Guidance Goes Pro with Prayer Alerts!
Alhamdulillah, we are very pleased to announce the new version of Guidance for the iPhone. This new version has so many new features and functionality that decided it was definitely worthy of being our official 2.0 release. This release includes Prayer Alerts that uses Apple's new Push Notification to play an adhan alert or a beep when its time to pray, even if the app isn't running. It also has a new prayer compass for the iPhone 3GS that will point the exact direction to pray. We also added in a new Qibla map that you can pan and zoom around in, hijri date, better time zone support and better compatibility with high latitude locations.
One thing you'll notice though is we changed the name to Guidance Pro, this is because we are inshallah planning on releasing a non-pro version of Guidance for the iPhone that is completely free. This version will be the same Guidance you know and love but without prayer alerts.
As always we look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Note: The adhan alert will play for 20 seconds (completing the second Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar) if not interrupted. Unfortunately this is a limitation of any Push Notification sent to the phone. If this ever changes we will be sure to update Guidance to include the full Adhan.
Ma Sha Allah Tabarak Allah ...
Amazing update with 3.0 push notification (Athan , text or beep options), and Compass for the 3Gs
Request:
-Arabic localization
-new unique theme
Always looking for your best.., and you amaze us with the great execution and simplicity of usage..
Job Well done, Jazakum Allah khirn
I was wondering what happened to the iPhone app updates. You tend to disappear every once in a while, but then you resurface with these improvements and all is forgotten :)
Guidance for iPhone is now almost perfect.
I haven't tried push alerts yet. I'll report on those later.
Just a few more nice to have's:
- Faster launch time.
- A setting for the automatic detection of location on app launch. I travel frequently and this would add that extra bit of convenience.
- Localisation for us non-Americans.
- Extra hijri date settings. It would be nice to display the hijri month by name, and have the choice of English or Arabic. Perhaps you could just have one date field and tap to toggle from hijri to gregorian and vice versa.
But as I said, these are all nice to have's. I am already getting my money's worth and I would be content with things as they are now, especially if you need to pay attention to some of your other apps (hint: Quran Reader for iPhone).
Jazakumullah khayr.
aoa,
the adan push notification alerts for 4 - 5 seconds. Can the full adan be played for push notifications ? or it's the limitation of apple sdk ?
salam,
The adhan will play for 20 seconds (completing the second Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar) if not interrupted. Unfortunately this is a limitation of any Push Notification sent to the phone.
Mohammed,
Thanks for the suggestions, I am sorry about the name of the hijri month not showing up, is your phone set to Arabic? I just checked and the Hijri month doesn't seem to show up when the phone is set to Arabic, but it does show up when its in English. Inshallah we will fix this soon as well as begin to include Arabic localization.
And don't worry, when you don't hear from us that just means we're very hard at work writing new updates for you guys (hint: major Quran Reader update coming soon!)
Thanks for your reply, Ameir. My phone is set to English, but my region format is Australia. That could be related somehow.
BTW, push alerts are awesome. The only minor issue is that when you press OK to dismiss the alert, it launches Guidance. It would be great if there was a setting to disable this, but I have a feeling it's the default iPhone OS behaviour.
Looking forward to the Quran Reader update!
First off, a brilliant app and a must have for every Muslim.
I don't know what I am doing wrong but I am not receiving any alerts. Here is what I have done:
- Downaloaded the program again
- Checked the main settings of iPhone and 'Notifications' are on for the iPhone and the 'Guidance' app
- Reset and re-saved the settings within the app
Farhan,
I do apologize for the inconvenience, but we've recently fixed some issues on our push notification servers and I urge to re-sync your settings in the app (you can force this to happen by turning a prayer alert off and then on) and try it again and inshAllah all prayer alerts should be working correctly.
Salaams Ameir,
Just added to my review in iTunes, and thought I would share my requests here as well (if you don't notice it there).
Updated review for 2.3: I think the app has matured very well over time, adding functionality such as compass for Qibla finding, etc. I use it all the time so there are a few things that would make it better for me:
1. As other travelers have noted, need a way to store multiple cities. I think the Apple Weather App method would work well, but that's just one suggestion. Also, one setting should be default to current location as soon as you enter/refresh the app.
3. Essential need to switch to Local Notifications from Push since on my iPad (wi-fi only), I often get adhan late... And on my iPhone, I get adhans when turning on phone after flight. Also, should not do adhan if in Airplane mode, since Local would allow that now...!!!
2. Of course, needs update for Retina/iPad displays and for multi-tasking enabled operation.
3. Need ability to get prayer timings for future dates, to plan for trips and meetings, etc.
4. Using the accelerometer, can it also slow me down if I'm praying too fast...!!! Sorry, felt like I was asking for the world and threw in the kitchen sink request...!!!
Jazakumullahu khair, and I pray your Ramadaan is going well...
--Naseer