Garmin Pilot for Android -- Tech Support, Tips, Tricks

[Jay Honeck]

Is your Garmin Pilot still showing 50' lower than "GPS Test?"

If there was ever a less important measure of an app, I don't know what it is. NO ONE should be using any GPS, or any GPS-driven app, to determine altitude -- period -- in an airplane.

It MIGHT be usable, somewhat, if your altimeter failed, but GPS-derived altitude is nothing more than an educated guess.

 

[snoboy]

Forgive me if this has already been covered in the thread. Does the Garmin GDL39 require a seperate bluetooth app. to interface with Garmin Pilot? I ask because on my last flight the ADSB weather was coming through but my GPS location was all goofy. I did not have a BT app running at that time nor did I have the Tablets GPS turned on only had Garmin Pilot and the GDL39 running.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Forgive me if this has already been covered in the thread. Does the Garmin GDL39 require a seperate bluetooth app. to interface with Garmin Pilot? I ask because on my last flight the ADSB weather was coming through but my GPS location was all goofy. I did not have a BT app running at that time nor did I have the Tablets GPS turned on only had Garmin Pilot and the GDL39 running.

No separate Bluetooth app is required.

Interestingly, on my last flight, my GPS location was perfect, but the weather didn't come through! lol

 

[snoboy]

No separate Bluetooth app is required.

Interestingly, on my last flight, my GPS location was perfect, but the weather didn't come through! lol

That's what I thought. I will fire up Pilot with GDL39 this weekend and get another look at things.

 

[Jay Honeck]

We have now moved the Nexus 7 from the Pathfinder to our new ride, a Van's RV-8A.

I am pleased to report that the RAM yoke mount (the quick-release "X" kind) works perfectly in the back cockpit. We have mounted it to the roll bar behind the front seat, which places the tablet perfectly at eye-level, a bit to the right.

We were going to mount a Nexus 7 in the front hole, too, but have found that our in-panel Garmin 300 XL works well. Maybe down the road we will panel dock one in front, but for now the back-seater is the RIO, with navigation their primary duty.

Best of all -- the new split screen (that puts the six-pack of instruments on the bottom half of the screen) really works well. I have installed back seat controls in our -8A, but there is no easy way to install flight instruments in back, so the faux instrument panel is a HUGELY important feature.

And I'm here to tell you that they WORK. I can fly the plane perfectly from back there, with nothing but Garmin Pilot on the Nexus 7. Ain't technology grand?

Problems? Well, the N7 is not easily readable in direct sunlight, and the -8A has a bubble canopy. I resolved this by copying the design of a shroud I saw on line, by simply cutting a piece of cardboard and duct-taping it to the top of the tablet. Voila -- it's readable again. Until we get truly sunlight readable displays, this will have to do.

If you use Monster Tape (the good stuff) it doesn't even leave stick-um residue when you remove it.

All in all, I am happy.

 

[LDJones]

I got to meet some of the Garmin Pilot development team today, both on the Android and the iOS side. Great group of people who really care about what we want/need. So keep the feedback flowing....they are definitely here and listening. I got a sneak peek at some things in the works....they're not resting on their laurels, that's for sure! Expect some fun at OSH.

 

[Jay Honeck]

I got to meet some of the Garmin Pilot development team today, both on the Android and the iOS side. Great group of people who really care about what we want/need. So keep the feedback flowing....they are definitely here and listening. I got a sneak peek at some things in the works....they're not resting on their laurels, that's for sure! Expect some fun at OSH.

Oh, now you suck! C'mon, man, throw us a bone here! What's coming down the pike?

 

[LDJones]

Oh, now you suck! C'mon, man, throw us a bone here! What's coming down the pike?

Well, Jay, you may have some visitors at your evening party at OSH! It's Wed., right? I'm hoping to sneak over for a couple of days just for your bash and they may join in the fun. They're working hard at catching up to the iOS features on Android, but the iOS boys won't stand still. Some common gripes will go away. You'll like it.

 

[snoboy]

Wow what's next? What does the iOS version have? I got to use Pilot with my new GDL39 on a cross country from Seattle to Petaluma Ca. (basically San Francisco) lots of weather, some ice, The combination easily kept pace with the changing weather and was wonderful to use instead of paper. by the end of the trip my nephew was a Pilot convert. Won't be traveling without it.

 

[LDJones]

Wow what's next? What does the iOS version have? I got to use Pilot with my new GDL39 on a cross country from Seattle to Petaluma Ca. (basically San Francisco) lots of weather, some ice, The combination easily kept pace with the changing weather and was wonderful to use instead of paper. by the end of the trip my nephew was a Pilot convert. Won't be traveling without it.

I tried out the GDL-39 today. Color me impressed. It got a bit warm on the glare shield of the C150 so I set it on the floor behind the seats in the shade and it never missed a beat while driving position and weather to both my iPad and my Nexus 7. Watching the CJ on the ground roll on takeoff was cool, too!

 

[Jay Honeck]

I tried out the GDL-39 today. Color me impressed. It got a bit warm on the glare shield of the C150 so I set it on the floor behind the seats in the shade and it never missed a beat while driving position and weather to both my iPad and my Nexus 7. Watching the CJ on the ground roll on takeoff was cool, too!

We're still experimenting with placement, but the GDL-39 should work up on the glare shield on the -8A. We're so new to the plane that Mary forgot to turn the thing on, and I forgot to turn on Bluetooth on the Nexus 7 -- so who knows if it works?

Bottom line: If it ain't on the written checklist (that we have now re-written three times) it won't happen. Which reminds me...gotta add that.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Well, Jay, you may have some visitors at your evening party at OSH! It's Wed., right? I'm hoping to sneak over for a couple of days just for your bash and they may join in the fun. They're working hard at catching up to the iOS features on Android, but the iOS boys won't stand still. Some common gripes will go away. You'll like it.

Hey, the more, the merrier! And we can watch the new (extra) night airshow from the site, too.

So how did you meet these guys?

 

[LDJones]

We're still experimenting with placement, but the GDL-39 should work up on the glare shield on the -8A. We're so new to the plane that Mary forgot to turn the thing on, and I forgot to turn on Bluetooth on the Nexus 7 -- so who knows if it works?

Bottom line: If it ain't on the written checklist (that we have now re-written three times) it won't happen. Which reminds me...gotta add that.

Find a shady spot if you can. Heat really chews up the batteries.

 

[LDJones]

Hey, the more, the merrier! And we can watch the new (extra) night airshow from the site, too.

So how did you meet these guys?

We're neighbors. They're less than 10 min. from my usual airport. Several of the developers are working on their pilots licenses. I've offered an intro flight to Kevin on the Android team. He's been doing ground school but hasn't started flying yet. Garmin encourages flight training...I like that!

 

[Jay Honeck]

Find a shady spot if you can. Heat really chews up the batteries.

We've got the GDL-39 running on ship's power. I finally removed the battery pack, which never seemed to charge up properly on our weekly trips anyway. (And I sure as heck wasn't going to remember to remove it from the plane and charge it!)

It fits better on our itty-bitty RV-8A glareshield without the bulk of a battery.

Cool to know Garmin encourages flight training. That can only help them make Pilot work better.

 

[Matthew]

Make sure to ask about the altitude calculations. I'd like to know why GP doesn't agree with other Nexus apps or other Garmin devices. Not a big deal, but it is a pet peeve.

 

[LDJones]

Make sure to ask about the altitude calculations. I'd like to know why GP doesn't agree with other Nexus apps or other Garmin devices. Not a big deal, but it is a pet peeve.

We actually discussed that at length. The issue seems to relate to the fact the earth is not a perfect sphere. Some apps appear to provide a "correction" to deal with that fact (see GPS Test, for instance.) It's something GP is looking into as they are just as curious about the difference as anyone.

 

[roddie]

If anyone can get me a subscription renewal up there for $49.99, I'd appreciate it :-D I kept putting it off and it's now back to $79.99. :-D

 

[Matthew]

We actually discussed that at length. The issue seems to relate to the fact the earth is not a perfect sphere. Some apps appear to provide a "correction" to deal with that fact (see GPS Test, for instance.) It's something GP is looking into as they are just as curious about the difference as anyone.

