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Version 1.98 | Overview

Latest Release - Version 1.98

• Added Tarot card readings. When chosen from the action list it invites the other person in your FriendsList to a Tarot card reading. After they accept, a window is opened with a Tarot card deck facing down. Clicking on the deck pops up a list of the 78 Tarot cards. Choosing one displays the card in the window where it can then be moved around. Right clicking a card turns it upside down and rick clicking it again flips it back to upright. The purpose of this module is to allow Tarot card readings with a real deck over the phone or through IM chat and show the other person which card you have flipped over and where you are placing it relative to other cards.
• Tested AstroApp with Snow Leopard which is 10.6, Apple's next version of OS X. The tests where so remarkable we needed to include information about it here. Snow Leopard is about 4 to 10 times faster then Leopard in all tasks. For example loading every web page we tested took under 2 seconds with most loading in under a second. This is compared to Leopard which took about 5 to 9 seconds for most webpages. Booting into OS X is at least twice as fast and loading applications about 3 times faster. Snow Leopard occomplishes this amazing speed increase by being a completely 64-bit version of OS X and also by being optimized for Dual Core processors. That means Snow Leopard is moving memory and doing math calculations twice as fast because both are done at 64-bit. Also, both processor cores are kept busy allowing execution to be twice as fast. Combined this gives Snow Leopard about a 4 times speed increase on average. Many question whether legacy Carbon based PowerPC only applications will launch inside Snow Leopard and they do because Rosetta is still included. We tested this by compiling a PowerPC only version of AstroApp and launched it in Snow Leopard and the Activity Monitor verified it was running as PowerPC. Watch for Snow Leopard's release sometime next year and let's hope Apple might consider releasing it sooner.

• Added a progress bar when connecting to a remote computer through the FriendsList for both sides.
• The remote viewer window now opens to fill your display.
• You will now get "Demo Mode" and "Upgrade Account" messages in the viewer window until you add the "Anywhere Service..." to your account. Users who have a lifetime "Registration..." will also have these messages removed on login.
• Note - We recommend the Treo 755p by Sprint for use with AstroView on a PDA. Their service is more reliable then all other carriers and cheaper. Verizon is their roaming partner which gives Sprint the best of both worlds, the best digital network and the best analog network. Therefor cell tower coverage will be better then any other service provider when using a dual-band phone like the Treo 650, 700p or 755p. Sprint offers their unlimited internet package for $10 per month called the "Nextel Data Plan". You have to call Sprint customer service to get this plan because the in-store plan includes picture mail for an additional $5. Verizon offers their unlimited plan for $40 per month. This is why we say to stick with Sprint.

• Computers on the same LAN are now directly connected when the request goes through the FriendsList.
• Direct connections and Anywhere Service connections are another 2 to 4 times faster then version 1.95.
• The advanced connection method now requires you to register with us. You can share any number of computers through the "Advanced Sharing Metheod...". To use the "Advanced Viewing Method..." you will need to do an "Advanced Registration..." and then you will recieve up to 5 keys for use with AstroApp.
• The message "You must create at least one user" when using the software for the first time no longer comes up.
• AstroApp works on Windows 2000 again. The previous version would give a "Could not link with freeaddrinfo function in dll library" error on launch. This is fixed now.
• Scolling is set to be "Edge Scroll" by default now. In the previous version it was set to "No Scroll" as a bug but shown as being "Edge Scroll" in the "Manage Connected Shares..." dialog.
• Fixed a bug that could cause the mouse to stop responding on the remote desktop until you disconnected and reconnected again. This bug is only in version 1.95 and occured only when activating a video webcam on the remote computer or when on a very slow internet connection. This is fixed now.
• Fixed a bug on Palm OS that would cause the desktop image to become blurry when going through the Anywhere Service when the desktop image was changed quickly.

• Connections on Windows and Macintosh OS X no longer require port forwarding to be directly connected. This is done by building a VPN tunnel from one end to another using the routers and firewalls between both users. This gives the fastest connection possible and shortest response time. Speed is now only limited by your maximum upload rate. For Palm OS and Mac OS 9 an encrypted connection is used instead and the Anywhere Service is used if behind a firewall or NAT router. These changes make AstroApp the fastest and most secure remote control software available. Please note that machines on the same LAN connected using the FriendsList will go through the Anywhere Service for all platforms. This will be changed in the next version.
• Connections between all systems are now 4 to 6 times faster because a throttle mechanism was introduced with this version for both the desktop image and mouse movements.
• The default mouse mode is now set to edge scroll. To change it to scale scroll go to "Manage Connected Shares..." under the "Main" menu.
• Fixed a bug that would require a force quit of AstroApp if you had certain dialogs still open when trying to quit.

