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Where is Xur? in the Lightless Future of Destiny 2

Hello Guardians,

This week, we welcomed our best friend in Destiny, Xur, one last time to our beloved Tower before it gets completely destroyed by a weird Cabal guy named Gary.

This ultimately raises the following question: What is going to happen to Where is Xur? the app.

Up until now; we did not know if Xur was even going to appear in Destiny 2 or not. However, thanks to a recent leak from the official game guide; we now know that he does indeed exist in Destiny 2. Not in the way we are used to; but still…

Xur, casually hanging in the wilderness

Xur, casually hanging in the wilderness

Let me explain:

In all the weeks Xur appeared in Destiny 1; he always appeared in a social space; The Tower or Vestian Outpost (or Queen’s Bay as I like to call it). However, this is going to change in Destiny 2.

According to the leak; Xur will spawn randomly in one of the 4 worlds where you will have patrol missions. So, no more running around in social spaces.

Secondly, Xur’s new currency is going to be Legendary Shards. No more stacking on Strange Coins.

These are Xur-related news. Let’s talk about Where is Xur? now. Here is a nice little FAQ for the questions I think you guys might have:

Will Where is Xur? support Destiny 2?

Yes! Definitely!

Will Where is Xur? continue to support Destiny 1?

Unfortunately, no. It would double my efforts every week and to be honest, once Destiny 2 hits; I doubt there will be many people playing the original game.

How are you going to support Destiny 2? Will there be a new app?

No, Destiny 2 will be supported from the current app. No new app.

I have already paid for the premium no-ads version of the app. Will I need to pay for Destiny 2, too?

Of course not. If you bought the premium no-ads version; you will continue to enjoy Where is Xur? ad-free without any other purchase.

Will Where is Xur? support Destiny 2 on launch day?

Yes, Where is Xur? was designed to be able to handle some surprises; so it will be able to show the location of Xur on a map on September 8 (which is not set in stone yet; but I strongly think this will be the case); just like you are used to. The app will also be able to show his inventory; however, the icon’s for those items will be added in a future update. The update will be released in a week or two after the launch.

 

Status Update: Rise of Iron Changes

Hello Guardians,

With less than a week left for the next major expansion of Destiny, it is time to talk about the status of the current app and upcoming changes with the Rise of Iron.

First and foremost; with the August Update; Bungie has officially stopped supporting the legacy consoles; namely PS3 and Xbox 360. Therefore, from this day forward Where is Xur? will show the location of Xur only for the PS4 and Xbox One players. PS3 and Xbox 360 are no longer supported. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

As opposed to what happened last year with The Taken King release; info about the new exotic items is not released yet. Although we know a few of them from the live streams; we are still missing the majority. As soon as the the info (icons etc.) is released and made available; their data will be added to the app and updates for iOS and Android will be released.

Apart from the Rise of Iron related developments here are a few things changing:

  • The current app gets confused trying to determine the price of the hybrid items such as Universal Remote (Primary & Shotgun) and No Land Beyond (Primary & Sniper). Prices for these items are corrected.
  • Official support for Android 7 (Nougat)
  • Various wording & visual bug fixes

This means that; unless the new exotic items are released (real) soon; we will be welcoming Xur for his first (and maybe at most second) arrival of year 3 with the current version of the app.

In this case; how should we expect the app to behave?

  • Xur’s location will be shown correctly; may he appear in Tower, Vestian Outpost or Felwinter Peak.
  • Xur’s inventory will be shown correctly. Names of the new items will be shown.
  • Item icons and prices of the new items will not be shown.

Please bear with me while I am waiting for the info about the new exotics to drop. I will update the app for iOS and Android as soon as possible.