I figured that datum had something to do with it, but when I put the Nexus GP next to a Garmin Nuvi, they disagree too (but maybe within the vertical margin of error - I just don't know what that is). I thought that Garmin would use the same corrections across their products.

 

[ja_user]

I figured that datum had something to do with it, but when I put the Nexus GP next to a Garmin Nuvi, they disagree too (but maybe within the vertical margin of error - I just don't know what that is). I thought that Garmin would use the same corrections across their products.

 

[Matthew]

Heh - well, at least the 430 and GP don't say "recalculating...".

 

[ja_user]

Heh - well, at least the 430 and GP don't say "recalculating...".

Or ask if you would like, shortest distance, fastest time, or most use of highways.

 

[txflyer]

Has anyone tried running the 39 with the little stub antenna down? I don't recall any documentation stating anything about it one way or another. I have not tried it yet ...

And while I'm on it, if Garmin looks at this, call me picky, but could Garmin have made the 39 any uglier? Having things sticking up in my field of vision on the glareshield messes with me in my taildragger. But that's just me and my glareshield, it's a little smaller than newer Cessna's. The stubbie also limits exactly where you can put it up there too. You can't get it as close to the windscreen like a flat one. I wish they could have made it flat like some of the other ADS-B units without the vertical antenna. But ...

I like how my N7 with GarminPilot and the ADS-B perform overall, with the situation awareness, weather, and reams of information.

 

[Matthew]

Or ask if you would like, shortest distance, fastest time, or most use of highways.

I'd like to avoid toll-roads...

 

[Matthew]

Can more than one Nexus GP sync to the same external antenna at the same time?

 

[KeyWestPhotog]

Hopefully they will add in their version of what "Xavion" does and make this the premier choice for pilots.


Sent from my iPhone using An APP that doesn't pay me to advertise for them.

 

[ja_user]

I would be happy if I didn't have to delete my GPS puck, reattach it to Bluetooth, then fire up garmin.... This has to be done immediately after a reboot, or garmin won't use the puck

 

[LDJones]

I figured that datum had something to do with it, but when I put the Nexus GP next to a Garmin Nuvi, they disagree too (but maybe within the vertical margin of error - I just don't know what that is). I thought that Garmin would use the same corrections across their products.

Remember that Garmin is now an amalgamation of several different companies, all of whom brought products and coding to the table when acquired/merged. Hence, there's not a single, monolithic development team, but many varied and disparate groups that have each coded products in their language of choice based on their needs at the time.

 

[LDJones]

Has anyone tried running the 39 with the little stub antenna down? I don't recall any documentation stating anything about it one way or another. I have not tried it yet ...

And while I'm on it, if Garmin looks at this, call me picky, but could Garmin have made the 39 any uglier? Having things sticking up in my field of vision on the glareshield messes with me in my taildragger. But that's just me and my glareshield, it's a little smaller than newer Cessna's. The stubbie also limits exactly where you can put it up there too. You can't get it as close to the windscreen like a flat one. I wish they could have made it flat like some of the other ADS-B units without the vertical antenna. But ...

I like how my N7 with GarminPilot and the ADS-B perform overall, with the situation awareness, weather, and reams of information.

I think the answer to your second question is probably, "Yes, but not much uglier." But it seems to work well, which makes up for some of its ugliness.

 

[LDJones]

Can more than one Nexus GP sync to the same external antenna at the same time?

The GDL-39 supports two concurrent BT connections. I flew with it connected to both my iPad and Nexus 7 yesterday. Worked great on both, sitting on the floor of the baggage area in the shade.

 

[LDJones]

Hopefully they will add in their version of what "Xavion" does and make this the premier choice for pilots.

I brought up Xavion to them yesterday and showed it to the developers. They all thought it was pretty cool.

 

[LDJones]

I would be happy if I didn't have to delete my GPS puck, reattach it to Bluetooth, then fire up garmin.... This has to be done immediately after a reboot, or garmin won't use the puck

They had a lot of GDL-39s in house and solid functionality with it on all platforms seems to be a priority. Having now flown with it, I'm leaning toward getting one since works across both my devices. Since it's a year old I'm curious if they have an upgrade coming with more functionality (ala Stratus II). If they knew about any upgrades, they were tight-lipped on that score. I'll probably wait til OSH to decide.

