When Our Galaxy was released on iOS and macOS, one of the first questions I got was “When will it be released for Windows and Android?”
After 10 months of work (including about 5 months wasted on a technology that ultimately didn’t pan out), Our Galaxy 2.0 is now in beta. I ended up using C# and the Unity 3D game engine to write the new version. Below you will find links for the Windows, Android, macOS and Web versions. Yes, you heard that right, Our Galaxy will run in your Web browser.
One of the challenges of making a cross-platform version is getting things to scale properly on everything from phones to large desktop screens. If you see something that looks wrong such as overlapping icons or comically large (or small) user interface elements, please let me know.
When you first run the app, it should bring up the Quick Start guide and the view should be showing the Messier objects (with M13 selected, of course). The Quick Start is worth reading through.
Besides just playing with it, you should try the various built-in "views" available from the View menu. You will probably learn a lot by doing so. Each view menu item has an info button to learn more about it. You might explore those as well.
My current plan is to release Our Galaxy 2.0 as a free app on all platforms.
iOS Download - Available now on the iOS App Store
MacOS Download - Available now on the Mac App Store
Windows Download v 2.0.4 - This link downloads a zip file containing the execuable. After downloading an unzipping it, you can run by double clicking the Our Galaxy.exe file. You will probably get blocked by Windows Defender since the beta version is not signed. Just tell it to run it anyway.
When shipping, the Windows version will be available exclusively on the Microsoft Store. This will mean it is restricted to Windows 10. However, this beta download should be run on older versions of Windows as well.
Android Download v 2.0.4 - This link will download an APK file for the app. Depending on your version of Android, it may offer to install it automatically or you may have to side-load the app. Once out of beta, the Android version will be available exclusively on the Google Play store.
Web Version - There is no download for the web. The link will take you to a web page contain the app. The web version doesn’t run correctly on mobile devices. This is because Unity doesn’t bring up the on-screen keyboard you need to type in various fields.
There is a Support link in the main Help page within the apps. If you run into problems or would like to provide feedback, please use that. You can also contact me using the Contact Us link at the bottom of this page.