Foreflight 6.3 with W&B and flight path recording...

That W&B is pretty cool. Almost a stand-alone app.

Glad to see track logging so I can see how crappily I flew that practice ILS!

ETA: I just set up my aircraft tail number and I really like this new W&B feature of Foreflight. Very handy and easy to set up and customize.

There is one thing to beware of... if you create a passenger called "wife" be careful what you put in for weight! :D
 
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LuisO said:
Nice W&B tool, and that flight track recording should put a dent on CloudAhoy sales no?

http://blog.foreflight.com/
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Depends: if all you were using CloudAhoy for was track logs with no "analysis" of your flight, then this does that, so CA might not be so useful.

But if you like the CloudAhoy analysis and you have a Stratus, now you can directly export the track log from ForeFlight to CloudAhoy.
 
I had never heard of CloudAhoy until now. Does it perhaps show historical weather like FlightAware does? I think that is incredibly cool to be able to remember what the wx was doing during a flight.
 
CloudAhoy is a pretty cool tool to debrief your flight track after the flight, it parses out recorded GPS information and then displays it in a Google Earth interface. You can replay the flight, even from a first person POV...it's pretty cool. I don't think it has any weather in it but don't quote me cause I haven't checked it out in a while. I used it while it was free but then never subscribed when they went to a paid model.
 
Would have been nice to have the flight tracker download a few days earlier for my flight to and from OSH.
 
The W&B looks very well laid out and very user friendly! Can't wait to give it a real world try!
 
No sliders with instant results? You have to manually input values? Not very intuitive if you ask me :D
 
Heading out for a test flight of the new track log feature tonight and I wasn't sure how much space I needed to free up on my iPad (turns out, none). I asked Ryan on Twitter about file sizes of the track logs and (if my math is right) it works out to just shy of 5KB per minute of tracking.

From his response:
1 hr = 293,888 bytes
1 GB = 3,653 hrs of recording
16 GB = 58,448 hrs
128 GB = 467,448 hrs, or 19,482 days (flying 24/7) or 53 yrs
 
ja_user said:
Maybe you should sell your app to them :)
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I don't think they've realized the support headache their opening up for themselves by adding this functionality. They'll learn.
 
I need the pro subscription for weight and balance. Really, guys?
 
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cowman said:
I need the pro subscription for weight and balance. Really, guys?
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Really. My excitement about the most recent version lasted about 30 seconds. I understand most of the other "pro" features but limiting W&B to a pro subscription. Come on.

If anything, us little guys flying spam cans on the edge of the W&B envelope need a good weight and balance app more than our "pro" brethren. For the first time I can recall, I am truly disappointed by Foreflight.

Tyson, are you listening?
 
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buzzard86 said:
Really. My excitement about the most recent version lasted about 30 seconds. I understand most of the other "pro" features but limiting W&B to a pro subscription. Come on.

If anything, us little guys flying spam cans on the edge of the W&B envelope need a good app more more than our "pro" brethren. For the first time I can recall, I am truly disappointed by Foreflight.

Tyson, are you listening?
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I am. Perhaps we should have called the more capable "Pro" subscription tier "Premium" to reflect it simply means "contains features that are really hard / expensive to build and require more support" instead of "for professional pilots".

I don't think Pro is an unfair place to put this feature. We invest a lot in it - especially updating the database via type certificates - and we will be investing more in supporting customers in getting their templates set up.
 
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An extra $75 a year isn't even an hours worth of flying. It's the best deal in aviation, IMHO.
 
How do you set up the weight and balance?
 
CodeMonkey said:
I am. Perhaps we should have called the more capable "Pro" subscription tier "Premium" to reflect it simply means "contains features that are really hard / expensive to build and require more support" instead of "for professional pilots".

I don't think Pro is an unfair place to put this feature. We invest a lot in it - especially updating the database via type certificates - and we will be investing more in supporting customers in getting their templates set up.
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I'm sold on the Pro model simply for the georeferenced plates and taxi diagrams. Anything else that gets added is a bonus to me. Plus, I used to spend at least as much money on paper charts as I do for a year of ForeFlight Pro. Now I get the updates automatically (and get warned if I'm out of date), backup charts (on my iPhone) and an additional piece of situational awareness both in the air and on the ground (now at even more airports than the FAA has diagrams for).
 
CodeMonkey said:
I am. Perhaps we should have called the more capable "Pro" subscription tier "Premium" to reflect it simply means "contains features that are really hard / expensive to build and require more support" instead of "for professional pilots".

I don't think Pro is an unfair place to put this feature. We invest a lot in it - especially updating the database via type certificates - and we will be investing more in supporting customers in getting their templates set up.
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Call it what you will. A W&B functionality is a basic necessity for all pilots, but especially for us low end guys flying small airplanes on a budget. For $4.99 I have and use Jesse's excellent app. The beauty of the Foreflight version is simply that it's integrated.

Are you really expecting that people will choose pro (or premium) simply to get the W&B functionality. If not, all you have done is alienate your otherwise faithful following.
 
buzzard86 said:
Call it what you will. A W&B functionality is a basic necessity for all pilots, but especially for us low end guys flying small airplanes on a budget. For $4.99 I have and use Jesse's excellent app. The beauty of the Foreflight version is simply that it's integrated.

Are you really expecting that people will choose pro (or premium) simply to get the W&B functionality. If not, all you have done is alienate your otherwise faithful following.
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Georeferenced taxi diagrams are worth the extra $6/mo for the Pro/Premium version. Everything else is just gravy.
 
Tyson, since you're listening:

1- Excellent app! Each upgrade brings more and more value to the end user.

