TerraTime FAQ

About TerraTime

Using TerraTime


How do I get TerraTime for my phone?

Click to download for Android smartphones. If you use a non-Android phone, please see the next question…

What about iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm, ..?

Currently, TerraTime is only available for Android. No other platform on the market supports the full range of functionality required, including 3-axis orientation sensors, wallpaper, and home screen widgets. Limited-feature versions of TerraTime may be introduced for other systems; please contact us if you're interested.

How much does TerraTime cost?

TerraTime is free for a 14-day trial period, after which you must purchase a license to continue using it. Cost for the license is US $2.50.

Do I need to be online for TerraTime to work?

Not usually. TerraTime's map and globe are created on the fly from high-resolution NASA images, downloaded as needed. So, a high-speed data connection is required to fetch these images the first time, and is required for live updates to clouds every few hours. Otherwise, the imagery is stored on your device after download, and no connection is needed.

The TerraTime clock doesn't require an internet connection at all.

How much phone memory does TerraTime need?

The TerraTime application itself requires approximately 390kb of memory on your phone; the license uses another 20kb.

The images used to make TerraTime work are stored on your device after downloading; this speeds up the various displays, and allows the map and globe to be updated even when you're offline. If you have a memory card installed, the images will be stored there, rather than using scarce internal memory. You can decrease this storage requirement somewhat by turning off Clouds and City Lights, if you wish.

What about battery usage?

Unavoidably, the TerraTime widget and real-time wallpaper use somewhat more battery power than a normal clock widget and static wallpaper. If battery life is a problem for you, the impact can be reduced by increasing the map update interval, accessed in Settings from the main application menu.

What are all these permissions that TerraTime is asking for?

Here's why each is needed:

full Internet access
to download the satellite imagery used to make the map and globe
read phone state, view network state
to ensure that you have a high-speed data connection before downloads take place
location
sunrise and sunset times depend on where you are
start at boot, set wallpaper
both essential to making the real-time wallpaper work

Can I get the globe as my wallpaper?

Not currently. We're looking into this, but it's not clear that it's possible with the 3-D technology underlying the globe.

How do I install the home-screen clock widget?

To install the widget, long-press on an empty area of the home screen, select Widgets, then TerraTime. The small widget takes up the space of one icon, four icons (2 x 2) for the medium size, or for the large widget, nine icons (3 x 3).

How do I install the real-time wallpaper?

Open the Settings from the main application menu, then scroll down and check the box for Real-time map wallpaper.

My wallpaper isn't updating

TerraTime makes the real-time wallpaper happen with a background process, and occasionally this can get stuck. To restart it, select Refresh from the main application menu.

Also, please note the following known issues with real-time wallpaper:

My clock widget isn't updating.

Like the wallpaper, the background process that updates the home screen widget will very occasionally die. If this happens, the Refresh menu item should update it manually and restart the process.

Note that if you have a "task killer" app running on your phone, this will stop TerraTime's clock by killing its process. Please exclude TerraTime from any auto-kill lists.

If the TerraTime clock widget or real-time wallpaper gets stopped for any reason, such as a killed process, it should automatically restart within 5 minutes (on Andoroid 1.5) or 1 hour (on Android 1.6+). This 1-hour delay is a limitation of the Android platform.

Why is it so slow?

Downloading the various map images takes some time, even on a fast connection: these are big satellite photos. And creating an accurate day/night line involves a lot of calculations, especially given it's running on a phone.

In particular, it can take a minute to refresh the wallpaper when your phone is first turned on, due to all the other things that are happening during boot-up. Patience, Grasshopper!

Why does TerraTime show a different sunrise and sunset time than ____________?

You may see slight differences between the sunrise/set times shown here and in other places, including what you might observe yourself. There are several reasons why this happens: