Apple Silicon Mac OS

aruckle

Does ZWO-ASI have any plan to support the Apple Silicon computer by updating the ASIair Pro app?

aruckle

w7ay

aruckle Does ZWO-ASI have any plan to support the Apple Silicon computer by updating the ASIair Pro app?

Unless a developer explicitly ops out, any iOS app will run on the Apple M1 processor and macOS Big Sur.

Companies like Adobe might want to opt out to double dip (making you buy both the iOS app and the macOS application), but I cannot think of a reason for ZWO to do so, since they don't even charge for using their iOS app to start with.

There could potentially be some GUI bugs to fix, because of a much larger screen size (you can run an iOS app on Apple's 32" 6K display with a 2020 Mac mini, for example). But if ZWO had coded to iOS (Cocoa touch) guidelines, ZWO's iOS app should "just work."

Don't take my word for it though, I retired from Apple (in 2005) even before iOS was released :-).

Chen

w7ay

aruckle

Before people get too excited about using a Mac to run iOS, be mindful that there will not be any touch display on the Macs, even when they are capable of running iOS apps.

If you have ever used VNC to run an iPad from a desktop Mac, you will know that the GUI is not as natural as a multi-touch interface. We'll have to see how Apple adapts the touch interface (Cocoa touch) to the mouse interface (Cocoa), and how ASIAIR user interface "feels."

Some multi-touch actions (for example pinching or stretching the display) will likely be done using the touch pad of a MacBook. But how you pinch without a touch pad on a Mac mini could be interesting :-). Scrolling the RA and Declination values in ASIAIR could be "interesting" too :-).

On the other hand, buttons and pull-down menus, and typing in search fields are probably more natural on a Mac.

I might find out soon; I had ordered a MacBook pro with the M1 chip that is arriving in mid-December.

Chen

aruckle

ASIair app does not appear on the Apple iOS App store, and I am not sure how to download it on my iPad Pro and transfer to the Apple Silicon Mac Mini.

aruckle

w7ay

aruckle ASIair app does not appear on the Apple iOS App store, and I am not sure how to download it on my iPad Pro and transfer to the Apple Silicon Mac Mini.

See if you can find the .ipa file for ASIAIR. There are some hints here (also, try and sync your iPad to the Mac, and look in your user's iTunes/iTunes Media folder to see if there is any .ipa files there):

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-m1-tidbits-running-ios-apps-with-ipas-running-x86-homebrew-apps-accessing-macos-recovery-and-more.2269629/

A remote possibility is to first download TestFlight, and see if you can download the ASIAIR beta from there. ZWO could have opted out of that too, though. The current Beta is v1.5.1, so be sure to back up your microSD card before you try that route, so you can revert to the released 1.5 version.

Other than that, just wait to see if ZWO will opt in to allow ASIAIR to run on the M1 chip.

I am in no big rush to try it since I don't have my M1 Mac yet, anyway. No biggie, since I have three iPad pro (different generation and screen sizes) that already work with ASIAIR (not to mention the tiny iPod touch :-). The M1 MacBook Pro would just be another option, if it works; I don't see the advantage of using a non-multi-touch interface to control an app that is written to use touch interface.

Chen

aruckle

My main interest is the much larger screen. I also would like to try the Apple Bluetooth touch pad with it.
So far I am unable to get my ASIair pro to connect to my A-P Mach2. I have not yet received my hand control so initializing my mount must be done with a computer, before connecting the ASIair Pro.
aruckle

aruckle

I searched the forums and found a post that the User had success when selecting the CP2 option rather than the CP3/4 option to connect the Astro Physics Mach 1 CP4 controller. I tried that on my A/P Mach2 CP5 Today and it worked perfectly.

Now to tackle the ASIair on the M1 issue and I am good to go.

aruckle

w7ay

aruckle

Ah, I just found out that not every iOS app will automatically run on M1, even if the developer has not opt'ed out.

If the iOS app makes use of TrueDepth or Multi-touch in the Cocoa touch framework, Apple will not automatically make it avalable for M1 download.

However, Apple should aready have informed the developer (ZWO), if this were so.

