Support

Does Sideris need an internet connection?

Plate solving runs entirely on your phone, with the star database stored on the device, so a night in the field needs no signal at all. A connection is needed three times only: once on the first launch, to receive the free solving credits; when you unlock unlimited solving or restore that purchase; and when you choose to send a photograph that failed to solve.

Do I need a telescope?

No. Sideris is built for a camera, a lens and, if you have one, a star tracker. No telescope, no go-to mount and no computer are required.

It works with a telescope too: photos taken through one solve up to about 1,200 mm on a full-frame camera, and the framing tool takes telescopes as well as lenses.

Does Sideris control my camera or my mount?

No. Sideris does not connect to your camera or your mount. You photograph the camera's screen with your phone, or import a photo, and Sideris tells you where it points; moving the camera is up to you.

How many solves do I get before paying?

Ten free plate-solve credits per device. After that, unlimited solving is a one-time purchase. There is no subscription, and nothing expires.

I changed phone, or reinstalled the app. Do I pay again?

No. Open the unlock screen and choose Restore purchase; the App Store or Google Play confirms the purchase against the account that bought it, on whatever device you are signed in to with that account.

The free credits follow a different rule. They are granted once per device.

My photograph will not solve. What now?

Sideris solves most photos with nothing but the picture. If a solve is taking a while, tap Help the solver below it and give the sensor size, the focal length and the object you were aiming at: they narrow the search a great deal.

If it still fails, the app's own checklist is the place to start: enough stars in the frame and points rather than streaks, a crop holding only your sky picture, no reflection from another light on the camera screen, and, if you gave them, the sensor size and focal length that the photograph was actually taken with and a target at or near where the camera was pointing.

If the frame still does not solve, the failure screen offers to send it in, with Report this failed solve, which is the most useful way to help improve the solver.

Please send it that way rather than by email. The upload carries the app's own record of the attempt, which is a great deal more than a message could describe, and it arrives already tied to the photograph it belongs to.

What does sending a failed solve include?

Sending is offered by the app when a solve fails, with Report this failed solve, and the screen that follows lists everything before it leaves the phone. Nothing is sent unless you ask for it: the photograph you tried to solve, what you told Sideris about the shot (the sensor size, the focal length and the target, if you gave them), technical details of the attempt such as the time limit and the number of stars detected, and your device model and app version.

Your location is a separate tick box, "Include your current location", unticked, and is left out unless you tick it. It is rounded to a few kilometers on your phone before it is sent, and it is where you are when you send the report, not necessarily where the photograph was taken. An image is kept for at most fourteen months, and you may ask for it to be deleted at any time by quoting its reference, which the app shows under Settings.

Which devices does Sideris run on?

Android phones and tablets running Android 7.0 or later, and iPhones and iPads running iOS 15.0 or later. There is no desktop or web version, and none is planned.

Where do I read the privacy policy and the terms?

Both are in the app, under Settings, and on this site: the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service. The site publishes the same documents the app bundles, generated from one source, so the two cannot drift apart.