 

iOS Client Update and Other Cool Things to Come

Hello Guardians,

Last week, the iOS-people received their update packed with cool new features. (They also received a bug-fix update shortly after)

In summary:

  • Push notifications are live for iOS users. Users will be notified when Xur the Almighty arrives and when voting for Guardian Wishlist is open. Sorry this took a long time to implement; however the push notification system of iOS is nuts compared to Android.
  • In-app Purchases: You might be wondering what possible could be bought within Where is Xur? Well, the freedom not to see ads for a lifetime of course. The option to pay for removing ads was frequently being  asked by users; so I decided to implement it. To remove ads just go to the “Preferences” and follow the instructions. Please note that this is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. Where is Xur? is still FREE to use – just like you are used to.

iOS Simulator Screen Shot 27 May 2016 23.50.51

 

 

What is Next?

Now that iOS is out of the way and put to rest; it is time to focus on the beloved Android. Although I won’t be able to work on the new version of Android until the 3rd week of June; here are the first things to change / implement:

  • Android client is receiving notifications only when Xur arrives. Why not when voting is open?
  • In-app Purchases: Android users also asked for the ability to remove ads -like a lot! After I sort some bureaucratic stuff with Uncle Google; I will be implementing this feature for Android, too.
  • I also aim to increase the stability of the app for the latest Android version. Android 6 or M. (aka Marshmallow)

 

And What is Next after “What is Next”?

I always wanted to make Guardian Wishlist more engaging. However that would take a good amount of time. I will have that time this summer and I will work on Guardian Wishlist to make it even more fun. On the top of my head; there is the social-media sharing feature. As of now; you can vote and see the most voted items of the week. You cannot see the list of the items you voted for this week. The first step will be to be able to see what you voted for this week. The natural next step will be sharing this glorious list of yours on the social media of your choice.

Who knows; we can even incorporate some gamification mechanism and let people earn points for correctly guessing what Xur will bring on a particular week(end).

Just keep your auto-update for Where is Xur? open.

– Serkan

 

Changes to Xur in The Taken King

Hello Guardians,

As we get closer to the release date of the The Taken King; (09.15.2015) information on the the next major expansion is literally pouring down on us. I am calling The Taken King as an expansion; rather than DLC as the content is far richer compared to the first two DLCs and the price tag is twice the price of a regular DLC.

This post however; will only deal with the news and changes concerning our beloved friend; Xur.  Keep in mind that I will update this post as new information about him surfaces.

So this is what we know so far about the changes concerning Xur:

  • A new consumable item called The Three of Coins will be added to Xur’s inventory. It  basically increases the chances of you getting an exotic drop next time you face a boss.
  • There won’t be any new social spaces; hence Xur’s spawn locations can be thought to stay the same.

New Major Update: Upgrades, Curios, Item Prices and Guardian Wishlist

Here we are with another patch released for both Android and iOS.

This upgrade further increases the Xur information you can get from the app as well as a totally new feature to see what the guardians all over the world wish for the most.

Here are the patch notes:

– More Information: You can now see the upgrades and consumable items Xur is offering.
– Prices: Prices of exotic items and consumables are added.
– Guardian Wishlist: You can now vote for the exotic items you wish Xur to bring next week. You can also see what other Guardians wish for the most.

ANDROID ONLY
– Push Notifications: You may choose to receive notifications when Xur arrives to the Tower.

New Major Update Released – What is New with “Where is Xur?” Version 1.1.0?

Hello Guardians,

It has been quite some time since Where is Xur? the app received any updates. That is because we were preparing for a major overhaul of the app.

Where is Xur? was a perfectly functional app in terms of delivering what it promised. The exact location of Xur and his exotic items inventory; however the look & feel and the general UI layout of the app was less than ideal. We fixed that. With the help of my dear friend Jared van Eck (@jared_dean on Instragram), who is a talented web designer, we now have a whole new UI for the app. We also have some new cool features. So, now let’s see what is new:

  • The All-New UI: Sleek touch & feel.
  • Xur’s Arrival Time in your Local Timezone: You can now see the time Xur will return in your own timezone.
  • Icons of Exotic Items: You can now see the in-game icons of the exotic items Xur sells.
  • Reduced Network Usage: Network usage has been dramatically reduced.
  • New App Icon to reflect the new UI design.

