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

I really like the measuring tool. I've been wanting that for a long time. I like the extended centerlines, too.

I'll have to get outside where I can get a signal so I can test the range rings and other features. It's starting to look like a real product now, and it's a good thing, too since they raised the price on it last year.
 
Badger said:
Sounds like they are getting more like Foreflight with many of those features
Click to expand...

Actually probably the opposite is true.

All of these features and more have been around for quite some time with the iPad version of Garmin Pilot. In fact one excellent feature that FF STILL lacks is vector base maps. Even WingX has this (sort of). With FF the user is still forced to look at sectionals, WACs and low enroute IFR charts. While this is fine for some, I MUCH prefer GPs data driven vector maps...and GP has had this feature for a while now (with the ipad version).

Way to go Garmin! This was a much anticipated update. The vector maps look great on my iPad and now on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3!
 
Last edited:
Chris Mitchell said:
Actually probably the opposite is true.

All of these features and more have been around for quite some time with the iPad version of Garmin Pilot. In fact one excellent feature that FF STILL lacks is vector base maps. Even WingX has this (sort of). With FF the user is still forced to look at sectionals, WACs and low enroute IFR charts. While this is fine for some, I MUCH prefer GPs data driven vector maps...and GP has had this feature for a while now (with the ipad version).

Way to go Garmin! This was a much anticipated update. The vector maps look great on my iPad and now on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3!
Click to expand...

Agreed. My only concern at this point is that GP can do so much now that I hope my Nexus 7 processor can keep up. Seems fine so far.

One thing cool about the measuring tool is once you activate it on the screen, you can let go and then individually drag each end where you want it to go, which reduces the frustration of trying to be accurate with the two finger method.
 
I played with the range ring and extended centerline function when I had it paired to FSX last night and they are really handy features, you can set the centerline extension to several lengths to minimize disruption of the underlying basemap or to maximize situational awareness. The range rings are customizable as well and can be dynamic or set distances - really cool.

Really is the update of all updates - I think it just about covers all the features I personally was waiting on.

I am with Irish Armada, finally don't feel like the 2nd cousin twice removed when comparing to the iPad version.

Looks and works great on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, next up is to try it on my trusty but aging Acer A500 10.1.

'Gimp
 
Irish_Armada said:
One thing cool about the measuring tool is once you activate it on the screen, you can let go and then individually drag each end where you want it to go, which reduces the frustration of trying to be accurate with the two finger method.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on this! This feature with the measuring tool on the ipad version is not available. With the ipad version once you set the measuring tool you cannot adjust it like you can on the new android version. Good stuff!
 
Chris Mitchell said:
Way to go Garmin! This was a much anticipated update. The vector maps look great on my iPad and now on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3!
Click to expand...

Could I ask one of you guys with the update to take a look at the sectional & enroutes and let me know if you see the degraded quality I mentioned back a few posts ago?

I'm not trying to take away from all the cool new features - I played with the vector maps last night too and they look great, as well as the measuring bar and other features. And maybe I'll be using the sectionals & enroutes less because of the vector map. But still, I hate to see the quality degradation in them. For me, they're almost unreadable now unless nearly completely zoomed in.

Just trying to figure out if this is something specific to my installation / device, or whether it's a global change that everyone sees.

Thanks!
Steve
 
stevenclin said:
Could I ask one of you guys with the update to take a look at the sectional & enroutes and let me know if you see the degraded quality I mentioned back a few posts ago?
Click to expand...

I'm not seeing any degraded quality. My device is a Nexus 7.
 
stevenclin said:
Could I ask one of you guys with the update to take a look at the sectional & enroutes and let me know if you see the degraded quality...
Click to expand...

Steve I'm looking at the sectional chart now and I don't notice any difference in quality compared to what it looked like before the update.

You might look at you map settings...From map screen...General..."Improve Map Performance". Make sure this is OFF. I just turned mine ON and it definitely reduced the map quality!! I turned it back OFF and it looks great again.
 
Nexus 7 here.

I think I see what you are talking about, but it only shows at certain zoom levels. Probably has something to do with pixel resolution

I took a screenshot at the same setting and location you have. See if you can see similarities.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2014-04-16-11-45-48.png
    Screenshot_2014-04-16-11-45-48.png
    1.2 MB · Views: 13
Here are a couple more, zoomed in.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2014-04-16-11-54-41.png
    Screenshot_2014-04-16-11-54-41.png
    1.2 MB · Views: 12
  • Screenshot_2014-04-16-11-54-05.png
    Screenshot_2014-04-16-11-54-05.png
    1.2 MB · Views: 14
Chris Mitchell said:
Steve I'm looking at the sectional chart now and I don't notice any difference in quality compared to what it looked like before the update.

