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

Re: Flash issues???

ScottK said:
I tried Firefox as well, but it didn't work either. ...

This is really frustrating.
Click to expand...


I just checked and my "system" of Firefox + archived version of Flashplayer no longer works. I guess the Kitkat update killed it.

A brief search on the internet reveals that there are work-arounds, and I suggest we try those before discounting the system entirely.
iPad products are not without their own proprietary issues as well.

JMR
 
Re: Flash issues???

ScottK said:
I tried Firefox as well, but it didn't work either. There is a website my daughter uses that has interactive drag and drop games. The games show up and the video part plays, but the drag and drop isn't available. The same goes for Yahoo Spades. Once you get into the game playing screen, it won't respond to the touch screen part of the game (picking cards and games).

This is really frustrating.
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luxqwoxYzxw

Sounds legit. I'll try it later today.
 
Re: Flash issues???

ChesapeakeJohnny said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luxqwoxYzxw

Sounds legit. I'll try it later today.
Click to expand...

I tried this last night. It works like he shows it, but you still don't get full functionality. There is a kid's website my daughter uses that requires a good bit of drag and drop. That part doesn't work at all.

Also, I've been unable to get Yahoo Spades to work, but that may be a Java issue. I still have to troubleshoot that one.

To get back on topic, the Garmin Pilot program has worked very well for me. I'm still learning where everything is, but so far I like it.
 
Re: Flash issues???

ChesapeakeJohnny said:
iPad products are not without their own proprietary issues as well.
Click to expand...

Well, since we're taking about Flash I don't believe that iOS supports flash at all.

I wouldn't really call this a proprietary issue - in fact the reason both OSes are moving away from Flash is because Flash is itself proprietary and they're trying to encourage everybody to move to open alternatives like HTML5. Plus it tends to be power-hungry.

About the only thing I'd want Flash on my tablet for is watching Amazon Instant Video. I think that Amazon keeps that in Flash just to keep it from working on both iOS and Android, to encourage people to buy a Kindle tablet. Most likely the Kindle app would work fine on Android if they didn't design it not to.
 
Re: Flash issues???

Agreed on all points.
They're all being "proprietary" in some sense. Steve Jobs himself said herein http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/ that they ruled out use of flash because Adobe was keeping flash technology as a closed system.

I like to do the FAA Safety Wings & AOPA Safety Foundation video courses, which are unfortunately still based on Flash.

rich0 said:
Well, since we're taking about Flash I don't believe that iOS supports flash at all.

I wouldn't really call this a proprietary issue - in fact the reason both OSes are moving away from Flash is because Flash is itself proprietary and they're trying to encourage everybody to move to open alternatives like HTML5. Plus it tends to be power-hungry.

About the only thing I'd want Flash on my tablet for is watching Amazon Instant Video. I think that Amazon keeps that in Flash just to keep it from working on both iOS and Android, to encourage people to buy a Kindle tablet. Most likely the Kindle app would work fine on Android if they didn't design it not to.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Flash issues???

ChesapeakeJohnny said:
... that they ruled out use of flash because Adobe was keeping flash technology as a closed system.
Click to expand...
I have always thought that argument was hilarious. Only North Korea runs a system that is more closed than Apple's.
 
Re: Flash issues???

airdale said:
I have always thought that argument was hilarious. Only North Korea runs a system that is more closed than Apple's.
Click to expand...

:yeahthat: It was strictly a p***ing match between two monopolies.
 
Re: Flash issues???

airdale said:
I have always thought that argument was hilarious. Only North Korea runs a system that is more closed than Apple's.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but if you're running a prison it helps if you're the only one with the keys. :)

In the case of Android Google initially supported it, but they've been moving away from supporting flash everywhere since it seems to have a security vulnerability every other week. They're more accepting of PDF since the file format is open, but they distribute their own PDF viewers since Adobe was having security vulnerabilities with that fairly frequently as well.

Adobe also didn't even release an experimental 64-bit version of flash until 2008, and then only for Linux. Full support for 64-bit came out in 2011.

The argument for sites using it for video was that it "works everywhere," but that is obviously no longer the case. Now the argument is that it has better-support for copy-protection, but it is really security by obscurity - youtube-dl has no trouble downloading flash videos for the major sites, and the only reason it can't download AOPA videos/etc is that pilots make up about 0.001% of the population.
 
I've already sent in a complaint to AOPA about that. I told them since more pilots are using mobile devices that don't support Flash they should consider using something other than Flash on their videos. They said, "Download a Flash player."
 
Matthew said:
I've already sent in a complaint to AOPA about that. I told them since more pilots are using mobile devices that don't support Flash they should consider using something other than Flash on their videos. They said, "Download a Flash player."
Click to expand...

