Settings
All settings are found under Menu → “Settings”.
Appearance
Color Scheme
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Dark | Dark color scheme (default) |
| Light | Light color scheme |
| System | Follows the iOS setting |
Night Mode
Tints the entire user interface in red tones to preserve your eyes’ dark adaptation. Text, icons, buttons, and the star chart are rendered in the selected night color.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Night mode | On/Off |
| Intensity | Brightness of the night color (10–80%) |
| Hue | Dark red to orange-red |
Tip: Activate night mode before heading to your observation site. Red light preserves dark adaptation much better than white light.
Crosshair
The crosshair is always visible and not configurable. It shows a target cross with a 1° reference ring for fine alignment. When calibration is active, the deviation is additionally shown in color (green < 0.3°, yellow < 1°, red ≥ 1°). See crosshair-simplification.
Sky Chart (Sky Overlay)
Configures the star chart view that can be overlaid on the guide crosshair:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Background | Background gradient on/off |
| Az/Alt grid | Coordinate grid with azimuth and altitude lines at 10° intervals. Helps with spatial orientation in the sky. |
| Constellation lines | Connecting lines between stars |
| Star names | Labels for stars (with color selection) |
| Constellation names | Labels for constellations (with color selection) |
| DSO symbols | Show deep-sky objects |
| DSO names | Labels for DSOs (with color selection) |
| Planets | Show planet markers (with color selection) |
| Min. brightness | Minimum star brightness (magnitude) |
| Natural scrolling | Reverse swipe direction for the sky view (see gesture-based-sky-navigation) |
Catalog
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Catalog language | Language for object names (German, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch) |
| Show Caldwell catalog | Shows an additional 109 Caldwell objects in the catalog. Hidden by default to avoid overwhelming beginners. |
Help Banner
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Show help banner | Show/hide contextual hints at the top of the main screen. |
Finder Axes
Axis inversion (azimuth/altitude) is fixed (invertAz=true, invertAlt=true) and is no longer user-configurable (see settings-cleanup-defaults).
Calibration
The maximum calibration age is fixed at 15 minutes and is no longer configurable. Calibration stars are not removed automatically — instead, their weight decreases over a half-life of 15 minutes (see calibration-observation-lifecycle, settings-cleanup-defaults).
Data (Backup)
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Export settings | Saves all settings as a JSON file (for sharing or backup) |
| Import settings | Loads a previously exported file and overwrites the current settings |
Documentation & Licenses
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Documentation | Opens the in-app help with guides in Markdown format |
| Licenses & Credits | Shows app version, libraries used (MarkdownUI), and data source licenses (HYG, Messier, Caldwell, JPL) |
Reset
“Reset Settings” resets all settings to their default values. Equipment data and observation log are not affected.