Foreflight - whoa (storage)

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onwards

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onwards
So I finally succumbed and bought a new iPad2 so I can use Foreflight. Kinda funny to spend $1000 on hardware in order to run a $150 software, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, I told it last night to download all the stuff so it's available offline. Their site says it's about 7GB. Nuh-uh. All in, we're talking almost 16GB!

Figured I'd let y'all know; if you're contemplating a purchase, the 32GB iPad is an absolute must. Had I known it took this much space, I'd have bought the 64GB one.
 
onwards said:
So I finally succumbed and bought a new iPad2 so I can use Foreflight. Kinda funny to spend $1000 on hardware in order to run a $150 software, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, I told it last night to download all the stuff so it's available offline. Their site says it's about 7GB. Nuh-uh. All in, we're talking almost 16GB!

Figured I'd let y'all know; if you're contemplating a purchase, the 32GB iPad is an absolute must. Had I known it took this much space, I'd have bought the 64GB one.
Click to expand...
It's because you just downloaded two cycles. In a few days you'll be down to one cycle which will be half the data.
 
onwards said:
What does that mean?
Click to expand...
We are on one set of charts right now. They are valid from October 20 to Nov 17th. The next cycle of charts will kick in on Nov 18th. You have the charts for the current cycle and the ones that become active on the 18th stored on your iPad right now. Once it becomes Nov 18th ForeFlight will delete the old set of charts and your consumed storage will be cut in half.
 
jesse said:
We are on one set of charts right now. They are valid from October 20 to Nov 17th. The next cycle of charts will kick in on Nov 18th. You have the charts for the current cycle and the ones that become active on the 18th stored on your iPad right now. Once it becomes Nov 18th ForeFlight will delete the old set of charts and your consumed storage will be cut in half.
Click to expand...

Oh! does this happen automatically then? that would be great if so.
 
Yes, but it DOES mean that you may need the 16 GB at any time so that foreflight can download the new cycle in advance while retaining the old cycle. I don't know if it's "smart" enough to just download the changes from cycle to cycle. I suspect it isn't.
 
Pilawt said:
It is so, and it works fine. You just have to keep an eye on your free space and remember that for a few days every month Foreflight will need more room.
Click to expand...

OK, cool. Thanks guys. Makes me wonder why the software can't delete the old ones as soon as it successfully downloads the new ones, thereby only needing a few hundred MB extra instead of double the storage space.

Also, it would be nice if Foreflight explained this on the site, rather than saying you need 7GB and change.
 
onwards said:
OK, cool. Thanks guys. Makes me wonder why the software can't delete the old ones as soon as it successfully downloads the new ones, thereby only needing a few hundred MB extra instead of double the storage space.

Also, it would be nice if Foreflight explained this on the site, rather than saying you need 7GB and change.
Click to expand...
Because using charts that aren't valid isn't in your best interest. A chart for the future is not a valid chart today.
 
onwards said:
OK, cool. Thanks guys. Makes me wonder why the software can't delete the old ones as soon as it successfully downloads the new ones, thereby only needing a few hundred MB extra instead of double the storage space.

Also, it would be nice if Foreflight explained this on the site, rather than saying you need 7GB and change.
Click to expand...

Because the new ones are effective at a specific date and time, not before. And you can't have every foreflight user in the universe trying to get all those charts at once.

The way they do it allows foreflight users to get the new data in advance, and have it available at 0901Z on the day in question, so that if they happen to take off on the old cycle and land in the new cycle, they're good.
 
TMetzinger said:
Because the new ones are effective at a specific date and time, not before. And you can't have every foreflight user in the universe trying to get all those charts at once.

The way they do it allows foreflight users to get the new data in advance, and have it available at 0901Z on the day in question, so that if they happen to take off on the old cycle and land in the new cycle, they're good.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, thank you for the explanation.

One last, stupid question: the paper charts I buy seem to be good for several months, not one. Why are FF's only good for one month?
 
Well, the large charts are reprinted every 56 days. Approach plates are every 28 days, and there are chart updates for the large ones (you read them and mark the charts) every 28 days too. Most people ignore the large chart updates.

So Foreflight gives you the whole deal every 28 days. And it's easier to give you the entire data set every 28 days than to have your app figure out the changes and only download them.
 