And they are right. Using it just fine on my Nexus with Kitkat and Tab 2 with Jelly Bean. What's the problem? Flash player works fine! Takes less than 5 minutes to set up, as previously explained......
 
Goofy said:
And they are right. Using it just fine on my Nexus with Kitkat and Tab 2 with Jelly Bean. What's the problem? Flash player works fine! Takes less than 5 minutes to set up, as previously explained......
Click to expand...

I haven't gottej that far yet.
 
Matthew said:
I've already sent in a complaint to AOPA about that. I told them since more pilots are using mobile devices that don't support Flash they should consider using something other than Flash on their videos. They said, "Download a Flash player."
Click to expand...

I did the same, but haven't heard back yet.
I also sent a note to the FAA Safety Team tech support guys regarding their program courses, and he said that the courses come from other vendors (AOPA, etc.) and are unlikely to change. Interestingly, the entire IT support staff for the FAA Safety Team program consists of one poor guy juggling all the responsibilities!
J
 
navigator44 said:
Will GP work on a Kindle Fire 8.9 HDX?
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Unknown. It currently doesn't support the Play store so you'd have to confirm whether GP is on the Kindle store. Even then, it doesn't appear to have a GPS so you'd have to external for that, and GP only supports Bluetooth which the HDX doesn't appear to support.

I wouldn't be optimistic that it will work.
 
AOPA developing Android friendly courses

Response from AOPA:

John,
Thank you for contacting the Pilot Information Center. Our newer courses being developed will use HTML5 and as such will work on devices that cannot run flash, however our older courses were designed well in advance of the creating of mobile devices. There are a few browsers that support Flash on the iPad, but we do not officially support them- so your mileage may vary (although preliminary checks indicate that they may display the courses in question):

- iSwifter
- Puffin
- Photon
​
 
Not being terribly techie I can only tell you what's working for me. My Nexus has Firefox. My Tab 2 is using Dolphin for flash needy sites.
Good luck.

Did some experimenting. Chrome does not work with flash player on my Tab 2. Used this site to check:
http://www.visualxtreme.com/flash.html

It has a sample flash script running in the top right corner. Worked with Dolphin and, interestingly enough, the stock browser that came on my Samsung. You might try it on the Nexus with Firefox, mine is out at the hangar.
 
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Yesterday was my first tried of Garmin Pilot on Samsung Galaxy 8.0
Day before Garmin Pilot notified my that I have downloads. I went to the app and updated all charts.

Inside Garmin Pilot app I created folder for local instrument approaches where put all approach plates I intended to use during the flight. When I get to the airplane and I tried to pull out local approach plates I got and error "can't connect to the server" (there were no Wifi) So I went to download page and check if corresponding IFR approach plates reside locally on my device. Yes they were there according to Garmin!

When I came home and connected to WiFi approach plates showed our right away.
Note: Originally I chose not do not download the whole US only California charts. Sectional, IFR, plates and so on.

Have anyone experienced similar problems? Would it solve missing approach plates issue if I download all charts for the whole US?
 
sdflyer said:
Yesterday was my first tried of Garmin Pilot on Samsung Galaxy 8.0
Day before Garmin Pilot notified my that I have downloads. I went to the app and updated all charts.

Inside Garmin Pilot app I created folder for local instrument approaches where put all approach plates I intended to use during the flight. When I get to the airplane and I tried to pull out local approach plates I got and error "can't connect to the server" (there were no Wifi) So I went to download page and check if corresponding IFR approach plates reside locally on my device. Yes they were there according to Garmin!

When I came home and connected to WiFi approach plates showed our right away.
Note: Originally I chose not do not download the whole US only California charts. Sectional, IFR, plates and so on.

Have anyone experienced similar problems? Would it solve missing approach plates issue if I download all charts for the whole US?
Click to expand...
I have not had issues like this - I select the charts and plates I want on the Download page, GP downloads them to the SD Card, and they are on the device and available whether on network or not.

I am using both a 'stock' Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (running Android 4.2.2) and a rooted older Acer A500 Iconia 10.1 ('unofficial' CyanogenMod 10.2 Android 4.3), and Garmin Pilot 2.7.3.

You might try uninstalling and reinstalling GP, I had another issue a few months ago and that fixed the behavior.

'Gimp
 
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AcroGimp said:
I have not had issues like this - I select the charts and plates I want on the Download page, GP downloads them to the SD Card, and they are on the device and available whether on network or not.

I am using both a 'stock' Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (running Android 4.2.2) and a rooted older Acer A500 Iconia 10.1 ('unofficial' CyanogenMod 10.2 Android 4.3), and Garmin Pilot 2.7.3.

