Apple to Android question

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Torque beast

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Bryan
Thinking of switching from iPhone to Android so Foreflight won’t work. What is the best EFB for Android?


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iFlyGPS. I've used just about every EFB for both iOS and Android available over the past 10 years for the US market and IMO nothing else even comes close.

We'll get responses for the freebie Avare and FltPlan Go!. Baseline acceptable. If you've been used to more bells and whistles from ForeFlight you'll be disappointed.

Garmin Pilot will have the advantage of connecting to Garmin avionics but the Android version lags in feature set behind Garmin's iOS version.
 
As Mark mentioned, if you're use to the extras Foreflight gives you, Avare will disappoint (that's what I have on my Samsung phone). I am an Android phone user, but in the plane it's an iPad and Forelight. I just have Avare on my android but honestly never really use it. You might consider keeping Foreflight and just getting a used iPad to run FF in the plane, if you're switching phones to something Android based and you're already use to how FF works.
 
The above sound right to me. I don't know which one is "best" for Android. I do use Avare, because I didn't want to buy an iphone just to do flight training.

I just use it for situational awareness and as a backup navigation device. A double check to keep me out of airspace I shouldn't be in, as an example. Never tried to use it to try to fly a flight plan, or to get a pre-flight briefing directly. For that, I just use the faa contracted goofy website, which is fine. Avare is easy to install and update, no ads, has been reliable, so it would be easy to try out.

Oh, I'm realizing I do use it for a couple of required things. It's an easy way to make sure I have a current chart with me at all times. It's also an easy way to have the airport diagrams up for taxiing.
 
And I "think" you can get FlyQ EFB free if you are a flight instructor.

iFlyGPS ? does anyone know for sure?
 
IFly GPS offers a free 90 day trial.
http://iflygps.com/takingoff

Try it; you’ll like it. It doesn’t have quite as many bells and whistles as FF, but it has all you’ll need and it’s pretty easy to use. Also, their customer service is more responsive than FF. I’m very satisfied with it.
 
I have been using ForeFlight since 2019. Use it for planning and briefing, radar and traffic through a sentry. My iPhone and IPad are synced with each other so will miss that. I played with a new Android and like it and it gets better signal for phone calls in weak areas but I suppose keeping the iPad wouldn’t be a deal breaker. I will look at ifly


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Since you already have an iPad, just keep FF and use whatever phone you want for "phone" stuff and use your iPad for FF. Another option, if you really need to have an iPhone for FF when you're not at the plane and don't want to use an iPad at the moment (at home/car/work/out and about)... keep your iPhone, don't put it on a cellular plan and just use the WiFi connected to your new Android's Hot Spot. I just have iPads and keep one around at home, so just use those for FF type stuff.
 
Garmin Pilot - recent convert to it.
 
What does FF have that others don’t? I have not used anything except FF. Can you log and track flight time? I just recently quit using paper logs and have been doing everything in FF.

I had thought about just keeping an iPhone for backup in case IPad died as I could use the hotspot if needed.


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iFly is missing airport diagrams for some smaller airports. I never found an airport for which FF didn’t have the diagram. Not a big deal, really.

Also, iFly does not have the satellite earth view that FF does, and that does matter to me a bit. That view is handy for seeing what waypoints really look like from the air and that feature is pretty handy for VFR flight planning.
 
Torque beast said:
Thinking of switching from iPhone to Android so Foreflight won’t work. What is the best EFB for Android?


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Buy a new Iphone, ditch FF, and go WingX. The savings over 5 years will pay 70% of the cost of the new Iphone.

If your ADSB in is Garmin in your plane, you are kinda stuck with GP or FF.
 
Ok adding wingx to my list to review. I have a Garmin 430w and transponder but it is ADSB out only. I use a Sentry for weather and traffic


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Torque beast said:
Ok adding wingx to my list to review. I have a Garmin 430w and transponder but it is ADSB out only. I use a Sentry for weather and traffic
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Not if you switch away from ForeFlight.

