New version of ForeFlight... v4.4

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
14,210
Location
Midlothian, TX
Display Name
3Green
Home Airfield
KJWY - Mid-Way Regional
See the website or AppStore for new features.... Downloading now so I can explore the the Documents library/catalog!
 
New to iPad (and really dumb question since I think I'm somewhat techie):

Do I need to "do" anything or will ForeFlight tell me what to do? For example, it tells me when there are pending downloads (seems like every week). Or do I have to go to the appstore on my iPad and get it there?

Also, having issues with some plates, and the street map won't come up in flight and also weather - looks like without data I do not have "full" ForeFlight. The BF thinks he can tether but I don't want to root my phone to do that and he already got a warning letter from T-Mobile regardless of his "unlimited data".
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Or do I have to go to the appstore on my iPad and get it there?
Click to expand...

From Foreflight, bottom right; More>Downloads>click Download button, bottom center.
Not all dl's are at the app store, for example I just got the dl Troy noted, and when I go into ff, there is a superscript 1 on the More button indicating the Apt DB is available.
 
I like the new Documents feature... Especially that each document reopens where you last closed it. Will be importing my PDF POH and checklists. Makes much more sense on this tab than a 'bring your own chart' import.

Would like to see the ability to swipe left/right and move between all of the approach plate pages for a given airport or its departures and arrivals.

In conjunction with the last item, as an optional feature (you choose to enable or not), automatically creating chart bundles for airports on your flightplan, including your alternate.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
I like the new Documents feature... Especially that each document reopens where you last closed it. Will be importing my PDF POH and checklists. Makes much more sense on this tab than a 'bring your own chart' import.

Would like to see the ability to swipe left/right and move between all of the approach plate pages for a given airport or its departures and arrivals.

In conjunction with the last item, as an optional feature (you choose to enable or not), automatically creating chart bundles for airports on your flightplan, including your alternate.
Click to expand...

That last feature is a hum-dinger! Headed to start download, "rat now"!
 
I also like the new airport info popup on the maps page, when you single tap the magenta icon of a route airport. Wish there was an easy way to do the same for non-route airports... If there is, I couldn't find it. Adding one of those blue info circle letter 'i' icons on the screen that has the orange direct-to / blue arrow would work well... Tap that, get the popup on the map page.
 
(loud applause for Tyson and his FF crew for continued innovation)
 
Yay Foreflight... my pet peeve (I think -- I haven't downloaded yet) is fixed... Chart Legends are available in the new Documents thingy. (Yes, "thingy" is a technical term.)
 
TangoWhiskey said:
I like the new Documents feature... Especially that each document reopens where you last closed it. Will be importing my PDF POH and checklists. Makes much more sense on this tab than a 'bring your own chart' import.
Click to expand...
Add to your list
Garmin 500 Pilot info manual
List of all of the microswitches on the C182RG you're flying
The latest "You might be a Redneck Pilot if..." list​

Another good idea would be a contact list of the various pilots and there N-numbers
 
AggieMike88 said:
(loud applause for Tyson and his FF crew for continued innovation)
Click to expand...

You heard they just were approved as GAMA members? They wanted the lobbying and advocacy power to help counter threats to aviation safety, such as driving up chart costs.
 
blog.foreflight.com said:
You have three options today for installing new documents into ForeFlight Mobile’s Documents system (look for more ‘connectors’ in the near future):
  • Via email attachment: send yourself a document via email as an attachment, view the email on your iPad, then tap on the icon of the document attachment and select “Open In … ForeFlight”.
  • Via iTunes: connect your iPad to your desktop, launch iTunes, and use iTunes’ to drag and drop documents into ForeFlight
  • Via one of the included catalogs: select from more than 30 included documents, ranging from the FAA’s A/FDs to NAV CANADA’s CAP GEN. Handbooks, chart legends, terminal procedure references … all included, all free to existing ForeFlight customers. You can also download the latest version of our user manual – the Pilot’s Guide for ForeFlight Mobile
Click to expand...
Is Drop Box supported yet? If not, make sure to vote for that.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Add to your list
Garmin 500 Pilot info manual
List of all of the microswitches on the C182RG you're flying
The latest "You might be a Redneck Pilot if..." list​

Another good idea would be a contact list of the various pilots and there N-numbers
Click to expand...