You might try uninstalling and reinstalling GP, I had another issue a few months ago and that fixed the behavior.

'Gimp
Click to expand...

Thanks Gimp I will give it a shot tonight
 
Looks like Garmin is upgrading the GDL 39 by adding an AHRS roll/pitch sensor and calling it the GDL 39 3D. Saw this article from a day or two ago that seems to be one of the first announcements and shows a screenshot of an attutude indicator inside Garmin Pilot. Light on details so can't tell if there will be an upgrade program or what costs will be.

http://www.aero-news.net/bannertransfer.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=d44e12ba-006d-4536-8ca2-4e781907150b

What do you guys think? Are these things of any use?

Edit to add: could be what this 12/31/13 Garmin blog post is alluding too (although it is annoyingly iOS centric).

http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2013/12/lucys-top-ten-garmin-pilot-features-of-2013.html
 
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2.8.1 upgrade just came out.


Version 2.8.1

Fixed: Crash starting the app if you previously closed the app after using Direct-To.


Version 2.8.0

New: GDL 39 3D support and a new attitude indicator display in the navigation panel.
New: Showing RIGHT traffic pattern directions for runways in the airport browser and the airport information widget.
New: Added controlling agency frequency to the airspace widget for many MOAs.
Improved: Now supporting radial intercepts in the route string, eg: FCM090MSP180.
Improved: Now supporting custom ETE in File & Brief.
Fixed: Connection issues using the D2 watch with Samsung devices.
Fixed: Crashes when using devices with no internal GPS.
Fixed: Problems using the app when the device is set to a non-english language.
Fixed: Possible stacked Direct-To dialogs.
Fixed: Overlapping TAF report text on some devices.
Fixed: Incorrect date when using File & Brief with the 12 hour time preference.
Fixed: Various other improvements and user reported crashes.
 
Matthew said:
2.8.1 upgrade just came out.
Click to expand...

I just loaded it on my Nexus and it's working fine. I am happy they added the right-hand pattern information. The controlling agency frequency for MOAs is kind of nice, too, although out of six MOAs in Texas I checked more or less at random, only one had this information.

After each of these releases, though, I get more and more discouraged that we Android users are lagging so far behind the iOS users in terms of features. Since we have a GDL 39 in the airplane now, one of my co-owners has downloaded GP for his iPad on the 30 day trial. It's going to be interesting to see first hand the differences between his version and the Android version that I and one other owner have.

Lee
N74447
 
GP has a lot going for it. But sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to dance with the other devil.

You hear nothing but accolades about foreflight and it's ease of use blah, blah,.... Whereas, GP seems to always be playing catch up.

Hopefully, these new updates will help GP catch up.
 
txflyer said:
GP has a lot going for it. But sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to dance with the other devil.

You hear nothing but accolades about foreflight and it's ease of use blah, blah,.... Whereas, GP seems to always be playing catch up.

Hopefully, these new updates will help GP catch up.
Click to expand...

I emailed Garmin support with a basic "Hey - I love Garmin Pilot but all my friends with Foreflight keep showing me these cool features that I don't have. When will GP have these features too?" and got the following reply:


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
garminsupport said:
Thank you for your interest in the Garmin Pilot application.

Due to the competition in the Aviation Application Marketplace we do not list the roadmap for Garmin Pilot publicly. I can say that the developers are working on making the Android version as feature rich as the iOS version.

If you have any suggestions for new features you would like to see added into the application feel free to pass them along.

Russ Knuth
Aviation Support
Click to expand...
garminsupport said:
[/FONT]
Click to expand...

So in other words, will you keep paying your subscription please and we'll see if we can squeeze in another feature or two for you in 2014.
 
txflyer said:
GP has a lot going for it. But sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to dance with the other devil.

You hear nothing but accolades about foreflight and it's ease of use blah, blah,.... Whereas, GP seems to always be playing catch up.

Hopefully, these new updates will help GP catch up.
Click to expand...

I fly with both all the time, but admit I still default to FF most of the time, especially IFR. Key feature there is the chart overlay feature and ease of seeing your route on the chart. It's great situational awareness.

But I still carry both for redundancy and will continue to do so, but find myself frustrated at times with the extra effort it takes to accomplish things in GP that are so intuitive in FF.
 
lziegenhals said:
After each of these releases, though, I get more and more discouraged that we Android users are lagging so far behind the iOS users in terms of features.
Click to expand...

