Altaz

Alok Mandavgane

About this app

Use the app to find out the altitude (inclination in degrees, NOT height) and azimuth of any point you wish.
The app shows you a 3d representation of the direction (bearing) . It acts as a compass and shows you North, South, East and West along with other intermediate directions. The altitude of the object being pointed is shown and can be used as a sextant. Long press to take a snapshot of the Altitude and Azizmuth readings.
The orientation of the phone in terms of pitch, yaw, and roll is given along the magnetic strength reading.
The altitude and azimuth is a local coordinate system used to locate objects like stars, planets and other heavenly bodies on the celestial sphere, it is very useful in Astronomy.

You can change the mode of movement of the compass by toggling the "Fixed" entry in the menu.

Ratings and reviews

App, while potentially useful, would be much better if there were a way to calibrate or at least offset the altitude and azimuth readings. For example, my Nexus 5X phone, while resting on a horizontal surface, shows altitude = 7 degrees.

This is amazing. This is quite useful for me when I do altaz based spotting of astronomical objects. Can we have an option to track alt as 0 when the phone is vertical? I.e. if I am to take a photo of the horizon I will see an alt of 0. I think it'd be useful for general positioning.

Nice app to turn my phone into Alt Az indicator on the Dobsonian. More useful if has options to show larger reading and night mode in red.

What’s new

Pinch to zoom now works in the main view as well as in AR — spread two fingers to look closer at any coordinate grid.

AR view:
• The camera picture is no longer stretched or squashed when the screen turns — it now fits whichever way the window is rotated
• AR stays on when you rotate the device instead of switching itself off
• The main view no longer runs off the top and bottom of the screen in landscape

Both rotation fixes matter most on tablets and unfolded foldables.