Torque beast said:
Can you log and track flight time? I just recently quit using paper logs and have been doing everything in FF.
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That varies. I've been using an eLog of some type since the mid 1990s and MyFlightBook since before the iPhone or Foreflight existed (and as my official logbook for a few years now). I would not even consider feeling that I was tied to a single EFB because I used it for my offical record of flight time.
 
Half Fast said:
iFly is missing airport diagrams for some smaller airports. I never found an airport for which FF didn’t have the diagram. Not a big deal, really.
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Which airports? If there's a diagram in the Chart Supplement (A/FD), iFly should have it. If it doesn't, a post on the forum or a call to tech support will get someone to look into it and fix it. (I've seen an occasional data glitch over the ~10 years I've used it, but as was mentioned earlier it's a small company that's responsive to its customers.)

Also, iFly does not have the satellite earth view that FF does, and that does matter to me a bit. That view is handy for seeing what waypoints really look like from the air and that feature is pretty handy for VFR flight planning.
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The iFly philosophy is that you should have essentially the same capability/experience in the cockpit as you get in your living room, so there are no big surprises in flight. Since you can't count on Internet access in flight, and you can't reasonably store hi-res satellite view data for large areas locally on the device, iFly has opted not to use satellite views except for imagery of the airports themselves, which *are* stored on the device and available in flight. I can understand why if you're used to that it'd be missed if it went away when you swapped EFBs, but it's certainly easy enough to get those views via Google Maps or other tools pre-flight if you want them.
 
Jim_R said:
Which airports? If there's a diagram in the Chart Supplement (A/FD), iFly should have it. If it doesn't, a post on the forum or a call to tech support will get someone to look into it and fix it.
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Winter Haven (KGIF) for one. I advised them about it some time ago, but still no diagram. Just the google earth view. FF provided it and it's in the AFD (though the AFD hasn't been updated for recent taxiway work).

Same story for Sebring (KSEF). There are many others, but I'm not going to spend my time compiling a nation-wide list unless iFly wants to hire me.


Jim_R said:
...but it's certainly easy enough to get those views via Google Maps or other tools pre-flight if you want them.
Click to expand...

Of course, but when flight planning on FF I could draw my route, designate waypoints, then just switch views to see them. It's not nearly as easy with google as I can't see my route there.

The question I was answering was about what FF has that iFly doesn't, and these are a couple of examples. I prefer iFly for multiple other reasons, but it's still true that FF is better in a few areas.
 
First recommendation is go see a psychiatrist ASAP.
 
Huckster79 said:
First recommendation is go see a psychiatrist ASAP.
Click to expand...

No need. I’m not a fanboy of anything so don’t matter either way to me. Don’t like being dependent on one system where you are trapped to the point you pay whatever they want to charge. Just looking at options. Hell I would like to have my old star tac flip phone back for just a phone however I use it so much that not having a smartphone of some sort will make life more difficult. The main thing that brought this on was out at a work location with poor service the guys with Android phone were able to make calls and all of us with IPhone sat there with no service


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Mahneuvers said:
Isn't that a Verizon versus AT&T issue and not Apple vs Android?
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Nope, had both carriers for both Apple and Android phones. Androids worked and IPhones couldn’t get a signal. Not a huge deal but thought it was interesting


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An enthusiastic Avare user here. As noted by others, it does not have all the bells and whistles. But the question to ask yourself is, do you really need those bells and whistles or is it just cool to have? For me, a moving map with an airplane icon is 90% of what I need. Avare does that quite well. The other 10% doesn't bother me. Besides, I am also a big fan of open source. Someone else in another thread asked why we can't get electronic Canadian charts. It has to do with it being closed-source and copyrighted.
 
Well I ended up staying with Apple and got the 14pro max so I have a little bigger screen for a backup. I tried the others recommended here but it made me realize how good foreflight really is however there are some good features I saw that I wish foreflight had. Anyway, thx for the suggestions and I will definitely keep an eye on the different EFB’s to see how they advance. Good to have competition.


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One more thing, the signal issue seems to be a non issue now since I now have a 5g phone and was told my iPhone X and the XR’s had known issues. If you don’t already have a 5g phone it is definitely worth the upgrade.


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