Honestly, they're going to have to pick things up if they don't want to be completely eclipsed by Avare, which is free. Avare already supports fix-bearing-distance waypoints and MOA/SUA information. It also supports a few ADS-B devices and there has been talk about adding AHRS support (though right now it is strictly chart-only). Every airport diagram I've seen on it is georeferenced already, and they're working on approaches - all free. I think Pilot still has the edge when it comes to interface usability.

From the later post in this thread it is a bit shocking that they're looking at Garmin Pilot on iOS as if it was the only other competition around - as if feature parity with themselves was the ultimate goal. They're certainly not the only game in town, and they're struggling to stay ahead of the free software let alone Foreflight and WingX...
 
rich0 said:
Honestly, they're going to have to pick things up if they don't want to be completely eclipsed by Avare, which is free. Avare already supports fix-bearing-distance waypoints and MOA/SUA information. It also supports a few ADS-B devices and there has been talk about adding AHRS support (though right now it is strictly chart-only). Every airport diagram I've seen on it is georeferenced already, and they're working on approaches - all free. I think Pilot still has the edge when it comes to interface usability.

From the later post in this thread it is a bit shocking that they're looking at Garmin Pilot on iOS as if it was the only other competition around - as if feature parity with themselves was the ultimate goal. They're certainly not the only game in town, and they're struggling to stay ahead of the free software let alone Foreflight and WingX...
Click to expand...
This ^ X2.

It is difficult to remain an Android evangelist when the biggest player on Android is lagging so far behind their own iOS product, the other iOS products and as has been noted, with stiff competition from free (Avare) or smaller payware developers (Avilution and iFly).

Garmin really needs to step up and they could own the high-end on Android outright but it would take a change in priorities.

There was an article just in the past couple days that the shine is coming off of Apple (for those for whom there was a shine in the first place), Android I believe is outselling Apple, the handwriting is on the wall, but will Garmin spend enough time to actually read and comprehend it?

'Gimp
 
I really like iFly. I've let my GP subscription lapse now that iFly runs on my Nexus 7.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
 
I'm an idiot when it comes to how you make money with an app.

How can you go to all the trouble to write an app, then give it away like Avare? How do they make their $$$$?

Oh well, this thread is about GP. The Ifly app for android is brand new and still a beta from what I see. It's free for 30 days, then it looks like it's $70 per year. GP on it's app download page says free for 30, then $10/month subscription required. My GP was $49 for one year when I bought it, so it looks like they've increased fees over 100% in a very short time.

When my subscription is up, I may take a hard look at Ifly or Avare. What's the point in paying more for GP when the others will do pretty much the same thing?
 
New: GDL 39 3D support and a new attitude indicator display in the navigation panel.
New: Showing RIGHT traffic pattern directions for runways in the airport browser and the airport information widget.
New: Added controlling agency frequency to the airspace widget for many MOAs.
Improved: Now supporting radial intercepts in the route string, eg: FCM090MSP180.
Improved: Now supporting custom ETE in File & Brief.
Fixed: Connection issues using the D2 watch with Samsung devices.
Fixed: Crashes when using devices with no internal GPS.
Fixed: Problems using the app when the device is set to a non-english language.
Fixed: Possible stacked Direct-To dialogs.
Fixed: Overlapping TAF report text on some devices.
Fixed: Incorrect date when using File & Brief with the 12 hour time preference.
Fixed: Various other improvements and user reported crashes.
Click to expand...
That's a pretty pathetic list except, of course, the effort to integrate the new AHRS GDL-39. Said another way, it shows that they are not very interested in improving the product except as a means to sell us something else. Promises to bring the Android product up to the iThing product are cheap, and that's basically all we are getting.

I think my subscription comes up for renewal next month and I don't know what I'll do. For sure I will not automatically click the "Pay Us Again" button.
 
airdale said:
That's a pretty pathetic list except, of course, the effort to integrate the new AHRS GDL-39. Said another way, it shows that they are not very interested in improving the product except as a means to sell us something else. Promises to bring the Android product up to the iThing product are cheap, and that's basically all we are getting.

I think my subscription comes up for renewal next month and I don't know what I'll do. For sure I will not automatically click the "Pay Us Again" button.
Click to expand...

Same boat here. My subscription is just about up for all three - Garmin Pilot, SafeTaxi, Geo-Referenced FlightCharts.

I just listed my GDL-39 on ebay since it is about to be replaced with the AHRS version, so want to sell it before its value drops off.

I'm planning to vote with my wallet (by not renewing) to see if Garmin follows through on the long list of unfulfilled promises or publishes a roadmap. In the meantime, I'm also eying the alternative ADS-B/Traffic/weather/AHRS hardware devices.

