightforward methods for installing Polar Finder on PC Windows and Mac.

Using BlueStacks

  1. Download the APK/XAPK file from this page.
  2. Install BlueStacks by visiting http://bluestacks.com.
  3. Open the APK/XAPK file by double-clicking it. This action will launch BlueStacks and begin the application's installation. If the APK file does not automatically open with BlueStacks, right-click on it and select 'Open with...', then navigate to BlueStacks. Alternatively, you can drag-and-drop the APK file onto the BlueStacks home screen.
  4. Wait a few seconds for the installation to complete. Once done, the installed app will appear on the BlueStacks home screen. Click its icon to start using the application.

Using LDPlayer

  1. Download and install LDPlayer from https://www.ldplayer.net.
  2. Drag the APK/XAPK file directly into LDPlayer.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

App Rating

3.0
Total 402 reviews

Reviews

4 ★, on 2020-09-24
Overall good software, works as intended. I use it for iOptron Skytracker pro. One issue is with the color of the Polaris When used with phone wrapped with red Gelatin sheets, to preserve dark adaption, green is completely filtered and the star disappears. So I have to remove the sheets, adjust and put it back. My phone has an amoled display.

4 ★, on 2020-08-07
All good except the night vision mode could be improved, there is a large white caption PolarFinder on the top and the menu is all white font.

4 ★, on 2019-07-02
Updated Review: Menu button started appearing magically. The app didn't appear to update and the only thing I gave it was time, but when the menu icons actually appear and you can configure the settings the app is great and works wonderfully. I recently used it to polar align my iOptron Sky Tracker Pro. Would give it 5 stars, but the fact that I couldn't configure it for the first few days until the app suddenly decided it would start drawing the menu icon makes me bring it down to 4. Old Review for Historical Purposes: Useless on a Pixel 3 with Android 9. There is no menu button.

4 ★, on 2019-02-21
I just installed this after reading the reviews and comparing it to other Android apps and it looks very promising. The only reason for only 4 stars is that the reticle for the Skywatcher EXOSII polar scope is not included. I hope to have some clear skies soon and would like to be able to use this app. Any ideas how I can? Can the reticle be added?

5 ★, on 2019-05-18
Great little app. Use it on my Galaxy Note 4 with Android 6.0.1 and it works like a charm. It did not show the Menu initially. GPS localization did not work because I had not set permissions for "location" on phone (via phone settings -> app manager -> polar finder app -> permissions). I then soft reset phone turning it off/on and went outside launched app and it's been woking fine since. Helps me align my iOptron Smart EQ Pro+ mount accurately for AP. Love the built in iOptron reticle image.

2 ★, on 2020-03-05
Very slow to get GPS coordinates, other apps don't have the same problem. Installed the update but does not appear to have made any difference. Waiting 20 mins now and it still hasn't got coordinates. I have checked that permissions are ok. Other apps like SAM console, GPS Essentials get location in seconds. I have rebooted phone etc. but still no joy. Finally after about 23 mins it got location details - very poor :-(

Previous Versions

Polar Finder 2.3
2020-03-05 / 147 KB / Android 2.3+

About this app

When astronomical observations or imaging is done using an equatorial telescope mount, the right-ascension (RA) axis should be parallel with the rotation axis of the Earth to avoid star-trails and errors in guiding. The method how we achieve it is called polar alignment and it starts with a rough alignment of the RA axis. The best aid for this is to use a polar finder scope with a reticle. On the reticle the Polar star (and the Octant for the Southern hemisphere) is engraved and should be positioned over the real Polaris by turning it. Because the Polaris is not exactly coincide with the Earth's rotation axis but rotates around it, one should know the exact hour angle of the Polaris to adjust (rotate) the finder.

This utility helps you solve this problem by graphically showing you the current position of the Polaris. The application tracks and draws the position of the Polaris (or Octant) in real-time and also displays its hour-angle, the local sideral time, current local time and the longitude of the place. The longitude can be entered manually or obtained using the built-in GPS. The view on the display can be mirrored to match the view in your polar finder scope. Key features are as follows:

• Northern, southern hemispheres
• Naked eye, telescopic view
• Customizable marker angle
• Support for: Astro-Physics, AstroTrac, Ioptron, Losmandy, Skywatcher, StarAdventure, Takahashi and Vixen eyepiece reticles
• Precession
• Night vision mode
• Enter longitude of your place manually or via built-in GPS

Note: On some new devices running Android 4.x the preferences menu can be reached via pressing and holding the Recent Apps Button - which is a ‘soft key’ (not the Home button). On Galaxy Tabs there are three buttons at the bottom. The middle one is the main, hardware button. The task manager is just on its left side. Press and hold for about two whole seconds on it, and then the menu comes up.

New features

GPS update was made shorted for quicker refresh.