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sPOT tHE aURORA cHANGE lOG

V1.0 - Notifications and so much more!

31/8/2025

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This major V1.0 update focuses on enhancing user experience with new tutorials, significant performance optimizations, and a completely overhauled, user-configurable push notification system. The application is now more polished, faster, and more engaging for both new and returning users.
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  • What Changed: A new, dedicated tutorial for the CME Visualization page has been added.
    • User Impact: (NEW) When you visit the CME Visualization page for the first time, you will now get a specific guided tour explaining its unique controls, such as the timeline, view settings, and the new screenshot feature. This makes the most complex part of the app much easier to learn.
  • What Changed: The application's push notification system has been completely rebuilt. It now sends user-specific notification preferences to the server.
    • User Impact: (IMPROVEMENT) You now have granular control over which push notifications you receive (e.g., only for >60% aurora alerts, or only for X-class solar flares). Your preferences are saved to your subscription, ensuring you only get the alerts you care about. The system also includes new diagnostic and self-test tools in the Settings panel to ensure notifications are working correctly for your device.
  • What Changed: The main index.html file was heavily optimized for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and initial load performance.
    • User Impact: (IMPROVEMENT) The application will now load significantly faster, especially on the first visit. Sharing links on social media will also produce much richer, more informative previews.
  • What Changed: The main header navigation has been made more responsive.
    • User Impact: (IMPROVEMENT) On mobile devices, the navigation buttons are now more compact, with text labels appearing below the icons, providing a cleaner and more user-friendly experience on smaller screens.

Aurora Forecast Dashboard
The forecast engine has received a major upgrade, moving from a reactive status indicator to a sophisticated, predictive model.
  • What Changed: The substorm detection logic was completely overhauled, replacing the previous heuristic model with a new physics-based predictive forecast engine.
    • User Impact: (NEW & IMPROVED) The "Substorm" section is now a powerful Predictive Forecast. Instead of just telling you if the field is "stretching," it now provides:
      • A real-time likelihood percentage of a substorm occurring.
      • A predicted time window (e.g., "0 – 30 min") for the event.
      • Clear, actionable advice (e.g., "Head outside or to a darker spot now.").
        This is a massive improvement, giving you a much more accurate and useful tool for timing your aurora watching.
  • What Changed: A new "24-Hour Activity Summary" component has been added.
    • User Impact: (NEW) You can now see a quick summary of the past 24 hours, including the highest aurora forecast score reached and a timeline of any substorm "watch" periods, making it easy to see if you missed any significant activity.
  • What Changed: The community sighting map now includes more detailed "Nothing to see" reporting options.
    • User Impact: (IMPROVEMENT) When reporting that you don't see the aurora, you can now specify how you were looking (naked eye, phone, or DSLR). This provides more valuable negative data, helping to better gauge the true visibility of an aurora.
  • What Changed: The underlying data parsing for solar wind and magnetic field data was made more robust.
    • User Impact: (FIX) The charts and gauges are now more resilient to format changes from the NOAA data source, preventing potential display errors and ensuring data is always shown reliably.

CME Visualization Dashboard
This page has been upgraded with a highly-requested creative tool and several quality-of-life improvements to make the simulation more useful and intuitive.
  • What Changed: A "Download Screenshot" feature has been added.
    • User Impact: (NEW) You can now capture a high-quality image of the current 3D simulation view by clicking the new download button. The saved image automatically includes planet labels, a simulation timestamp, and a "SpotTheAurora.co.nz" watermark, perfect for sharing on social media.
  • What Changed: The timeline playback logic has been enhanced.
    • User Impact: (IMPROVEMENT) When the simulation timeline reaches the end, the play button now resets the animation to the beginning. This makes it much easier and more intuitive to re-watch a simulation without having to manually drag the scrubber back to the start.
  • What Changed: The UI for the on-canvas controls (Reset View, Official Models, etc.) has been redesigned.
    • User Impact: (IMPROVEMENT) The control buttons are now more organized and include text labels on mobile, making their functions clearer at a glance.
  • What Changed: The images for the "Official CME Models" modal are now preloaded.
    • User Impact: (IMPROVEMENT) The modal containing external forecast model images will now open faster and feel more responsive, as the images will already be loaded in the background.
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  • TNR Protography - Around the Place
  • Spot The Aurora - Change Log