Now, here are the screens: where is xur the app new screenswhere is xur the app new screens

Android Update (Version 1.0.2) Released

A new update for android (version 1.0.2) has been released. This update is mainly a bug-fix and optimization update.

Here are the version notes:

  • Fixed a bug that caused the app to crash when it could not detect an internet connection.
  • Improved optimization: The app will run faster and more stable.
  • Fixed minor bugs.

First Major Update Released – What is New with “Where is Xur?” Version 1.0.1?

Hello Guardians,

The first major update for “Where is Xur?” the app has been released and is live as of now. If you did not get an update notification from the Google Play yet, you can manually check within your Google Play app.

What new features comes with this version? – What is new with this version? 

Xur’s Exotic Items’ List
  • You are now able to see what Xur is selling this week and what he offered last week within the app.

XURTODAY

Refresh Button
  • You can now refresh the location page without leaving the app. This eliminates the necessity of closing and relauching the app to get an update on Xur’s location.

Screenshot_2014-12-27-12-05-51

When Exactly Does Xur Arrive to the Tower and When Does He Leave?

“Where is Xur?” the app aims to locate and find where Xur, the most anticipated NPC of Destiny the game is and show his exact location on the Tower map as well as the exotic items he is selling for the week, with one single tap. Download the current version here: NEWavailable_ontheappstore Download Where is Xur App

Hello Guardians, While I was searching on the net and destiny forums; I realized that the exact time of Xur’s arrival and departure is blurry. People state different times without stating their timezone; hence the confusion. Xur:

  • arrives exactly at 09:00 AM GMT (UTC) on Friday mornings
  • leaves exactly at 09:00 AM GMT (UTC)  on Sunday mornings

You can use the timezone converter here to find out what 09:00 AM GMT (UTC) converts to, in your timezone. So no, Xur is not really with us for the weekends. He is with us on Fridays and Saturdays. Hope this clears somethings up.

“Where is Xur?” the App – Upcoming Features

“Where is Xur?” the app aims to locate and find where Xur, the most anticipated NPC of Destiny the game is and show his exact location on the Tower map as well as the exotic items he is selling for the week, with one single tap.

Download the current version here:

NEWavailable_ontheappstore

Download Where is Xur App

Hello Guardians,

Now that the version 1.0.1 of the app is in the market; we can move on and talk about the features I wish to implement into the app in the future. Please note that these features will be rolled out in phases and not all will be out in one major patch. In my opinion, one step a time is the best way in the app business for stable releases.

Upcoming Features:

  • Counter: In case Xur is not in the Tower yet, there will be a counter showing exactly how many days, hours, minutes and seconds are left for Xur’s arrival. The counter will not be visible once Xur arrives in the tower.
  • Player Set Alarms: Player set alarms will let the players to set alarms for specific times of their liking. For instance, you can set an alarm for an hour before Xur departs from the tower, not to miss on anything he is selling.
  • Local and Remote Push Notifications: Personally, I find this to be the improvement which will deliver the most value to the players. As soon as Xur’s location becomes available to check from the app, a text notification (Like the ones you get when you get a comment on your posts on Facebook) will inform the players that his exact location has been detected as well as what he sells for that particular week. Unfortunately, this feature is the most difficult one to implement as it needs development on both client and server side. However, I am eager to implement this as soon as possible.

Features Already Added to the App with the Version 1.0.1

  • Xur’s items of the Week: What Xur is selling for that week. As the loot table of the week has to be prepared manually, the items list will not be showing up on the app immediately after Xur appears in the tower. You will still be able to see where Xur is immediately after his appearance. Perhaps, in one hour (around 05:00 AM every Friday) after Xur’s arrival to the tower the loot table will be available to see in the app.
  • Refresh button: The refresh button will be visible if the app says that Xur is not in the tower yet. This will eliminate the necessity of killing and relauching the app to check if the location of Xur has become available. Once the app starts to show Xur’s exact location, the refresh button will no longer be visible.

Here is the complete list of features I currently find that the players can benefit from. What do you think about them? I will be glad to consider your suggestions on the app, too. Feel free to comment.

Game On & Happy Shopping!