 

[airdale]

Remember that Garmin is now an amalgamation of several different companies, all of whom brought products and coding to the table when acquired/merged. Hence, there's not a single, monolithic development team, but many varied and disparate groups that have each coded products in their language of choice based on their needs at the time.

Is GP development group in Mpls. a subsidiary or just working via a contract programming arrangement?

I would certainly like to see a little more G430/530/G1000 DNA appear in GP. No reason that the flight planning process needs to be so different, for example. My guess is that Direct-To is different as well -- on my N7 it is definitely different -- GP crashes when I push the DT button. :-(

 

[LDJones]

Is GP development group in Mpls. a subsidiary or just working via a contract programming arrangement?

I would certainly like to see a little more G430/530/G1000 DNA appear in GP. No reason that the flight planning process needs to be so different, for example. My guess is that Direct-To is different as well -- on my N7 it is definitely different -- GP crashes when I push the DT button. :-(

They were a small, independent shop bought by Garmin. They have kept their original name as a tag line after the Garmin name. It seems like they've been allowed to continue much like they did before, but with the benefits of the larger, deeper pockets that small start ups typically lack.

 

[rich0]

It seems to me that they're really underinvesting in Android (as is everybody else). I think that is a potential missed opportunity for them. Usually you can make a lot of money if you're either the first in a market or the best in a market - on iOS it seems like they're still not either (they'll never be first, and the competition is stiff), but on Android they're getting there (nobody is established yet, Garmin is in the running if they push for it).

With Android continuing to grow in phone market share it seems likely that tablets will follow (the v4.2 experience on tablets is quite nice, as all the N7 owners have been pointing out). It just seems odd for a new entrant to be gunning for the platform where Foreflight is the giant gorilla and everybody from Laminar to the AOPA has an entry. I'd think that Garmin's play would be to build on their product family - sure, have an iOS entry but focus on Android as the growth opportunity and create apps that integrate well across their entire product line. Sync flight plans to the cloud, and if you build a plan on your tablet make it so that you can hit a button and fly it on your avionics. Make it so that the tablet complements the $10k instrumentation, and maybe they'll sell more of both.

That's the kind of experience that draws people to smartphones in the first place - no more having 14 different contact lists for every device you own and such.

Just my random thoughts as a bit of a newcomer to aviation...

 

[airdale]

It seems to me that they're really underinvesting in Android (as is everybody else). I think that is a potential missed opportunity for them.

Absolutely right!

I can understand the iThings push. Marketing decisions are made by guys with egos and Garmin is used to being the tall dog in the aviation GPS market. It's not at all surprising to me that they would try to knock Foreflight off. (Or buy Foreflight, like they did Apollo.). But in the Android market they have the opportunity to make themselves the share leader much more easily, as does WingX. In fact I would like to see WingX rather than Garmin become the leader with a strong product because of Hilton's willingness to embrace all comers who bring third-party hardware.

The other puzzle is why Garmin is not leveraging its previous leadership in portable and panel GPSs.

To some extent, I can see that they would not want to cannibalize their portable market and accelerate its death. But that is shortsighted. Ask Friden how their mechanical calculator line did after they allowed TI (and eventually others) to own the electronic calculator market. Ask NCR about their pain after IBM entered the POS market.

But there are literally tens of thousands of pilots who are familiar with the Garmin portable and panel interfaces. None of them would recognize GP as a Garmin product if the splash screen didn't say "Garmin."

Sadly, most share leaders, when overtaken by technology become road kill. It it the rare company that will react quickly enough and willingly kill its own dying products in order to jump on the new bandwagon before it runs them down. Garmin's entire business relies on selling market-dominating, dedicated-purpose, hardware. That ride is coming to an end. Can they adapt? History says probably not.

 

[LDJones]

It seems to me that they're really underinvesting in Android (as is everybody else). I think that is a potential missed opportunity for them. Usually you can make a lot of money if you're either the first in a market or the best in a market - on iOS it seems like they're still not either (they'll never be first, and the competition is stiff), but on Android they're getting there (nobody is established yet, Garmin is in the running if they push for it).

