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

[Jay Honeck]

I'll try to fly from KRKP to your airport this summer, Jay. Maybe the weather will work out for that trip

We were just at Rockport a few hours ago! Did some aerobatics over St. Joe's island, landed, bought some raffle tickets at the FBO, switched pilots, and Mary flew us home to KTFP.

 

[Jay Honeck]

My buddy and I just completed an 1100 nm trip with both our tablets BT'd to a GDL 39, and the experience with GP on the Droids was very unreliable. I am still getting bluetooth drops multiple times every time I fly. Some features on his tablet were missing on mine and vice versa. We're on the same version of GP and our firmware on the GDL is identical.

Overall we came away distinctly preferring our Garmin Aeras for their reliability. My 3 month trial subscription of GP is now ending, and I'm seriously thinking I need to ditch the tablet and get an iPad.

I did take the advice here to clear the cache on the device, something I had not previously done, and I'll see if that doesn't improve reliability.

That's just weird. I literally have hundreds of flights with the GDL-39 and various Android devices without experiencing a single Bluetooth drop.

What device are you using?

 

[Jay Honeck]

I just switched storage of my GP data to the SD card in my Samsung Galaxy S tablet.

This feature is marked "experimental" in the app. Has anyone else tried this? I'm wondering if I am going to notice any difference?

It freed up 12 gigabytes of space, which is nice.

 

[mkosmo]

I just switched storage of my GP data to the SD card in my Samsung Galaxy S tablet.

This feature is marked "experimental" in the app. Has anyone else tried this? I'm wondering if I am going to notice any difference?

It freed up 12 gigabytes of space, which is nice.

Have a Nexus here, so it wouldn't help anyways lol

 

[iflyvfr]

That's just weird. I literally have hundreds of flights with the GDL-39 and various Android devices without experiencing a single Bluetooth drop.

What device are you using?

Sorry for the delay in responding Jay; we both have Samsung tablets. Mine is the SM-T237P running Android 4.4.2.

I did clear the cache and reboot the device, and it seemed to be more reliable. However, the part of Ohio I was flying in didn't have airliners flying overhead so I didn't see any traffic and their were a number of pop-up TS in the area so not a lot of traffic around.

 

[iflyvfr]

I just switched storage of my GP data to the SD card in my Samsung Galaxy S tablet.

This feature is marked "experimental" in the app. Has anyone else tried this? I'm wondering if I am going to notice any difference?

It freed up 12 gigabytes of space, which is nice.

I have this as well and haven't noticed any issues with availability of information. But as I've posted I have overall reliability issues that seem to be more a function of the hardware/OS version than GP.

 

[Jay Honeck]

I've flown with it twice, now, and noticed no difference -- so apparently moving all the charts onto the SD card makes no difference. Very cool.

And now, today, I finally got the Lollipop OS update over the air. I had Lollipop on my old Nexus 7, and GP ran fine, so I hope it's all good on the Samsung.

Technology. It can drive you nuts, if you let it.

 

[Jay Honeck]

The update to Lollipop killed GP. I had to uninstall/reinstall. Argh.

 

[Henning]

If I never saw another drop of rain, I would be happy.

They just declared our county (Nueces) a disaster area. Lake Corpus Christi (our main source of drinking water) once so alarmingly low, is now overflowing. We haven't been able to fly anywhere since last January, and we've only had six (6) fly-in hotel guests in all of 2015.

Six. To put that in perspective, we usually average more than that every week. With storms rolling through every 24 - 72 hours for the last five months, guys simply aren't going anywhere overnight. Hell, we are lucky to get an occasional pancake run in before the next line of storms hit.

We are about to build an ark. Everything is flooded, soaked, and waterlogged on the coast and islands.

You need a BIG hangar lol. If you proposed a big hangar large enough for a couple or three business jets, you might get that on M.I.. That would give you hangar space for your plane and some guests, and could make as much $$ as the hotel with transient jets.

 

[Jay Honeck]

You need a BIG hangar lol. If you proposed a big hangar large enough for a couple or three business jets, you might get that on M.I.. That would give you hangar space for your plane and some guests, and could make as much $$ as the hotel with transient jets.

Ironically, with our least number of pilots flying in, we are having our best year ever. May was up double digits, despite lousy weather all month.

I'm not complaining, but I sure do look forward to seeing some airplanes again, now that the weather seems to have returned to normal.

 

[Brianflys]

New update out with Terrain and Obstacles for Android. Downloaded both databases and viewed on GP on my Sammy Pro 8.4, sitting at my desk. Lots of obstacles here in Corpus with the petro facilities and wind generators. Hope they filter out at altitude, rather dense groupings obscures portions of the charts.

Figures we get terrain after I move from the coastal mountains of Southern California to the flatland of coastal South Texas.

Looks like I'll go flying this weekend to check out the new update.