You might look at you map settings...From map screen...General..."Improve Map Performance". Make sure this is OFF. I just turned mine ON and it definitely reduced the map quality!! I turned it back OFF and it looks great again.
Click to expand...

Chris,

I should have mentioned that in my previous post, but yes I checked that setting earlier and it is set to OFF.

Matthew said:
Nexus 7 here.

I think I see what you are talking about, but it only shows at certain zoom levels. Probably has something to do with pixel resolution

I took a screenshot at the same setting and location you have. See if you can see similarities.
Click to expand...

Matthew, yes I can see similarities in the screen shot you posted, it looks pretty bad too. If you look at the comparison screen shot I posted that I took with 2.8.1, all the labels are clearly legible at that same zoom setting, yet in 3.0, they are not.

If I zoom in all the way, so there is no pixel scaling, then both 2.8.1 and 3.0 appear equal in quality. Obviously when I zoom way far out, you can't read anything on either version. But there is a whole range of zoom levels (the ones that, honestly, are the most practical for inflight use IMHO) which were clearly legible in 2.8.1 and unusable in 3.0.

So I don't think the underlying map quality has changed (also, I'm not re-downloading the charts when I switch between versions so they really should be the same underlying files) but rather the algorithm used to scale the charts when they are zoomed out. Almost like the 3.0 version has anti-aliasing turned off, or something like that.

Based on your screenshot, it appears that others can see this problem as well. But based on the other replies, it sounds like perhaps the problem is less noticeable or maybe occurs less frequently on other devices than on my own.

Thanks, guys. I've opened a ticket with Garmin support this morning, so we'll see what they say.

Steve
 
Unfortunately, I don't have any screen captures of < 3.0 at those magnifications so I can't do a before/after comparison.

I have a Nexus 7, version 1. Feel free to use the screen captures I attached, if they'll help.
 
Matthew said:
Unfortunately, I don't have any screen captures of < 3.0 at those magnifications so I can't do a before/after comparison.
Click to expand...

I got burned by that release last summer where I updated Pilot right before a long trek to OSH, only to find that XM weather was broken right when I really needed it. So now, before I ever update, I always backup the previous version using Titanium Backup. That way if there's another major snafu, I can just roll back to the previous version, even in flight if necessary. (I highly recommend this, BTW, for "critical" applications like Pilot. Requires a rooted tablet, though, I think.)

That's how I'm able to roll back to 2.8.1, then re-update to 3.0 via the play store, in order to compare the versions.

Thanks for your screen shots, though - I think I'll wait to see what Garmin says but can refer them to this thread to see your screen shots if they claim the issue is only me. :)
 
I didn't use the 2.8.1 long enough to really get used to the vector maps, so I didn't really notice much of a difference with the 3.0 display. Maybe they optimized for a certain pixel resolution that causes pixellation on some displays? It may be out of Garmin's control.
 
Sectionals look the same on my N7. 'Improve performance' is turned off.

Night mode on the VFR maps is awesome. I hope it will auto night mode at dusk like the portables. So far, I can't see auto night mode. Just on or off. No biggie, ... Check out Menu/Split Screen/Widgets ... I like this information. It has winds and winds aloft. :)

Great update. They may have hooked me again cuz my scrip is up next month. Gotta go fly with it. :drool:
 
The widgets have been there for a while. I'll have to mess with night mode in a bit.
 
LDJones said:
My chart are really pixelated on my Nexus 7.
Click to expand...

Update: I just heard back from Garmin. They're aware of the issue and are working on the display issue now. He said they hoped to have a fix for it next week.
 
LDJones said:
Update: I just heard back from Garmin. They're aware of the issue and are working on the display issue now. He said they hoped to have a fix for it next week.
Click to expand...
Nice.

They actually do get onto bugs pretty quickly. It's just too bad they have them in the first place. One of the problems of writing software that has to run on such a wide variety of h/w platforms, I guess.

It seems like each major release results in 2 weeks of minor releases.
 
Matthew said:
Nice.

They actually do get onto bugs pretty quickly. It's just too bad they have them in the first place. One of the problems of writing software that has to run on such a wide variety of h/w platforms, I guess.

It seems like each major release results in 2 weeks of minor releases.
Click to expand...

Their QC on major releases is pretty bad, I often wonder if they do any testing at all. The Nexus 7 has to be one of the most popular to run their devices, and the bugs I have seen don't seem to be particular to one platform.