With Android continuing to grow in phone market share it seems likely that tablets will follow (the v4.2 experience on tablets is quite nice, as all the N7 owners have been pointing out). It just seems odd for a new entrant to be gunning for the platform where Foreflight is the giant gorilla and everybody from Laminar to the AOPA has an entry. I'd think that Garmin's play would be to build on their product family - sure, have an iOS entry but focus on Android as the growth opportunity and create apps that integrate well across their entire product line. Sync flight plans to the cloud, and if you build a plan on your tablet make it so that you can hit a button and fly it on your avionics. Make it so that the tablet complements the $10k instrumentation, and maybe they'll sell more of both.

That's the kind of experience that draws people to smartphones in the first place - no more having 14 different contact lists for every device you own and such.

Just my random thoughts as a bit of a newcomer to aviation...

I don't disagree with any of your points. And my sense is they're putting a lot of effort in the Android side...at least as much, if not more as the iOS side. As I mentioned, they're working on hard on getting parity between the lines, but they can't freeze iOS development in order to catch up, so they just have to paddle that much faster on the Android side.

They are using the cloud for sync. All my flight plans, user-defined waypoints, etc. magically appear on my phone, my Nexus 7 and my iPad. I think that's pretty coo. I can rough our a trip on my phone over lunch, then have it on my Nexus or iPad when I jump in the cockpit.

 

[LDJones]

But there are literally tens of thousands of pilots who are familiar with the Garmin portable and panel interfaces. None of them would recognize GP as a Garmin product if the splash screen didn't say "Garmin."

Have you looked at GTN-650 or -750?? It's the same icon-ology as GP....in fact, that's what seems to have driven the design. Personally, I've expressed my opinion that the menu is a downfall on GP because it forces you to go through an extra button push to move between features, versus ForeFlight's always-present menu at the bottom of the screen allowing direct access to the key features. I showed them how I use ForeFlight and quickly move between features (i.e. Maps and Charts or Airport info), and left them mulling over how they could accomplish the same within their design.

 

[airdale]

... my sense is they're putting a lot of effort in the Android side...at least as much, if not more as the iOS side. As I mentioned, they're working on hard on getting parity between the lines, but they can't freeze iOS development in order to catch up, so they just have to paddle that much faster on the Android side.

No doubt the Android team would like to "catch up" but the very fact that this is an issue makes rich0's point. There would be no "catch up" if the Android effort had enjoyed the priority that the iThings effort has had. Another way to look at it is that, even if they recognize the error, Garmin has not put the resources in place to make the Android offering equal to or superior to the iThings offering. None of this is criticism. It is simply a logical examination of the available facts, IMHO anyway.

This is not like Hilton or ForeFlight, where investment resources are limited. Garmin's resources are effectively unlimited compared to the magnitude of investment needed here. (I actually would not be surprised if they bought the share they want, buying Hilton or ForeFlight. They can do it if they want to.)

Have you looked at GTN-650 or -750?? It's the same icon-ology as GP....in fact, that's what seems to have driven the design.

No, and good for them if they have interface consistency there. But my point is that they are not leveraging the user base that they have developed over many years. I am part of that user base and am very fluent with the G430/G530/G1000. I have many friends who know the portables inside and out. GP is like starting over. I have never played with the new boxes, as is the case for probably 95% of the base that they have. The base is a huge asset that they are not exploiting at all.

The tablet flight planner opportunity train will have long since left the station before the new boxes have penetrated Garmin's user base to the extent necessary for that interface compatibility to be a differentiator.

 

[Marauder]

Have you looked at GTN-650 or -750?? It's the same icon-ology as GP....in fact, that's what seems to have driven the design. Personally, I've expressed my opinion that the menu is a downfall on GP because it forces you to go through an extra button push to move between features, versus ForeFlight's always-present menu at the bottom of the screen allowing direct access to the key features. I showed them how I use ForeFlight and quickly move between features (i.e. Maps and Charts or Airport info), and left them mulling over how they could accomplish the same within their design.

And this is exactly why I love GP. Owning a 650, the logic flows the same and whether looking at the GTN or GP, I know immediately which way to get there. I'm sure that is what is driving their design.

I'm also expecting them to start looking at ForeFlight/WingX and Aspen's Connected Panel offering and developing something of their own.