iPhone Siddur 4.2 Updates Zmanim, Chabad & Bug Fixes

We have just uploaded version 4.2 of the iPhone Siddur to Apple for their approval. We hope it gets approved swiftly, within two weeks - but we have very little control over that.

The main changes include an update to how the Zmanim (Jewish times) are calculated, a revised upgraded Chabad (Kehot) siddur, an updated minyan database from godaven.com and misc text and bug fixes.

The Zmanim changes are important and I wanted to let you know exactly what we changed. In the past, almost all Zmanim were calculated based on longitude, latitude and altitude (elevation). We have now removed altitude (elevation) as a factor to all the Zmanim, minus sunrise and sunset. In the majority of locations, it does not impact the the zmanim by more than seconds, but in some locations, it does make a difference. After investigating the halacha (Jewish law) deeper, all locations seem to calculate all Zmanim, except for Sunrise and Sunset, with an elevation of 0 meters. We made this change to comply with this and we also made this clear in the Zmanim help explanations.

Here is a picture showing how we label the Zmanim explanation with more information:

The other changes include many text corrections to the premium Kehot Chabad Siddur, an updated minyan database and more misc text changes.

   Tweet