 

[farmerbrake]

New update out with Terrain and Obstacles for Android. Downloaded both databases and viewed on GP on my Sammy Pro 8.4, sitting at my desk. Lots of obstacles here in Corpus with the petro facilities and wind generators. Hope they filter out at altitude, rather dense groupings obscures portions of the charts.

Figures we get terrain after I move from the coastal mountains of Southern California to the flatland of coastal South Texas.

Looks like I'll go flying this weekend to check out the new update.

Does that update put it on par with the apple iOS versuon

 

[Jay Honeck]

New update out with Terrain and Obstacles for Android. Downloaded both databases and viewed on GP on my Sammy Pro 8.4, sitting at my desk. Lots of obstacles here in Corpus with the petro facilities and wind generators. Hope they filter out at altitude, rather dense groupings obscures portions of the charts.

Figures we get terrain after I move from the coastal mountains of Southern California to the flatland of coastal South Texas.

Looks like I'll go flying this weekend to check out the new update.

Cool! I will download it right now.

Are you based in Corpus? We are at McCampbell (KTFP), just across the bay.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Weird -- I just checked and there is no update available for Garmin Pilot in the Play Store.

What version number are you running? Most recent is 4.2.3.

 

[Matthew]

Weird -- I just checked and there is no update available for Garmin Pilot in the Play Store.

What version number are you running? Most recent is 4.2.3.

I think the update notice gets pushed to your system, doesn't it? It's been a long time, but I thought it gets rolled out over several days. I just checked and I don't show any updates waiting, either.

 

[RotorDude]

Weird -- I just checked and there is no update available for Garmin Pilot in the Play Store.

What version number are you running? Most recent is 4.2.3.

I just checked also. The latest version GP Android on Google Play is still 4.2.3.
Maybe some kind of selective beta?

Edit: interestingly the last update date is showing as June 10, 2015.

 

[Jay Honeck]

I think the update notice gets pushed to your system, doesn't it? It's been a long time, but I thought it gets rolled out over several days. I just checked and I don't show any updates waiting, either.

Hmmm. Never noticed them roll an app out like that. OS, sure, but an app?

Maybe they pulled it after someone found a glitch?

Just have to wait and see, I guess.

 

[RotorDude]

Hmmm. Never noticed them roll an app out like that. OS, sure, but an app?

Maybe they pulled it after someone found a glitch?

Just have to wait and see, I guess.

That's very plausible, given the mysterious June 10 update date on the Google Play site for the (old) 4.2.3 version.

 

[stevenclin]

That's very plausible, given the mysterious June 10 update date on the Google Play site for the (old) 4.2.3 version.

Just installed the new GP 4.3 on my phone. The release notes state that Android 4.4 (KitKat) is required for GP 4.3.

So, I think that explains why my tablet - which still runs Jellybean - does not see the update. And if any of you are like the 49% of people still running Jellybean or earlier (as of June 1), I think that explains why you aren't seeing the update as well.

For me personally, I don't care all that much about the terrain features, but it will be a bummer if this is the end of the line for Jellybean devices (i.e. if we no longer get any further bug fixes or other enhancements.)

 

[RotorDude]

Just installed the new GP 4.3 on my phone. The release notes state that Android 4.4 (KitKat) is required for GP 4.3.

So, I think that explains why my tablet - which still runs Jellybean - does not see the update. And if any of you are like the 49% of people still running Jellybean or earlier (as of June 1), I think that explains why you aren't seeing the update as well.

For me personally, I don't care all that much about the terrain features, but it will be a bummer if this is the end of the line for Jellybean devices (i.e. if we no longer get any further bug fixes or other enhancements.)

Weird, because the GP Google Play site is still showing 4.2.3 as the latest version, with no mention of 4.3.

 

[lziegenhals]

JSo, I think that explains why my tablet - which still runs Jellybean - does not see the update. And if any of you are like the 49% of people still running Jellybean or earlier (as of June 1), I think that explains why you aren't seeing the update as well.

It may be that Garmin is using Google's staged rollout feature. I'm running Android 5.1.1 on both my Nexus 5 and Nexus 7, and I haven't seen the update yet.

Lee

 

[RotorDude]

It may be that Garmin is using Google's staged rollout feature. I'm running Android 5.1.1 on both my Nexus 5 and Nexus 7, and I haven't seen the update yet.

Lee

Could be. I have Android 5.1.1 on two Nexus 7's and nothing is showing there, plus the website doesn't advertise anything higher than GP 4.2.3.

 

[Brianflys]

Cool! I will download it right now.

Are you based in Corpus? We are at McCampbell (KTFP), just across the bay.

Hi Jay,
I am moving to McCampbell at the start of July, just signed up for one of the new T hangars. I am at Rockport till then, in one of the ghetto hangars on the east side of the field.

