Foreflight 5 is here.

It just keeps getting better. They have almost caught up with my GRT EFIS capabilities. The mapping is much smoother and more accurate now with the last update.
 
Wow. Looks like I'm dumping my Nexus 7 and going with an iPad mini.
 
Wow. I gotta say, I'm really impressed with the features they added and how well they appear to be implemented (by testing with x-plane). I've really been wanting the terrain and obstacle features that they've added in this version.
 
Great new stuff... but Hazard warnings only available with PRO subscription... that ain't right!
 
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CT4ME said:
Great new stuff... but Hazard warnings only available with PRO subscription... that ain't right!
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Hint to Tyson... offer a discount to the big upgrade when the big releases come out.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Hint to Tyson... offer a discount to the big upgrade when the big releases come out.
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Why? The price is the same as it has always been, and they're offering to credit any remaining non-pro subscription toward the upgrade to pro. I doubt that they feel a need to buy market share with discounts.

That being said, I'm not sure how much value the terrain database brings without the colors, so why not just call terrain a "pro" feature? I don't have the pro subscription, and the terrain map becomes extraordinarily blurry and pixelated when zoomed in to any useful degree; not sure whether this is a problem with the app, or a result of not having the "pro" subscription.


JKG
 
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How do I know which subscription I have?

JGoodish said:
Why? The price is the same as it has always been, and they're offering to credit any remaining non-pro subscription toward the upgrade to pro. I doubt that they feel a need to buy market share with discounts.

That being said, I'm not sure how much value the terrain database brings without the colors, so why not just call terrain a "pro" feature? I don't have the pro subscription, and the terrain map becomes extraordinarily blurry and pixelated when zoomed in to any useful degree; not sure whether this is a problem with the app, or a result of not having the "pro" subscription.


JKG
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I played with the new Foreflight 5 features with X-Plane today.

Here's an arrival at KDLS on iPad, displaying the extended runway centerlines and a 45° entry to the left pattern to rwy 31:

FF5_01_zps33254e47.jpg


The traffic pattern feature doesn't work with iPhone. But the extended centerline feature is very helpful, especially where (as at my home field) the airport symbol is inaccurately placed on the FAA chart:

FF_02_zpsa2a1ae2a.jpg


It's also nice that the airport name and runway numbers remain "right-side-up" in "track-up" view.

Here's an example of the new terrain map. Zoomed in closer than this, it loses sharpness; but I suppose a higher resolution would be a real memory hog.

FF_03_zps5288ba95.jpg
 
wabower said:
How do I know which subscription I have?
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Click "more" in the bottom right corner of the normal Foreflight window. Then tap "account" on the list of options on the left. The information on the right will show your subscription status as Foreflight Pro.
 
I'll add this example of a low altitude vfr flight I was simulating out of the DC area to test out the hazard avoidance tool today
yqe8ynaz.jpg
 
Thx. Looks like I are one. No joy on 5.0 so far, but no hurry.

dukeblue219 said:
Click "more" in the bottom right corner of the normal Foreflight window. Then tap "account" on the list of options on the left. The information on the right will show your subscription status as Foreflight Pro.
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Flew with it today. Very nice update. The new graphics engine is buttery smooth.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Is it just me or is the terrain resolution almost unusable? Do I have a bug?
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The terrain map is the same way on my retina iPad. Not sure how it is of much benefit, but it would appear that the color-coded terrain that appears on the "pro" version is high resolution.


JKG
 
JGoodish said:
The terrain map is the same way on my retina iPad. Not sure how it is of much benefit, but it would appear that the color-coded terrain that appears on the "pro" version is high resolution.
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No, not really. It just overlays color coding corresponding to the terrain heights relative to your position....sort of like a weather visible cloud overlay. It works, but is a little different than some I've seen...better in some ways, but not necessarily super high resolution.
 
JGoodish said:
The terrain map is the same way on my retina iPad. Not sure how it is of much benefit, but it would appear that the color-coded terrain that appears on the "pro" version is high resolution.


JKG
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No, those two images look just as blurry on my retina iPad WITH the pro subscription. The advantage I have with Pro is the "hazard advisor" which is what I posted earlier (and it only activates at 30kts). It's similar to the G530/G1000 terrain displays. Anything within 1000' of you is yellow, and anything within 100' is red.

You can still display the obstacles map they introduced in 4.9, but that displays every obstacle on the map in white regardless of proximity. The Hazard Advisor now shows those only obstacles within 1000' of your altitude in yellow and I assume the closer ones in red.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Is it just me or is the terrain resolution almost unusable? Do I have a bug?
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You have to ensure High Resolution Terrain is enabled for the US, then download the high resolution terrain for offline cache. See example below of the Grand Canyon airport area before (low resolution, downloaded by default as soon as you select Terrain the first time) and after I downloaded High Resolution data.

tequ7a4a.jpg


udu2yvav.jpg


muqu6ube.jpg


pama5y3u.jpg


sezupave.jpg
 
I would like to see a little better logic on label placement for parallel runways... Offset them along the extended centerline, or draw them off centerline with an arrow pointing from the label to the centerline, so they aren't stacked. Here's an example, zoomed in really close to Las Vegas McCarran.

3uva4yne.jpg
 
I've got the hi res terrain downloaded and turned on, but I'm not seeing it.
 
I've recreated all the screenshots of terrain maps that folks have posted here on my ipad3 and they all look the same on my machine as they do on yours. Leads me to believe we're all getting the high resolution maps (assuming it IS properly set to download), but we're just expecting it to be higher resolution that it really is.

It's just not going to be perfectly sharp at the highest zoom level. But, zoomed out to the state-level it looks pretty decent in any mountainous area.
 
dukeblue219 said:
I've recreated all the screenshots of terrain maps that folks have posted here on my ipad3 and they all look the same on my machine as they do on yours. Leads me to believe we're all getting the high resolution maps (assuming it IS properly set to download), but we're just expecting it to be higher resolution that it really is.

It's just not going to be perfectly sharp at the highest zoom level. But, zoomed out to the state-level it looks pretty decent in any mountainous area.
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I think the big problem is that it blurs substantially when zoomed. When I zoom in closer than perhaps 120nm, I see slight pixelation but lots of blur. The blurring obscures the terrain picture, even at moderate zoom levels. If this is what they consider "high resolution," the implementation needs lots of work.


JKG
 
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Very good update, although I am slightly disappointing with pattern planning tool (not that I plan on using it). They give you an option for all kinds of entries, but they forgot the overhead :D.
 
Kudoos to ForeFlight on their new release. I really like the looks of their new Traffic Pattern Advisor. I'm a WingX user and hope that Hilton will implement something like this in WingX. Otherwise it is apparent that ForeFlight has been working very hard to catch up with WingX. Regardless of whether you use ForeFlight or WingX, we are all winners because of the competition between these software providers. Both programs are awesome and just keep getting better and better over time.
 
MachFly said:
Very good update, although I am slightly disappointing with pattern planning tool (not that I plan on using it). They give you an option for all kinds of entries, but they forgot the overhead :D.
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The overhead is in the ForeFlight RV Edition. :yes:
 
So, how does one turn on extended center lines?
Or dies it not work on the Gen 1 iPad?
 
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