KosherJava

Question:Why does the output of zmanim for a different time zone appear incorrect?Answer: One of the common issues encountered by developers using the API is that zmanim generated for a different time zone than the user’s time zone may return output that appears incorrect. For example a user in Lakewood, NJ trying to calculate sunrise [...]

The Bearing to Yerushalayim and Zmanim Map was recently updated to version 3.0. This new release adds a number of new features to the Zmanim Map version 2.0 update released in March 2010. The main change was updating the Google Map API version from the deprecated v2 to v3. This change increases performance and adds [...]

Moshe Berman completed the 2.0 release of his port of the KosherJava Zmanim API from Java to a Cocoa API using Objective-C. You can see the work in the KosherCocoa project page. The original work on the port dates back to Moshe’s iPhone Ultimate Omer 2 (iTunes link) app. In that app, he ported the [...]

Calculating the earliest and latest times for Kiddush Levana has not been part of the KosherJava Zmanim API until now. This is because unlike other zmanim that solely rely on solar calculations that are tied to the Gregorian calendar, times for Kiddush Levanah depend on the Jewish calendar molad (lunar conjunction) computation. With the recent [...]

The Zmanim API did not have dedicated zmanim to claculate the Erev Pesach zmanim of sof zman achilas chametz (the latest time one can eat chametz), and sof zman biur chametz (the latest time to burn chametz) till the April 14 check in to the KosherJava Zmanim Project SVN repository. The latest time for eating [...]

Question:How do I get the Jewish Date for … using the Zmanim API? Answer:The current version of the Zanim API does not support Jewish calendrical calculations. Zmanim are almost exclusively based on the solar calendar, so for example, the sunrise on February 8th this year in Montreal (or any other date and location), will be [...]

Question:Why do Some Zmanim Never Occur in Some Locations? (Developers Beware) Answer:While most people realize that the sun may not rise or set in the Arctic and Antarctic Circles (see the Star-K’s When Does One Pray When There Is No Day), many are not aware that some twilight dips will not occur during part of [...]

The Zmanim API 1.2.1 was released today. Changed in this release were the addition of a few very early Tzais zmanim, and the removal of references to the GregorianCalendar in favor of the base Calendar class to ease Noah Blumenthal’s use of the Zmanim API in a zmanim application for the BlackBerry. This change has [...]

Yitzchok ported the Zmanim API from Java to a .NET API using C#. The Zmanim .NET project was released under the LGPL. This is a change from the GPL used by the Java API, something that may change shortly. Also part of the project was the creation of a C# version of the Zmanim CLI, [...]

There are various software projects using the KosherJava Zmanim API. One of the active ones is Jay Gindin’s open source Android Zmanim app for the Android platform. Activity in the project is constant. The upcoming version allows the selection of a specific calculation for zmanim you want such as the zman Talis/Tefilin pictured here. There [...]