SOTA Spotter Release Notes

SOTA Spotter EoL Notice

Effective 24th of June 2023, SOTA Spotter is End of Life (EoL). No further development work will be done on this application.

SOTA Spotter 2.8.625

Release date: 30.03.2023

  • Fixed some stability issues

SOTA Spotter 2.8.623

Release date: 07.03.2023

  • Fixed some stability issues

SOTA Spotter 2.8.617

Release date: 26.11.2022

  • Support for Android 13
  • General app speed optimizations
  • Improved error handling

SOTA Spotter 2.7.611

Release date: 18.10.2022

  • Improved reliability when using low-speed network connections
  • Added alert filtering (still in an experimental stage)
  • Added sync indicator
  • Fixed a crash when creating the sync account on some devices
  • Other minor UI improvements and bug fixes

SOTA Spotter 2.6.595

Release date: 29.12.2021

  • Updated the SMS gateways list so that its contents is no longer randomly sorted
  • Added an option to copy the SMS text to the clipboard when posting new spots by SMS
  • Fixed color theme issue (the text cursor was not visible)
  • Other minor UI improvements

SOTA Spotter 2.5.578

Release date: 01.12.2021

  • Improved support for Android 12
  • Dropped support for Android 5.0, 5.1 and 6.0
  • Added a Quick Actions floating button for sending spots/alerts and silencing all notifications
  • Updated icons and themes
  • Fixed a bug where some spot announcements would sometimes be truncated
  • Fixed a bug that prevented a spot/alert from being edited
  • Fixed a bug that occurred when the device time was set in the past
  • Fixed a bug in the summits database update mechanism
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when deleting a spot/alert

SOTA Spotter 2.4.557

Release date: 08.09.2021

  • Fixed an issue spotting via SMS on Android 11 – opening the default SMS app failed
  • Fixed incorrect mode when editing a spot
  • Removed username-spotter validation for editing and deleting spots/alerts

SOTA Spotter 2.4.552

Release date: 18.07.2021

  • Fixed a crash when deleting spot/alert by using the context menu
  • Fixed an issue where two nearby summits with the same name would not appear at the same time in the nearby summits list

SOTA Spotter 2.3.549

Release date: 21.06.2021

  • Fixed a problem where the summits database would become corrupt
  • Save spot/alert data automatically when moving away from the Send screen
  • Redesigned the Summit Details screen
  • Removed quotation marks from names in the summits database

SOTA Spotter 2.2.529

Release date: 12.09.2020

  • Fixed some random crashes (mostly in Summit Details)

SOTA Spotter 2.2.527

Release date: 05.09.2020

  • Improved Light and Dark themes
  • Changed crash reporting SDK

SOTA Spotter 2.1.515

Release date: 13.03.2020

  • Fixed spotting issue

SOTA Spotter 2.1.514

Release date: 23.11.2019

  • Fixed some layout issues on devices with lower DPI displays

SOTA Spotter 2.1.511

Release date: 27.10.2019

  • Added support for the Android 10 Dark Theme
  • Request external storage permissions if the db auto update is enabled
  • Removed AM/PM from UTC times in the Send Alert screen
  • Increased number of retrieved spots
  • Allow typing lower case characters in “Filter by callsign”
  • Remember the last viewed association and region in “Find summits by association”
  • Fixed a crash when loading the map in Summit Details
  • Fixed a crash that occurred sometimes when filtering incoming spots
  • Fixed a crash that occurred in some cases when editing a filter or a notification
  • Fixed a bug that prevented the context menu from appearing if a spot/alert was expanded
  • Fixed a bug that collapsed any expanded spots/alerts when the list was updated
  • Fixed a bug where the mode would overlap the summit reference in the spots list

SOTA Spotter 2.0.484

Release date: 21.08.2019

  • Alerts
  • Edit/Delete spots
  • Edit/Delete alerts
  • Added maidenhead locator grid to Summit Details
  • New notification type: Read aloud (in experimantal stage) – it should read the matching spot data using Text to Speech
  • Removed the PSK and RTTY modes in order to match the options available in SOTAwatch3
  • Dropped support for Android versions earlier than 5.0 Lollipop
  • Increased the minimum distance and time interval for location updates for Find Summits Nearby
  • A general re-design of the user interface, conforming to the Material Design guidelines
    • Added a new tab layout for switching between Spots and Alerts – you can swipe between the two, as well
    • Re-designed old app color themes and added a few new ones
    • Re-designed the Settings screen
    • Used new Material Design icons throughout the user interface
    • Added a new button for posting new spots/alerts in the bottom-right corner of the spots/alerts lists
    • Re-designed the application icon and notifications icon – adaptive icons support a variety of masks which vary from one device to another
    • Added new tool tips for some of the new features
    • Removed the back button from the title bar
    • Made the spots/alerts expandable via a small button – in order to display some extra information
    • Clicking on the summit details text in an expanded spot/alert will open the Summit Details screen
    • Re-designed the band/mode toggle buttons in the Filter/Notification properties screens
    • Added a new context menu for spots/alerts (tap and hold to open it)
  • Fixed an issue when updating the spots in the local database
  • Fixed an issue deleting spots from the local database

SOTA Spotter 1.7.333

Release date: 20.01.2019

  • Fixed missing summits issue when loading summits from database

SOTA Spotter 1.7.331

Release date: 16.12.2018

  • Updated spotting via SMS in accordance with Google’s new Permission policy
  • Improved application stability

SOTA Spotter 1.6.324

Release date: 30.10.2018

  • Improved compatibility with Android 9 “Pie”
  • Improved security for network communication
  • Added marker for current location on nearby summits map
  • Fixed random crashes when syncing data
  • Fixed random crashes when viewing summit details
  • Implemented crash reporting feature (on an opt-in basis)

