Our Blue Marble - New AppleTV App released today!
12/09/15 09:46 AM Filed in: AppleTV
I am very excited to announce the availability on the AppleTV app store of my newest app, Our Blue Marble. Our Blue Marble makes the images taken by the NOAA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera available on your television. These images are amazing - anywhere from five to twelve images are available for most days and they are taken throughout the day so you see the rotation of the earth. The satellite and camera started sending photos back in June. If you compare the photos from June until now, you can really see how much the Earth has tilted on its axis. Winter is coming, indeed! Right now, it’s a bit hard to see North America, but you get an amazing view of the constant swirling clouds around Antarctica.
Our Blue Marble is available for free on the AppleTV app store and can be downloaded today. Just search for “Our Blue Marble” to find it!
A little backstory on why I wrote this app: In late October, I read this article at usnews.com. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge space geek, but something about the images, and the long, politically influenced road they traveled, really resonated with me. I started browsing the NASA site and thought how cool it would be to see these images on a bigger screen, such as my television. I had already released on AppleTV app (Dolphin Patrol), so I took a development “break” to see if I could put something together to display these images. It was my first time doing any kind of HTTP/network programming, but it went together pretty easily and in a few days, I had something to submit to the App Store. Then, cooler heads prevailed, and I decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to submit an app that pretty much assumed that every network request completed successfully every time, and I took couple of weeks to beef it up and clean up the interface. My goal was to present the images with as few distractions as possible. I really think they speak for themselves. There are ways to browse the archives too, since seeing how the planet changes over time is fascinating. The most amazing part was seeing how much the Earth has titled since the summer. I can’t wait for the winter solstice so I can start watching our continent start tilting toward the sun again! I’ll make another blog post pointing out some of the cooler images I’ve noticed while testing the app.
I hope you enjoy seeing this unique view of our planet!
Our Blue Marble is available for free on the AppleTV app store and can be downloaded today. Just search for “Our Blue Marble” to find it!
A little backstory on why I wrote this app: In late October, I read this article at usnews.com. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge space geek, but something about the images, and the long, politically influenced road they traveled, really resonated with me. I started browsing the NASA site and thought how cool it would be to see these images on a bigger screen, such as my television. I had already released on AppleTV app (Dolphin Patrol), so I took a development “break” to see if I could put something together to display these images. It was my first time doing any kind of HTTP/network programming, but it went together pretty easily and in a few days, I had something to submit to the App Store. Then, cooler heads prevailed, and I decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to submit an app that pretty much assumed that every network request completed successfully every time, and I took couple of weeks to beef it up and clean up the interface. My goal was to present the images with as few distractions as possible. I really think they speak for themselves. There are ways to browse the archives too, since seeing how the planet changes over time is fascinating. The most amazing part was seeing how much the Earth has titled since the summer. I can’t wait for the winter solstice so I can start watching our continent start tilting toward the sun again! I’ll make another blog post pointing out some of the cooler images I’ve noticed while testing the app.
I hope you enjoy seeing this unique view of our planet!