Chen

w7ay

aruckle

More (detailed) instructions on how to run iOS apps that are not available on Apple App Store on the M1 processor:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-install-any-iphone-or-ipad-app-on-an-m1-mac.2271372/

Chen

aruckle

I followed the above link to the macrumors.com article and then downloaded the iMazing app and was able to download the ASIair app from my iPad. The as menu item described in the mac rumors article to save the app in .ipa format to the M1 mac mini, is not there. The app may have been changed to exclude that ability. Then I downloaded the Apple configurator 2 app, and have not been able save the ASIair app to the M1 mac mini. I am hoping ZWO ASI will allow the app to be available on the new mac mini. it would be so much eaisier to set up a remote telescope to be setup for remote operation. As well as operating my A/P Mach2 GTO while inside my house out of the cold.

aruckle

w7ay

aruckle

Aha, there is an advantage of using the M1 Mac to run ASIAIR. The drawing speed.

With a ASI2600 camera and an iPad Pro running ASIAIR v1.5.1, after an image is downloaded with 1x1 binning, the progress wheel would run for about 6 seconds before the APS-C sized image is displayed on the ASIAIR Preview window.

With a MacBook Pro M1, the download speed is about the same (viz., limited by the network speed from the ASIAIR), but the lag from the time the image is downloaded to the point it is displayed on the screen is about half the time of the iPad.

So, using an M1 Mac with a full frame ASI6200 camera under 1x1 binning could actually be very useful.

Main disadvantage? You need to enter your Latitude and Longitude manually to the initial window of ASIAIR, since the Mac (at least the 13" MacBook Pro) does not have a GPS chip.

Installing the ASIAIR iOS app is very smooth and simple by using the iMazing application. iMazing creates an IPA file, and when that is clicked, macOS creates an Application bundle for ASIAIR in the /Applications folder with the standard ASIAIR icon.

I have not yet tried two instances of ASIAIR on macOS yet to see if I can control two different ASIAIR hardware from two windows on the macOS screen.

A hidden advantage is of course the ability to squirrel away the IPA files. As long as you also save an old firmware copy. This way, when (not if) ZWO introduce some show stopping bugs in ASIAIR, you can always go back to an older IPA (just like going back to an older APK file on Android).

Chen

aruckle

Chen,
Does iMazing require the app to be a purchased with license to create the IPA file version?
So far I am using the trial version and all I get is a file named ASIAIR.imazingapp. when I click it I get a dialog box that says "ASIAIR.imazingapp" could not be opened. I wanted to see if it would extract and create a working copy of ASIair 1.5.1 that works before I committed to buying the app.
I also am curious about limitations of the app on a non touch screen. I have the apple touch pad and wonder if that will work on things that require a touch screen.
Thank you for your help.

w7ay

aruckle Does iMazing require the app to be a purchased with license to create the IPA file version?

I have no idea. I have licensed iMazing for over a year now. I still use iTunes to do very simple things like copying Kindle and eBooks from the Mac to the iPads, but for anything else, iMazing is a much better tool.

To get the IPA, I simply launched iMazing, then plugged in the iPad (to Mac's USB port). Then select the mounted iPad in iMazing, and navigated to the ASIAIR app. Then downloaded the ASIAIR app into iMazing -- at that point, I could save the IPA file to the Mac's Desktop.

I think you can only save the IPA of the current ASIAIR released software. It does not appear to be possible to fetch the IPA of the ASIAIR version that is on the iPad. I.e., if ASIAIR at the app store is at v1.5.1, and the iPad is still running v1.5, it appears that you can only save the IPA of v1.5.1.

I have not yet tried to see if it is possible to get TestFlight betas of ASIAIR. TestFlight does not appear on the M1 App Store, but it may just be possible to get an IPA of TestFlight by using iMazing. However, whether you can then use TestFlight to fetch the beta is a different story. It might be, I just have not tried it.

An iPad works perfectly for me (my 12.9" iPad Pro has pretty much the screen size of the 13" MacBook Pro :-) and I take the oldest and lightest iPad Pro (9.7") out to do Polar Alignment. I suspect an iPad Air is even better for Polar Alignment, but I don't have one of those, and my iPod Touch screen is too darn small to squint at for Polar Alignment.