However, at at least it seems like they have gotten away from publishing releases Friday at 5pm and then going home.
 
ja_user said:
Their QC on major releases is pretty bad, I often wonder if they do any testing at all. The Nexus 7 has to be one of the most popular to run their devices, and the bugs I have seen don't seem to be particular to one platform.

However, at at least it seems like they have gotten away from publishing releases Friday at 5pm and then going home.
Click to expand...

I can't remember one of the bugs I reported to them after a release. But it was something really obvious - something that any button pushing tester should have found. I got hold of them via email and the response gave me the feeling they knew about it even prior to the release and just didn't have the time to fix it before their release schedule.

I dunno - I've worked for a couple of companies that had the opposite view on QC. One was "It has to be right or we don't release", another was "we have to meet the schedule, just make it 'good enough' and we'll fix it later". There actually is a balance between the two.
 
For those of you who are non-GP users, here's a couple screenshots of the vector mapping option, one the daytime version, the other nighttime. Also the extended runways feature.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2014-04-17-08-06-05.png
    Screenshot_2014-04-17-08-06-05.png
    653.6 KB · Views: 33
  • Screenshot_2014-04-17-08-06-19.png
    Screenshot_2014-04-17-08-06-19.png
    596.8 KB · Views: 27
I have verified that the updated GP will run on my trusty old Acer A500 10.1 running a CyanogenMod 4.3 ROM and the vector maps look awesome on it, but I am getting the pixelation on Sectionals on this device, but I have not noticed that on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.

I am really very impressed and happy with this update and plan to test it out next week at the All Red Star event in Porterville on my Note 8.0 along with my new OttoPilot Kneeboard.

'Gimp
 
AcroGimp said:
New bug - user waypoints not showing. Wierd.

'Gimp
Click to expand...

Go into Home->Flight Plan and create a fresh new route. All the waypoints showed up as soon as I typed the first airport identifier.
 
Go into the Map settings (lower left of the map screen), General > Show User Waypoints (on/off)
 
I checked User Waypoints - On in the General setting and in the individual User Waypoint setting, no joy there and I have rebooted the tablet for good measure.

I'll try a couple other things before I send an actual bug report to Garmin.

Edited to add - adding one of the User Waypoints to a flightplan did it, they all show now.

'Gimp
 
Last edited:
AcroGimp said:
I checked User Waypoints - On in the General setting and in the individual User Waypoint setting, no joy there and I have rebooted the tablet for good measure.

I'll try a couple other things before I send an actual bug report to Garmin.

'Gimp
Click to expand...

Garmin knows about that bug.

A couple questions - Do you have lots of waypoints? Did you try to make a fresh route from the Flight Plan screen?
 
ryarya said:
Garmin knows about that bug.

A couple questions - Do you have lots of waypoints? Did you try to make a fresh route from the Flight Plan screen?
Click to expand...
I don't have a bunch, was just surprised that they didn't display after the update. I opened the Flight Planning page, added one of the User Waypoints and then they all displayed again.

'Gimp
 
One small issue that I am noticing is that I can not make the visibility of the intersections (in the IFR vector map) behave correctly. I set the desired intersection visibility to, for example, 2NM but when I go back to view the map the intersections are still visible at 10NM.,I can even set the intersection visibility all the way to the lowest setting (200ft) and they are still visible up to 10NM. The Low Airways visibility setting seem to behave correctly. When I switch the VFR vector map it seems to behave the same way as the IFR.

My device is a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (phone...er, Phablet :wink2:)
 
Last edited:
Weather's crappy and I'm polishing.

I want to take GP up and see how it handles the GDL-39 hookup, traffic and weather.

I'm keeping my Zaon PCAS working and checking out ADS-B. I think I'll keep both until I either get ADS-B out, or something else comes along.
 
Curious if there is a way to get floor and ceiling altitudes of airspace shelfs on the VFR Vector view? I really like the vector maps but in the SoCal area shelf altitudes are awful important especially around SAN where there are a bunch of them.

'Gimp
 
AcroGimp said:
Curious if there is a way to get floor and ceiling altitudes of airspace shelfs on the VFR Vector view? I really like the vector maps but in the SoCal area shelf altitudes are awful important especially around SAN where there are a bunch of them.

'Gimp
Click to expand...

just tap the screen where you want to view the airspace and select airspace from the radial menu.
 
I got the update. haven't flown with it yet but so far I'm liking the updates.
 
Android GP is still sucking hind tit.

I see in recent AOPA magazine that iOS GP with the 3D GDL-39 you can get synthetic vision.

It doesn't say anything about android.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top