If you, too, are frustrated with Garmin's Android version, I suggest you also vote where it counts - don't renew and check out some of these other free/inexpensive replacements to send Garmin the message that they can't dilly dally.

If they release a feature-for-feature replicate for Android of the iOS version - or better yet Foreflight - I'm back in a heartbeat.
 
txflyer said:
I'm an idiot when it comes to how you make money with an app.

How can you go to all the trouble to write an app, then give it away like Avare? How do they make their $$$$?
Click to expand...

They don't make money - it is purely a volunteer effort (either on the part of the developers, or the developer's employer). It is open-source software as well, so anybody who wants to contribute can do so. They do accept donations, but I suspect (without having checked) that this money is used for things like running servers/etc and not for personal enrichment. Often projects like these get donations in-kind of the use of servers/etc as well.

If a project like this really becomes well-established it isn't uncommon for companies to try to make money on related products/services (like selling ADS-B boxes or add-on maps or whatever). Often this results in the improvement of the free product as well as these companies have incentive to make it more useable with their service. That's why the other week when a Linux upgrade broke my video capture card made by ATI I ended up trading emails from a guy who works at Samsung who fixed it - Samsung probably donates his time to Linux and in exchange when they have drivers they need included they have an inside track.

So, there can be money to be made, but it doesn't get made in the usual way. You can't make it just by trying to milk your customer base for sure - the fancy add-on that makes you money this year just gets surpassed by next year's free add-on, and so you need to keep coming up with something new to stay relevant. But, that is how any business works to some extent - the only difference is having a competitor willing to sell for free.
 
rich0 said:
They don't make money - it is purely a volunteer effort (either on the part of the developers, or the developer's employer). It is open-source software as well, so anybody who wants to contribute can do so. They do accept donations, but I suspect (without having checked) that this money is used for things like running servers/etc and not for personal enrichment. Often projects like these get donations in-kind of the use of servers/etc as well.

If a project like this really becomes well-established it isn't uncommon for companies to try to make money on related products/services (like selling ADS-B boxes or add-on maps or whatever). Often this results in the improvement of the free product as well as these companies have incentive to make it more useable with their service. That's why the other week when a Linux upgrade broke my video capture card made by ATI I ended up trading emails from a guy who works at Samsung who fixed it - Samsung probably donates his time to Linux and in exchange when they have drivers they need included they have an inside track.

So, there can be money to be made, but it doesn't get made in the usual way. You can't make it just by trying to milk your customer base for sure - the fancy add-on that makes you money this year just gets surpassed by next year's free add-on, and so you need to keep coming up with something new to stay relevant. But, that is how any business works to some extent - the only difference is having a competitor willing to sell for free.
Click to expand...



Thanks for the thoughtful explanation. I like open source.

Garmin gives you the impression that they have a room somewhere where they all sit around, and come up with ways to suck every last dime out of you.

So Garmin comes out with the new ADS-B 3D antenna, and guess what ... it looks exactly the same as the old one. But, you cannot upgrade your old one for a software fee, you must buy the new one. "It's a hardware change" is what Garmin told me. And there's no trade up offer that I see. :nonod:
 
txflyer said:
But, you cannot upgrade your old one for a software fee, you must buy the new one. "It's a hardware change" is what Garmin told me. And there's no trade up offer that I see. :nonod:
Click to expand...


Several used GDL 39 hardware is selling at almost list price on eBay right now. If you sell your old device immediately you can "upgrade" for just a little more than the price difference.

I'm sure the 3D version has some kind of AHRS chip in it, so a software upgrade is likely not possible. Was an obvious oversight of Garmin to not think of including it in the first place.
 
PresandCeo said:
I'm sure the 3D version has some kind of AHRS chip in it, so a software upgrade is likely not possible. Was an obvious oversight of Garmin to not think of including it in the first place.
Click to expand...

Yeah, AHRS really does require hardware.

My main objection to what Garmin does (and they're not the only ones doing it), is that they have made the interface to their device proprietary and it only works with their software. A few of the other ADS-B vendors do that as well - you spend $600 or whatever on a box that locks you into a particular set of software.

Avare actually supports a few vendors - they aim to support anything they can, but if the vendor goes out of their way to make that difficult there is only so much they can do.

While I am happy to see AHRS going into these boxes it would be nice to see them actually implementing a more substantial INS, synthetic vision, etc. There is no reason that you couldn't have an RNAV-in-a-box complete with RNP and the works. Sure, something needs to change with the FAA to actually use it for IFR, but we're getting to the point where the costs shouldn't be a big factor and if nothing else it would be a nice backup. It would be a nice day when you could stick two boxes in a Cub, mount a tablet, carry a backup, and fly RNAV routes.
 
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