TMetzinger said:
Well, the large charts are reprinted every 56 days. Approach plates are every 28 days, and there are chart updates for the large ones (you read them and mark the charts) every 28 days too. Most people ignore the large chart updates.

So Foreflight gives you the whole deal every 28 days. And it's easier to give you the entire data set every 28 days than to have your app figure out the changes and only download them.
Click to expand...

Oh wow, I never realized all this. I guess that's another advantage of having Foreflight then, huh? nice to have it taken care of seamlessly like that.

I am looking forward to flying with FF for the first time. Unfortunately, it won't be until Thanksgiving weekend *sigh*
 
onwards said:
Oh wow, I never realized all this. I guess that's another advantage of having Foreflight then, huh? nice to have it taken care of seamlessly like that.

I am looking forward to flying with FF for the first time. Unfortunately, it won't be until Thanksgiving weekend *sigh*
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Something else to load onto your iPad.

a PDF reader such as Goodreader, or Evernote (though iBooks will work too, but not have as many features as the other two).

Then take your checklists and make nice PDF versions of them. Using DropBox, port the PDF's to your iPad and load up in the PDF reader. If desired, make seperate PDF files for each "phase of flight" checklist so it's easy to find and switch to the needed item.

With the new multi-task gestures that we got with iOS5, switching between FF and your checklists are a real simple tasks.

And check this thread for some good mounting solutions: http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45297
 
Is there a good "scratchpad" app and stylus for writing on the iPad? That's one thing I really like about my tablet PC. - one button gets me OneNote and I'm jotting away.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Something else to load onto your iPad.

a PDF reader such as Goodreader, or Evernote (though iBooks will work too, but not have as many features as the other two).

Then take your checklists and make nice PDF versions of them. Using DropBox, port the PDF's to your iPad and load up in the PDF reader. If desired, make seperate PDF files for each "phase of flight" checklist so it's easy to find and switch to the needed item.
Click to expand...

You can also keep your checklists right in foreflight.

Fore flight allows you to define your own procedures:
http://http://www.foreflight.com/support/byop.php
Just define your PDF checklist as procedure at your home airport, load it following the link's instructions and keep it on the foreflight plates screen. No need for app switching any more...
 
Pilawt said:
It is so, and it works fine. You just have to keep an eye on your free space and remember that for a few days every month Foreflight will need more room.
Click to expand...

Does this mean that Foreflight has a particular time of the month when it struggles with bloating? ;) (Couldn't resist...)
 
onwards said:
So I finally succumbed and bought a new iPad2 so I can use Foreflight. Kinda funny to spend $1000 on hardware in order to run a $150 software, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, I told it last night to download all the stuff so it's available offline. Their site says it's about 7GB. Nuh-uh. All in, we're talking almost 16GB!

Figured I'd let y'all know; if you're contemplating a purchase, the 32GB iPad is an absolute must. Had I known it took this much space, I'd have bought the 64GB one.
Click to expand...

If you aren't going to be flying in Alaska you might want to consider not downloading the charts for it -- they are 2GB! Just a thought if you are pressed for storage space.

Rich
 
Rich D said:
If you aren't going to be flying in Alaska you might want to consider not downloading the charts for it -- they are 2GB! Just a thought if you are pressed for storage space.

Rich
Click to expand...
So far I've gotten by without Alaska and Hawaii. I also haven't needed California since I got the iPad so I probably could turn that off as well. I like FF's option to select which states are included in the download but I wish there was a way to have two (or more) such lists, one for the areas I typically fly and one with most of the US.
 
onwards said:
So I finally succumbed and bought a new iPad2 so I can use Foreflight. Kinda funny to spend $1000 on hardware in order to run a $150 software, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, I told it last night to download all the stuff so it's available offline. Their site says it's about 7GB. Nuh-uh. All in, we're talking almost 16GB!

Figured I'd let y'all know; if you're contemplating a purchase, the 32GB iPad is an absolute must. Had I known it took this much space, I'd have bought the 64GB one.
Click to expand...

Unless you are flying coast to coast, why download everything?
Just download what you need. I live in NV and only download NV, UT, AZ and CA. A lot less time to download and a lot more room on the iPad. If I know I'm going farther, then I'll download what I need before I go.
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that the 7GB is for the US data. If you have the subscription for both US and Canada, the Canadian data takes up a significant amount of space as well, especially the high enroutes.