2- On the W&B, how about transferring fuel consumption from the flight plan to the W&B? After all you have the tail number and probably wouldn't take much to sync these values. I was fully expecting this :)

3- Any plans for augmented reality? I know you're not an Android shop, but if someone can do it right, I'm sure it's you guys.

Cheers.
 
buzzard86 said:
Call it what you will. A W&B functionality is a basic necessity for all pilots, but especially for us low end guys flying small airplanes on a budget. For $4.99 I have and use Jesse's excellent app. The beauty of the Foreflight version is simply that it's integrated.

Are you really expecting that people will choose pro (or premium) simply to get the W&B functionality. If not, all you have done is alienate your otherwise faithful following.
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I agree. Foreflight should be given away for free. After all, why should I have to pay money for an app that's already been developed?
 
Brad Z said:
I agree. Foreflight should be given away for free. After all, why should I have to pay money for an app that's already been developed?
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Your sarcasm is misdirected. Not asking for free by any means. I have a fully paid subscription and would have found this to be a valuable addition. Instead, FF chose to offer this only to their premium customers. Tyson responded kindly. I have no need for georeferencing and have an excellent existing W&B option so there is no value in upgrading.

This could have been a home run for FF. Instead, it left a lot of us feeling left in the cold.
 
The W&B is a cool feature. I know it works because I set it up and compared it to the answer key (i.e. Jesse's app). :) I'm hoping the next upgrade will fill in the fuel usage for you based on your flight plan. For now, you need to manually enter it.
 
For me, the entire issue with new features being added to Pro only is that many of those features represent basic functionality which shouldn't really require a Pro or "premium" subscription. Therefore, the decision to enable them only for Pro users makes no sense. W&B is one of those features. One of ForeFlight's strengths versus the competition is flight planning, of which W&B is a part, and for which a "premium" subscription is otherwise not necessary. Enabling such features only for Pro subscribers reeks of using them as leverage to upsell premium subscriptions for those who otherwise do not need premium features (such as VFR-only pilots). Personally, I would expect track logging to be a Pro feature before W&B, but FF elected to present them exactly backwards. Development costs may be driving these decisions, but the marketing effort appears to be lacking.

If new significant features require the revenue stream from Pro subscriptions to sustain their development, and if $150/year really isn't an issue for most pilots, then perhaps FF should only offer one subscription level. Otherwise, I think a more logical approach would be to segment the products based on functionality, even if an enhanced version of basic functionality is enabled with the Pro subscription.


JKG
 
I'm curious what percentage of subscribers don't have the Pro version. When a feature isn't included in the basic level, those users complain, but if you give away too many features to everyone, the premium level users would ask, "What am I paying extra for?" It's a delicate balance.

At that price point, I'm surprised they don't switch to just one level.
 
Tyson,

Thanks for a great app. Yes, I *only* fly a 177B for leisure, and I subscribe to the pro version. I still think at the pro price, it's a bargain.

James
 
Adding to the heap... pro subscriber and the added features are worth the modest per month increase.
 
We love our pro version for less than two hours of 100LL. VFR only and loving that too.
 
LuisO said:
2- On the W&B, how about transferring fuel consumption from the flight plan to the W&B? After all you have the tail number and probably wouldn't take much to sync these values. I was fully expecting this :)
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Part of the plan, requires some refactoring of different bits to make that work within the flow of flight planning.

LuisO said:
3- Any plans for augmented reality? I know you're not an Android shop, but if someone can do it right, I'm sure it's you guys.
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Breakthroughs (most outside our control) are required to make this reliable, useful, and affordable. Monitoring.
 
I'd spend for a multi-year susbscription if there was a decent discount and maybe something else of value tossed in.

Like Hilton did last year by offering free SV if you spent for a 3 year commitment.
 
JeffDG said:
I'd go "Pro" if there was a quarterly option for it.
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There isn't, but you can always downgrade from Pro to standard and the remaining unused portion of the Pro subscription is credited to your account.
 
AggieMike88 said:
I'd spend for a multi-year susbscription if there was a decent discount and maybe something else of value tossed in.

Like Hilton did last year by offering free SV if you spent for a 3 year commitment.
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Probably after I'd proved it out, I'd do the same. I'd just like to get a period of running the "Pro" in cockpit to make sure it's functionality I'd use before biting off the full year or more.
 
JGoodish said:
For me, the entire issue with new features being added to Pro only is that many of those features represent basic functionality which shouldn't really require a Pro or "premium" subscription. Therefore, the decision to enable them only for Pro users makes no sense. W&B is one of those features. One of ForeFlight's strengths versus the competition is flight planning, of which W&B is a part, and for which a "premium" subscription is otherwise not necessary. Enabling such features only for Pro subscribers reeks of using them as leverage to upsell premium subscriptions for those who otherwise do not need premium features (such as VFR-only pilots). Personally, I would expect track logging to be a Pro feature before W&B, but FF elected to present them exactly backwards. Development costs may be driving these decisions, but the marketing effort appears to be lacking.

If new significant features require the revenue stream from Pro subscriptions to sustain their development, and if $150/year really isn't an issue for most pilots, then perhaps FF should only offer one subscription level. Otherwise, I think a more logical approach would be to segment the products based on functionality, even if an enhanced version of basic functionality is enabled with the Pro subscription.


JKG
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Is your standard subscription worth any less because it still doesn't have a feature it didn't have when you paid for it? Why not just pretend the new functionality doesn't exist at all, since it doesn't exist in your version?

Also, I understand they just added annotations to the standard subscription, so maybe they're using the Pro users as beta testers for some functionality that will eventually waterfall to the standard users? It's not like they're ignoring standard users.
 
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