• Fixed a bug that would not let you share your desktop and view someone else's desktop from the FriendsList during the same session. In order to switch roles both sides would have to quit and re-launch AstroApp. This bug only effected direct connections when one or both sides had a port forwarded.
• On Windows the speed of connecting to a remote desktop has been shortened from 4 seconds to under a second.
• On Windows the preferences file format has now changed and you will have to re-enter usernames, passwords, and all other saved preferences after launching this version. You will get a message stating this is the case if AstroApp runs into an old preferences file. This change keeps preferences files compatible with Macintosh OS X and vice a versa.
• Fixed a bug in Windows that would display the video camera with the width half shrunk and distorted if the camera was activated without having shared out your desktop first. Some users may want to do this to preview their camera image before connecting. This bug is now fixed.

• The Anywhere Service is now 2 to 4 times faster. A bug was also fixed that would cause 1 or more black blocks when viewing a remote computer through the Anywhere Service.
• Added another way to scroll the viewer window called "Scale Scroll". This scrolls the remote desktop relative to where the mouse is in the viewer window. If you move the mouse to the upper left corner of the viewer window you see the upper left corner of the remote desktop. The same happens for the other four corners and everything in between. You can change the scrolling mode to the previous default of "Edge Scroll" by selecting it under the "Manage Connected Viewers" under the "Main" menu. You can also turn "Auto Scroll" off all together by selecting "None". In that case only the scroll bars will manually move the image.
• Added "Google Search" to the FriendsList. This is a convient way to do a search. After putting in your search request and hitting "Go" a new browser window is opened with the Google search results.

• Fixed a bug that would cause a crash on a Treo 755 when receiving an Instant Message.
• Improved the look and feel of the Instant Message dialog by adding username tags for the appropriate real-time character by character typing areas.
• If you hit a hard button or silk button more then once AstroApp now keeps the "Are you sure you want to quit AstroApp?" dialog in front. Previously AstroApp would quit if you hit a key more then once by mistake.

• Fixed a bug on Windows that could cause AstroApp to crash when disconnecting from a remote viewer. This was because of a timing issue within a thread and would occur on average 50% of the time.
• Double clicking a username in a chatroom now brings up an Instant Message with that user. Previously it would open a chat session with an online Friend instead.
• Web page URL links are now clickable inside instant messages and the chatroom conversations. The text turns blue and becomes bold or italic to indicate it can be opened.
• There is now an "Add Friend" button inside an Instant Message window if someone sends you a message and they are not already a Friend.
• Improved the look and feel of the Instant Message windows by adding username tags for the appropriate real-time character by character typing areas.
• Instant Message windows are now listed in the menubar as a convient way of bringing a message window to the front.

• Added a more convenient way of letting a first time user create a username. This is now down via a button on the login screen. Previously the application would ask the user about creating a new username after the first launch of AstroApp. This proved to be fairly confusing for most first time users.
• Improved the user response while sharing your desktop to a remote user when AstroApp is in the foreground. Previously AstroApp would respond very slowly sending and receiving IMs, accepting other user requests for a meeting and using the application in general.
• Fixed a bug on OS X that would only show the first 2 thirds of your FriendsList unless you scrolled down. This only effected users with more than 11 friends in your FriendsList.
• Fixed a bug in AstroCity that would, on rare occasions, leave you logged in even if you were not connected to AstroCity. You would constantly get a "You are already logged in from another location" message when trying to log in. This bug would rarely occur but could if you logged in and out very quickly from multiple locations at the same time. It is now fixed.

• Added the real-time instant messaging to Palm OS. Both sides will now see as the other side types and deletes.
• Fixed a bug in Version 1.89 for Palm OS that would always show the remote desktop as black and would never update the contents. This is now fixed.
• Fixed a bug that could sometimes show a couple of black sections in the remote desktop viewer window when first connecting. These black sections would slowly update themselves as the remote machine was being used. This bug usually only effected sharing a windows desktop. This is now fixed.
• Fixed a bug with OS X that would cut out a 20 X 20 corner section of a transfered clipboard image.
• Remote desktops are now viewed in high resolution (16-bit) by default when first connected to. To switch to 8-bit for faster speeds over slower networks you'll have to change it via the "Desktop Image Qualities..." dialog.
• The first 3 minutes of every remote desktop session are now free for everyone through the Anywhere Service.