Agreed... Avionics and autopilot manuals for the planes you fly in a rental fleet would be good to add. Sure am glad I bought the 64GB edition! Can't wait for March 7th... I'm still on a Gen1 iPad. Time to upgrade!

P.S.... My pilot 'contact list' is already on my iPad.. In my Contacts list.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
I also like the new airport info popup on the maps page, when you single tap the magenta icon of a route airport. Wish there was an easy way to do the same for non-route airports... If there is, I couldn't find it. Adding one of those blue info circle letter 'i' icons on the screen that has the orange direct-to / blue arrow would work well... Tap that, get the popup on the map page.
Click to expand...

If you turn on flight rules than any airport reporting weather will be popable.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
How do you want them to use DropBox? Describe the connection...
Click to expand...

I'd bet to download and install your own Documents. Not as easy to mess around with sending stuff through iTunes. Not really HARD, but not as easy...

I don't use the FF "load your own" documents feature because it's far easier just to switch over to GoodReader and have stuff pre-loaded there from Dropbox.

I wouldn't put Dropbox support REALLY high on my list of "wants" for FF, though. There's far too many other easy ways to get stuff on and off of an iPad.

I'd take a smarter/faster scribble pad with the ability to save and retrieve scribbled notes before Dropbox... and even then, there's plenty of decent scribble pad software too.

Now... a scribble pad with customizable "fields" for stuff like CRAFT and templates for scribbling down the "usual" pilot stuff in the cockpit? That might be useful... I dunno.

Too much switching between "pages" though, for me as it is... just to get back and forth between the map and approach plates... and that's a limitation I don't see going away. It's still an order of magnitude better UI than most Garmin stuff, dorking around in menus, looking for "pages" you want... etc.
 
denverpilot said:
Yay Foreflight... my pet peeve (I think -- I haven't downloaded yet) is fixed... Chart Legends are available in the new Documents thingy. (Yes, "thingy" is a technical term.)
Click to expand...

Wrong, but thanks for playing.

The correct terminology is "widget", not "thingy".
 
Via one of the included catalogs: select from more than 30 included documents, ranging from the FAA’s A/FDs to NAV CANADA’s CAP GEN. Handbooks, chart legends, terminal procedure references
Click to expand...

where are/how do I see the catalogs? I'd like access to the chart legends.
 
murphey said:
Wrong, but thanks for playing.

The correct terminology is "widget", not "thingy".
Click to expand...

Heh... Nah, a widget is the thing your company makes and sells to everyone in College Macroeconomics classes. Which never discuss profit. Only Supply and Demand. ;)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
where are/how do I see the catalogs? I'd like access to the chart legends.
Click to expand...

Should be a Catalog icon on the bottom that takes you there. From that point you'll have to choose the Docs you want to download.
 
Click the Documents link at the bottom (where Downloads used to be, which moved to More / Downloads, by the way). On the Documents screen, click t the Catalog buttin, upper right corner. You'll get a Catalog popup, with four categories on the left. Select items you want to download by clicking the blue download arrow, and ForeFlight will download it and keep it current. Just as with charts, future updates to those books or publications will get pushed to you.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Do I need to "do" anything or will ForeFlight tell me what to do? For example, it tells me when there are pending downloads (seems like every week). Or do I have to go to the appstore on my iPad and get it there?
Click to expand...

The only thing you need to use the App Store for is ForeFlight updates. In-app purchase (used for subscriptions) is initiated from within ForeFlight. All of the various downloads are handled within ForeFlight as well.

Also, having issues with some plates, and the street map won't come up in flight and also weather - looks like without data I do not have "full" ForeFlight.
Click to expand...

What kind of issues are you having with plates?

Some parts of ForeFlight, such as Imagery, the street map, and weather data need to be retrieved from the internet (or XM via the Baron link if you have it). If you're in flight and you don't have XM or Internet access, there's no way for any device or app to display live weather.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
New to iPad (and really dumb question since I think I'm somewhat techie):

Do I need to "do" anything or will ForeFlight tell me what to do? For example, it tells me when there are pending downloads (seems like every week). Or do I have to go to the appstore on my iPad and get it there?

