I reviewed Phases 2.0 a few months ago. Since then, my friends at bjango have released Phases 3.0 which brings some new features to the table.
The most notable new feature is a new page of detailed information about the moon (and a little about the sun). The information displayed on this page is as follows: age, illumination, distance, azimuth, and altitude. This same page also displays the current phase of the moon as well as moonrise, moonset, sunrise, and sunset.
New Stats Page
You can toggle to any date in the past or future with the arrows located on either side of the date. In case the date you are looking for is more than a few days in either direction, you can tap on the calender icon located in the upper right corner, and up comes a date selection tool. From here it is much easier to find a distant date compared to the toggle buttons. Once at your selected date, Phases displays all of the data that would be available for the current date. All of this works without a data connection, meaning iPod Touch users can use this while away from a wifi hotspot, say, gazing at the night sky.
Date Selection Tool
As with the last version, the first page displays the current phase of the moon, along with the next 8 major moon phases and their corresponding dates.
Phases List
The last page is a calendar that shows all of the phases of the moon for that month, with the current day highlighted in blue. As with the stats page, you can toggle to any time in the past or future.
Calendar page showing all of the moon phases for that month.
These pages, as far as I can tell, have remained largely untouched from the previous versions. That’s not to say that they needed changing. It’s hard to improve upon perfection.
Lastly, there have been some minor updates to Phases’ settings. You can now choose to display distances in miles, and select what hemisphere you are in, which improves moon displays for customers who live in the southern hemisphere. Oh, and you can set your exact location, for more precise results.
Just like before (and with all bjango apps), the user interface is bright, and well thought out. The navigation scheme is very similar to the iPhone’s built-in weather app, meaning this app should be easy to navigate, or at least familiar feeling, from the very first use. Also, what few buttons that are used, feel very natural and are perfectly designed to fit in with the rest of the cool colors used throughout the app.
Granted this app appeals to a fairly niche audience, it is so well polished it should be mandatory for all iPhone owners. If you haven’t already, you can pick up a copy of Phases from the App Store for $.99. I highly recommend it. [iTunes Link]
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TAGS: bjango, Iphone app, review