But yes, good points in this thread. You'll be "doubling up" your data between the time you download it and its effective date (in which the "old" data is still valid and will be what is used, so it won't be deleted yet). Also, unless you actually use everything, you'll save some time on the download process and some space on your iPad if you only download the areas you need, making sure to pull in some surrounding states in case you need to divert.
 
BillTIZ said:
Unless you are flying coast to coast, why download everything?
Just download what you need. I live in NV and only download NV, UT, AZ and CA. A lot less time to download and a lot more room on the iPad. If I know I'm going farther, then I'll download what I need before I go.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I do. Being in Nebraska I download the states that surround me.

Not only does this save time updating and space on the iPad but hopefully will keep the ForeFlight subscription cost down by using less of their bandwidth each update.

Rich
 
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flyingcheesehead said:
Also, unless you actually use everything, you'll save some time on the download process and some space on your iPad if you only download the areas you need, making sure to pull in some surrounding states in case you need to divert.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I get that now... my first instinct was to "download everything just in case". I think I'll probably remove quite a bit before the next update.

Is there some form of "electronic checklist" that I can use, where I can simply "check" each task as I go through it in order? that would be a really nice way to make extra use of the device. Even better if it came with some popular planes pre-loaded :)
 
Oh, and an amusing story (for me anyway): coming back from Dallas yesterday on American, I had FF running for some parts of the trip, including the final into SFO. I was able to get a fix after several minutes by angling the iPad to the window "just so". It was kinda neat to see the plane pop onto the SFO airport diagram, but the amusing part was when the attendant came by to do the cabin check and saw the iPad open with FF and recognized it - and just let me continue running it.
 
onwards said:
Is there some form of "electronic checklist" that I can use, where I can simply "check" each task as I go through it in order? that would be a really nice way to make extra use of the device. Even better if it came with some popular planes pre-loaded :)
Click to expand...

Yes - ForeFlight has a separate iphone app (can use on iPad too but don't think its native) for that which is $19.99 (I think) called "Checklist Pro" and comes with info for a couple dozen plane profiles, can be edited/entered online or on the phone.

There is a free version "Checklist Lite" that doesn't have any stored profiles and you have to program each item into your phone.

http://www.foreflight.com/checklist

I'm waiting/praying that they will import those features into the main foreflight app.
 
AirDC said:
Yes - ForeFlight has a separate iphone app (can use on iPad too but don't think its native) for that which is $19.99 (I think) called "Checklist Pro" and comes with info for a couple dozen plane profiles, can be edited/entered online or on the phone.
Click to expand...

Nice. But as you say, iPhone only... I want something to use on the iPad, and being integrated into FF would be fantastic... anyone know if this is supposed to happen?
 
onwards said:
Nice. But as you say, iPhone only... I want something to use on the iPad, and being integrated into FF would be fantastic... anyone know if this is supposed to happen?
Click to expand...
I talked with them about it at AOPA Summit and they're aware of the request. You can email the suggestion to team@foreflight.com to register another vote to move it up in the priority queue.
 
onwards said:
Nice. But as you say, iPhone only... I want something to use on the iPad, and being integrated into FF would be fantastic... anyone know if this is supposed to happen?
Click to expand...

You can use it on the ipad. It is just not "native" to the ipad so it will show up in iPhone size and then you zoom in on it. It is all text - so should work fine on the iPad. Download the free "lite" version and see if it works for you.

Andrew
 
onwards said:
Nice. But as you say, iPhone only... I want something to use on the iPad, and being integrated into FF would be fantastic... anyone know if this is supposed to happen?
Click to expand...

+1 I asked for this about a year ago, they said it was something the would look into.
 
AirDC said:
You can use it on the ipad. It is just not "native" to the ipad so it will show up in iPhone size and then you zoom in on it. It is all text - so should work fine on the iPad. Download the free "lite" version and see if it works for you.

Andrew
Click to expand...
One other caveat is that it (and all other iPhone applications) only works in 1 of the four orientations. Home button on the bottom. That's a limitation of the iPhone "emulator" on the iPad, not this application in particular.
 
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