Testing is going well on the next iteration of the Amazing Aurora app! I am dusting off some neglected areas and using some polish to shine it all up. The new version is also going to incorporate the ability to put the app into a maintenance mode. Although I do not expect to need to use it often, there may be times when things “under the hood” need to be addressed. In an effort to minimize confusion among users, a maintenance flag can be set to shut down usage of the app. It also helps cut down on error logs on the server while things are being tested to ensure they work in the live environment.
Speaking of maintenance, this has been high on my list for the past year. There were a lot of IDs generated early on and, potentially, some stale duplicates left over from early testing. That said, the server now runs an hourly check to see if users have been inactive for at least six months. If so, the ID information for that user is wiped clean from the database. Since aurora season runs for the “Great North” from August to April and is silent, for the most part, from May to August, six months seemed like a great compromise to keep things tidied up a bit.
I hope you are as excited as I am for the next season of aurora chasing! The app only continues to get better thanks to the user base providing feedback and, quite frankly, running the wheels off the bus! You all are amazing!