SOTA Spotter 1.5.308

Release date: 21.09.2018

  • Fixed SMS gateway selection issue

SOTA Spotter 1.5.306

Release date: 16.09.2018

  • Fixed notifications issues on Android 8.0 and newer
  • Fixed SMS gateways update issue
  • Fixed some issues when sending spots via the internet

SOTA Spotter 1.4.293

Release date: 27.08.2018

  • Fixed notification issues on Android 8.0 and newer
  • Other minor bug fixes and performance improvements

SOTA Spotter 1.4.289

Release date: 24.08.2018

  • Added map of summit surroundings in Summit details
  • Added map of nearby summits and SOTA Association/Region summits
  • Fixed display issues on lower DPI screens of Filter/Notification properties
  • Other minor bug fixes and performance improvements

SOTA Spotter 1.3.275

Release date: 28.07.2018

  • Automatic fill of the summit reference when sending spots – if the nearest summit is within 100m
  • Font size setting for texts throughout the app
  • Fixed form typing issues when sending spots
  • Fixed summits database creation issue on Android 9
  • Fixed permissions request for summits database update
  • Various fixes and improvements

SOTA Spotter 1.2.253

Release date: 24.09.2017

  • Fixed a problem when sending spots via the EA, HA and I gateways
  • Fixed a problem with the notifications list
  • Various fixes and improvements

SOTA Spotter 1.1.247

Release date: 15.08.2017

  • Added check for the existence of Google Play services
  • Fixed a problem with the summits database update
  • Fixed some crashes related to filters
  • Fixed an issue with the Nearby summits list (very few summits were displayed)
  • Other minor fixes and performance improvements

SOTA Spotter 1.0.232

Release date: 04.08.2017

  • Ended support for Android Jelly Bean (4.1.X, 4.2.X, 4.3)
  • Multiple associations/regions/summits selection for filters and notifications
  • Replaced periodic sync with push messages for new spots retrieval (reducing power drain)
  • Implemented runtime permission requests
  • Fixed a crash that occurred sometimes during the summits database update
  • Fixed a crash that occurred sometimes when viewing summit details
  • Fixed a problem with database update – current version displayed was wrong in certain scenarios
  • Fixed a display problem with the filters and notifications lists

SOTA Spotter 0.9.176

Release date: 18.02.2017

  • Fixed a random crash
  • Fixed an issue when adding a new filter (band/mode buttons would not activate when enabling band/mode filtering)
  • Minor speed improvements

SOTA Spotter 0.9.172

Release date: 08.01.2017

  • Solved spotting by SMS on some Android versions (thanks K7ZOO)
  • Various bug fixes and improvements

SOTA Spotter 0.9.168

Release date: 01.01.2017

  • Relaxed restrictions for spotted callsign characters (now $, ! and . are accepted)
  • Tapping on a spot opens the Summit Details screen
  • Various bug fixes and improvements

SOTA Spotter 0.9.161

Release date: 08.10.2016

  • Fixed crash when swiping down to refresh

SOTA Spotter 0.9.159

Release date: 05.10.2016

  • Minor feature specs. update to comply with new Google Play requirements
  • Fixed ANR (Application Not Responding) when swiping down to refresh
  • Fixed crash when updating the summits database
  • Fixed random crash when accessing the summits database

SOTA Spotter 0.9.154

Release date: 27.08.2016

  • Removed invalid summits from the summits database
  • Added auto-update feature for the summits database

SOTA Spotter 0.8.120

Release date: 13.08.2016

  • Added ‘Find summits’ feature (nearby and by association)
  • Added navigation directions for summits (bearing and distance)
  • Added summit points badges to the spots list
  • Added units system setting (metric/imperial)
  • Improved date/time stamp for each spot on the spots list
  • Updated summits database
  • Fixed an ANR (Application Not Responding) defect
  • Fixed an issue where the same spot would sometimes be displayed twice

SOTA Spotter 0.7.84

Release date: 13.01.2016

  • Fixed an issue where the spot colors did not appear on some devices

SOTA Spotter 0.7.83

Release date: 13.01.2016

  • Fixed spot receiving
  • Fixed spot sending via the internet
  • Updated summits database

SOTA Spotter 0.6.82

Release date: 17.08.2015

  • Fixed crash when using Vibrate notifications in Android 4.2

SOTA Spotter 0.6.81

Release date: 22.07.2015

  • Spot coloring based on spot age
  • Swipe gesture to manually refresh the spots list
  • Fixed crash in the Filters and Notifications lists
  • Fixed Help files navigation bug
  • Various bugs fixes and improvements

SOTA Spotter 0.5.68

Release date: 17.06.2015

  • Spotting via SMS – using the EA SpotSMS gateway (thanks to EA2CQ) or the SpotSMS HA gateway (thanks to HA5CQZ)
  • Various bugs fixes and improvements

SOTA Spotter 0.4.56

Release date: 01.03.2015

  • Improved spot sending
  • “Remember spot data” allows activators to quickly re-spot themselves
  • Various bugs fixes and improvements

SOTA Spotter 0.3.50

Release date: 25.02.2015

  • Improved filtering
  • Better error reporting
  • Various bugs fixes and improvements

SOTA Spotter 0.3.48

Release date: 24.02.2015

  • Spot filtering (by band, mode, call sign, association, region and summit)
  • Notifications (vibrations, ringtone and LED)
  • New color themes

SOTA Spotter 0.2.23

Release date: 23.10.2014

  • Spotting feature
  • Minor bugs fixed

SOTA Spotter 0.1.14

Release date: 14.10.2014

  • Minor bug fixed

SOTA Spotter 0.1.12

Release date: 14.10.2014

  • Retrieves spots from sotawatch.org
  • Can get spots in the background
  • Two color themes