My Sky
My Sky puts the real stars above you behind your bloom, placed by where you are and the time, and turning slowly as the night turns. It is Zenith Gold — part of the one-time paid upgrade.
Switch it on
- Open settings › "the sky".
- Under "background", switch on "my sky — the real stars above you". Its line reads "takes the picture's place in the bloom while it's on".
Without Gold the row wears ✦, its line reads "zenith gold", and a tap opens the Gold offer, "my sky — the real stars above you", instead.
While it's on, two more things show under the switch:
- "my sky settings" — "classic · collection · carousel · lens angle · vividness · rotation — one set for all your zenith apps". See below.
- a line: "placed by your location & the time; drifts as the night turns." and how to move it with three fingers.
The stars are drawn in your accent colour, over the background colour.
Where you are
My Sky needs roughly where you are to show your own sky. If Android hasn't allowed Tasks a location yet, switching it on shows "my sky shows the real stars above you, so it needs roughly where you are. it stays on your phone.", with "continue" and "not now". "continue" brings Android's own question. If Android says no, Tasks says "android said no to location — my sky shows the stars without knowing where you are."
My Sky stays on whatever you answer. Without a location, the stars are placed for a set spot in the middle of North America. It reads only the phone's last known location, about once a minute while Tasks is on screen, and never asks the phone to find you.
Where it shows
- Only behind the bloom. List view and the matrix keep their usual background.
- Never in high contrast. With settings › "ease" › "high contrast" on, the background stays plain black. See Ease.
- In place of your picture. While My Sky shows, your background picture is hidden behind the bloom. The picture stays saved, and still shows behind List view and the matrix.
- Only with Gold. Without Gold nothing is drawn, and the switch reads off.
With "reduce motion" on, the sky jumps to its new place instead of gliding.
Move it with three fingers
One and two fingers work the bloom as always. Three fingers move the sky:
- drag to pan
- pinch and spread to zoom
- twist to tilt
- double tap with three fingers to recenter
A touch that has used three fingers only moves the sky — it never taps, opens or completes anything. A bloom you were holding open closes; one opened in "tap & place" stays as it is. Where you left the view is kept, even if Android closes Tasks.
"my sky settings"
The row opens one page over Tasks, headed "my sky — the real stars above you". It is one set for all your Zenith apps: a change here changes My Sky in every Zenith app that has it, and a change there shows here. Back closes it and returns you to settings › "the sky".
| row | what it does | to start | range |
|---|---|---|---|
| "classic" · "collection" · "carousel" | which My Sky: "classic" — the brightest stars, with the big dipper, orion, cassiopeia, the southern cross and the summer triangle; "collection" — all 1,322 real stars, with as many constellations as the slider asks for, best known first; "carousel" — all 1,322 real stars, with one constellation at a time fading in and out | classic | three |
| "constellations" | collection only: how many figures, best known first | 33 | 1–88 |
| "fade speed" | carousel only: seconds each constellation takes to fade in, and again to fade out | 3 s | 1–10 s |
| "display time" | carousel only: seconds a constellation stays fully shown | 6 s | 1–30 s |
| "delay time" | carousel only: seconds with no lines before the next constellation | 5 s | 0–30 s |
| "lens angle" | how much of the sky fits on screen before any pinch | 145° | 30–180° |
| "vividness" | how bright the stars and their glow are | 100% | 20–200% |
| "rotation refresh" | how often the sky turns to match the real sky, from "constantly" to "24 h" | 1 min | twelve steps |
| "rotation glide" | how long each turn takes. Hidden on "constantly" | 2 s | 1–30 s |
"constantly uses the most battery; reduce motion makes it jump instead".
Switch it off
- Switch "my sky — the real stars above you" off, or
- tap "↺ back to standard" at the foot of settings › "the sky". It turns My Sky off with the rest of that page. "my sky settings stay as they are — they're one set for all your zenith apps." See Themes, colours & background.
Ask the sky
Ask the sky — Tasks' AI — can switch My Sky on (with Gold) or off, change any of the "my sky settings" rows (with Gold), and open "my sky settings" for you while My Sky is on. See What the sky can do — skies, settings & more.
Backups and credits
A ".zbak" backup carries your "my sky settings". Restoring one puts them back — for every Zenith app, since they're one set. See Save, open & back up.
The star and figure sources are named under "credits" on settings › "about": "star positions: Yale Bright Star Catalogue" and the constellation figures' line, with "licenses" to read them in full.
See also.
Themes, colours & background · Ease · Zenith Gold in Tasks · Settings, page by page