The Solar System Clock app does not collect any data from users except the current time and time zone. This is necessary for the app's function. It is done only while the app and any associated widgets are running. No information gathered by the app is provided to or stored by servers owned by the app's developer. Diagnostic information is sent to Apple servers in the event of a crash or major error. This is used to improve the app. This information includes:
The App Store manages all purchases and the associated privacy policy applies. No purchase related data is gathered, stored or seen by the app’s developer. Crash and purchase information is accessible via Apple. Time information is displayed by the app on the Earth clock page. Correcting time zone information can be done through the settings of the device running the app. Crash and purchase data can be corrected through Apple. Complaints or requests to explain further can be sent by e-mail to the address listed above.
The app's interface is in the form of a long string of tabs (on Apple Watch) or a scrolling area:
|
Name |
Function |
|
|
Store |
Used to buy planet clocks. |
|
|
11x Digital /Analog Clocks |
Displays the calculated time component for each planet, then dwarf planets. Colour-coded to match the hands on the analog clocks. On Apple Watch, switch between analog and digital by swiping left or right. |
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|
Settings |
Buttons here switch the digital clocks between a static ("Static Style") and continuously updating ("Clock Style") display. Both buttons also updates the display to the current time. The switch at the bottom splits the analog clock for the dwarf planets from the main planets when green. |
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|
2x Analog Clocks |
Displays the calculated time for each planet, with either two identical clocks for all planets and dwarf planets, or a clock for main planets and another clock for dwarf planets. This can be changed by the "Split Clocks" switch described above. The short hand radiating from the centre displays hours (with a full rotation corresponding to a day), the long hand displays minutes (full rotation is an hour) and the short hand starting from the edge displays seconds (full rotation is a minute). The colours correspond to the colours of the digital clocks, and is the best way to distinguish the planets. |
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Digital time components are displayed like this:
|
Time Component: |
Example: |
|
Planet Name |
Mercury |
|
Hours: [current hours] of [total hours in day] |
Hours: 7257 of 8431 |
|
Minutes: [current minutes] of [total minutes in hour] |
Minutes: 200 of 601 |
|
Seconds: [current seconds] of [total seconds in minute] |
(Mercury has no seconds) |
|
Days: [current days] of [total days in year] |
Days: 0.0386 of 1.5 |
|
Year [current year] |
Year 8402 |
Calculation Details
Each second for every clock matches the length of an Earth second, the day length is the time taken for the planet to rotate on its axis, and the year length is the time taken for an orbit of the planet around the Sun. From this, the length of a day in hours, an hour in minutes and a minute in seconds can be calculated as factors of the total number of seconds in the day. As a result, the calculated times are slightly inaccurate as the rotational periods are known to around 4 decimal places, when 8 would be required for calculations accurate to the second. This slight inaccuracy can be seen in the day not changing in time with the hours for some planets. The times are calculated according to the start of the Gregorian calendar. It is possible to achieve this for most planets, but there are some exceptions.
|
Exceptional Behaviour |
Cause |
Accuracy Effects |
Affected Planets |
Changes to Display |
|
Seconds always at zero and minutes tick every second. |
The planet’s orbital period has too few clean factors for whole number hour and minute lengths. |
Fixing this problem would require introducing slight inaccuracies to the day length, causing lower accuracy. |
Mercury, Saturn, Haumea, Ceres |
Seconds not present, minutes tick every second. |
|
Day and year not linked. |
The planet’s day is longer than its year, and there is no clean factor between them. |
This causes a slight increase in accuracy for the day counter, as it is no longer dependent on the year. |
Venus |
Displays days since starting date rather than the number of days in the year. |
|
Day displays as a decimal, not a whole number. |
The planet completes too few days in its year, and there is a simple factor linking the days to the hours. |
This causes the first four to five significant figures to show for the day, which is slightly more accurate than a whole number. |
Mercury |
Shows a decimal for the year, out of the number of days in a year as usual. |
Time zones are adjusted for to show local time. For a user on Earth looking at the time for other planets, this means that an equivalent location on the planet based on degrees longitude of the user is at the time shown. For users on other planets, convert the current degrees longitude to a location on Earth and set the watch’s time zone to there for accurate times. The point marking zero on Earth is the Greenwich Meridian, and on other planets, it is the meridian facing in the same direction relative to the Sun as the Greenwich Meridian, at the start date and time of the Gregorian calendar.