The file with the .iMazingapp suffix may just be some archive of the user preferences -- most people will only need to archive that. For the IPA file, there should be something in one of the menus that says "Export IPA" or something like that (if memory serves, it is in the same menu right under "Import IPA"). A proper IPA file has the .ipa suffix.

I have not found the lack of touch interface to be limiting when using ASIAIR on a computer screen. The GUI is very unlike when you VNC to an iPad from a desktop computer. The VNC mouse clicks are totally unnatural when it is linked to an iPad. But ASIAIR feels completely natural when using mouse clicks.

By the way, by allowing ASIAIR to use macOS Location Services, the Latitude and Longitude fields in ASIAIR are correctly filled in.

Chen

w7ay

aruckle

As a quick test, I downloaded the free iMazing to a Mac that did not have iMazing previously installed. Didn't feel guilty because I already have a perpetually licensed version on a different Mac.

IPA Export works fine:

Chen

w7ay

But ASIAIR feels completely natural when using mouse clicks.

By the way, the experience is way different from using BlueStacks, also. The latter is clunky and laggy.

Chen

aruckle

Chen,
Last night after writing my post on this forum, I spent some time exploring iMazing, I stumbled upon the method to export the library version of ASIair app to my Mac mini applications folder. I am pleased I was able to succeed in getting ASIair 1.5 on the Mac mini, The ASIair app has another icon above it with words indicating an update is available. I clicked on that and it downloaded the 1.5.1 version. Which I then transferred to my Mac mini.
I clicked on it and then opened it and converted to an .ipa file.
My first inclination was to see if I could drag the corner of the app window and make it larger. It would not. I tried to connect my Apple track pad to my M1 Mac mini, it would not pair with the M1, I figure I need to un-pair it from my Mac Pro first. My ASIair is not powered, outside in the backyard so I didn't connect my computer to the ASIair unit. I did investigate the menus, Under the ASIair menu at the top of the screen and found the top selection of the pull down menu is "Touch Alternatives". which provides ways to do the equivalent of finger swipes on the iPad screen. After energizing the ASIair, I find I can connect and operate the ASIair from my computer desk about 60ft away in the house. at 5G. This is go ! So far things are going well. I have ASIair in the top rt corner of the screen and Sky Safari below it.

Life is good

aruckle

w7ay

aruckle My first inclination was to see if I could drag the corner of the app window and make it larger. It would not.

If you are only going to just use the ASIAIR app and nothing else, you can use the Zoom function in macOS. You can enable Zoom and the keyboard shortcuts for zooming the display in and out in the Accessibility System Preferences.

Everything is scaled properly in macOS, so text and graphics don't start looking blocky when you zoom.

Another way is to change the resolution of the display in the Display System Preferences. This method allows you to always have the Menu Bar visible, but there are no keyboard shortcuts to quickly change the resolution back.

Pick your poison. You can use both methods concurrently of course.

Chen

aruckle

w7ay,
I discovered that my computer display has P in P capability. This allows me to run ASIair pro in one quadrant of the screen and other program windows in the other three quarters.

w7ay

aruckle Please see my other post a few days ago that Apple no longer allows sideloading of apps that are not specifically allowed by the developer to work on macos.

If you have the ASIAIR v1.5.1 apk file, it will continue to work, but no new updates going forwards will work until ZWO makes the appropriate changes.

Fortunately, the ASIAIR iOS app continues to work much better on iPads than sideloaded on macos. I have tried both my 2020 Mac Mini with dual displays and my 2020 13" MacBookPro, and they are inferior to the GUI on iOS.

Chen

aruckle

I have another issue with the ASIair Pro app on my M1 Mac mini.   Apple's next OS V 11.2 will require iOS apps to be approved ( un blocked ) by the software company to be installed on the Silicon Macs.  

 I would like to know from ASI if they will allow the ASIair app to continue to be used on the Apple Silicon Macs?

Comments from ASI in response to their plans for the issue in this post will be appreciated.

aruckle

PMTeam@ZWO

aruckle Yes, we will.