Also, having issues with some plates, and the street map won't come up in flight and also weather - looks like without data I do not have "full" ForeFlight. The BF thinks he can tether but I don't want to root my phone to do that and he already got a warning letter from T-Mobile regardless of his "unlimited data".
Click to expand...


It flashes 'go flying' subliminally in every other app and screen saver.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
The only thing you need to use the App Store for is ForeFlight updates. In-app purchase (used for subscriptions) is initiated from within ForeFlight. All of the various downloads are handled within ForeFlight as well.



What kind of issues are you having with plates?

Some parts of ForeFlight, such as Imagery, the street map, and weather data need to be retrieved from the internet (or XM via the Baron link if you have it). If you're in flight and you don't have XM or Internet access, there's no way for any device or app to display live weather.
Click to expand...

That's why we need to try and "tether" my BF's cell phone in flight next time - it works on the ground but not sure about up there. Even so the weather seemed slow. The plates thing, dunno, a more experienced pilot asked me to pull them up and foreflight told me it couldn't.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
How would you use DropBox? Just as a way to put things into Documents instead of using iTunes?
Click to expand...

I don't even use iTunes to do it. I email the file to myself as an attachment, open the email on the iPad, then 'open with... ForeFlight'...
 
Yeah, only plates that you've pre-downloaded will be available in flight without a data connection. Have you seen the preflight checks ForeFlight's team recommends you use to ensure the iPad its properly configured and expected data will be available enroute?
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Yeah, only plates that you've pre-downloaded will be available in flight without a data connection. Have you seen the preflight checks ForeFlight's team recommends you use to ensure the iPad its properly configured and expected data will be available enroute?
Click to expand...

Nope. Is this in their 60+ page PDF tutorial?
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
That's why we need to try and "tether" my BF's cell phone in flight next time - it works on the ground but not sure about up there. Even so the weather seemed slow. The plates thing, dunno, a more experienced pilot asked me to pull them up and foreflight told me it couldn't.
Click to expand...

Technically cellular use while airborne is illegal. (FCC regulation, not FAA.)

Do as you see fit, however. No one at the carrier cares.

Most people report anything from "works fine" to "seriously spotty/dead service" since the network generally isn't designed for airborne use.

Never count on it working. Foreflight weather is meant for pre-flight use unless you have the expensive XM receiver and Bluetooth converter.

In the air, it's Mark 1 Eyeball.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Correct.
Click to expand...

DropBox -> ForeFlight is working for me - On the iPad, open up the DropBox app, open the doc you want in ForeFlight, tap the little Square-with-an-arrow-coming-out-of-it icon in the upper right, choose ForeFlight as where you want to send it. ForeFlight opens up and the document shows up under "My Documents."
 
I hope I can figure this all out by tonight. I had a different free app but it limited me to only a few files.

I would like to add to foreflight:

Scans of my flight plan (PDFs) from AOPA flight planner - haven't made them yet

The PDF of foreflight itself (kind of a user manual)

The PDF of other POH's I have (152, 172)

The scan of my sure check checklist from the 152, even though it is not meant for the 150

Can I add photos too? Like photos of runways from Google Earth? Should I make them PDFs?
 
And version 4.4.1 is now out with a few bug fixes, including one where some users were having intermittent problems importing documents from emails.
 
For those interested.

Current Foreflight with full charts, and all documents...

4b94241c-c035-e1bb.jpg


... 8.9 GB of data. Call it 9 for easy round numbers.
 
denverpilot said:
For those interested.

Current Foreflight with full charts, and all documents...

4b94241c-c035-e1bb.jpg


... 8.9 GB of data. Call it 9 for easy round numbers.
Click to expand...

So about 18GB when the charts are cycling? Supports a 32GB min if you want everything. 16 should certainly work if you stay within your region and exclude AK, HI, and music.:D
 
Nah, the new documents won't cycle that much.

Stuff like "Aviation Weather" from the FAA hasn't changed since I was without grey hair.

This is full up with all of those. Chart legends, etc.
 
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