Looking forward to cutting my drive from CC to the plane in half.

BTW, my Samsung Pro 8.4 is running 4.4.2 (whatever dessert that is...) and the update showed up for GP automatically. Haven't noticed any bugs but haven't flown with it yet with this new version.

Brian

 

[Jay Honeck]

Hi Jay,
I am moving to McCampbell at the start of July, just signed up for one of the new T hangars. I am at Rockport till then, in one of the ghetto hangars on the east side of the field.

Looking forward to cutting my drive from CC to the plane in half.

Brian

Cool! We love it at TFP. You will, too.

Plan on Movie Night every Tuesday at our hangar. Bring something to burn on the grill...

 

[Matthew]

Just got my notice this morning for the GP 4.3.0 update.

Downloading now...

Starting now...

New features:

Terrain and obstacles
flight simulator support (X-Plane)
density altitudes reported in the METAR widget

and there is some notice about new pricing on upgrade packages like SafeTaxis and georeferenced IFR charts.

---

Started it up:

Turned on the Terrain overlay and got this message:
"You must have a valid premium IFR or VFR subscription to activate this feature."

Thanks, Garmin.

Turned on the Obstacle overlay and got this message:
"You must download the Obstacle database to activate this feature."

OK - that one works. When I turn on the overlay I get the obstacles overlayed on the map display. I have the VFR Sectional turned on, and the new overlays do drop into place on top of where they are marked on the sectional.

 

[sonex293]

My Nexus 7 2013 (2nd version) updated to 4.3 two days ago. I just checked the Google Play store and it does list v4.3.0 info in the "What's New" section...

WHAT'S NEW

Version 4.3.0
- Added Terrain & Obstacle awareness with alerting capability.
- Simulator support for X-Plane 10 compatible simulators. See full release notes for details.
- Density altitude added to the metar display.

==
Michael

 

[RotorDude]

My Nexus 7 2013 (2nd version) updated to 4.3 two days ago. I just checked the Google Play store and it does list v4.3.0 info in the "What's New" section...

WHAT'S NEW

Version 4.3.0
- Added Terrain & Obstacle awareness with alerting capability.
- Simulator support for X-Plane 10 compatible simulators. See full release notes for details.
- Density altitude added to the metar display.

==
Michael

Weird. I just checked it and it still shows latest version as 4.2.3.
Tried it on several browsers, some with no cookies and/or from different countries, all the same.

 

[Matthew]

Weird. I just checked it and it still shows latest version as 4.2.3.
Tried it on several browsers, some with no cookies and/or from different countries, all the same.

You'll get an update notification soon enough. They are rolling it out a little at a time. Mine just came through this morning, see my post a couple of posts above (#1825) on what to expect.

 

[RotorDude]

You'll get an update notification soon enough. They are rolling it out a little at a time. Mine just came through this morning, see my post a couple of posts above (#1825) on what to expect.

Yes, I get the rolling notification point. What baffles me is that people are reporting seeing version 4.3 in the "What's New" section of the website, while I see 4.2.3 there, with different browsers from different places and no cookies. I can't imagine how rolling notification could affect that.
And thanks for your report, BTW. I guess not all is clear sailing yet?

 

[Matthew]

Yes, I get the rolling notification point. What baffles me is that people are reporting seeing version 4.3 in the "What's New" section of the website, while I see 4.2.3 there, with different browsers from different places and no cookies. I can't imagine how rolling notification could affect that.

Oh, I get it. I haven't checked that yet.

 

[iflyvfr]

After confirming w/ Garmin that I can freely switch between Droid & iOS platforms, I purchased a year's subscription yesterday. Today when I opened the app, the What's New section popped up with the GP 4.3 release notes.

If I can dodge all these TStorms and get my bird home from annual tomorrow, I'll look forward to trying it out. I'm going to make it a habit of clearing my droid's cache before trying to use GP, and hopefully that will resolve the dropped BT connections. When I told Droid support about it, they seemed interested in hearing more details.

Will provide a pirep as soon as I fly again.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Got the update. Installing now...

Edit: Everything looks fine. Had to download a huge terrain file, and a small obstacle file, but that was painless. (And running it off the on-board SD card seems to be working fine, BTW.)

I'm not seeing this as a hugely advantageous upgrade, but only because I live in the flatlands. If I lived in high country, this would be terrific!

 

[iflyvfr]

Well, I cleared the cache and rebooted the tablet and had Zero 0 BT drops on my 40 minute flight home today! That's a huge improvement. So I'll make that part of my procedure going forward and see how we do.

On a side note, it felt like Houston up there today...fuzzy, hot and humid. Was still a great flight and she's purring like a kitten again - glad to be home.

 

[Brianflys]

Got the update. Installing now...

Edit: Everything looks fine. Had to download a huge terrain file, and a small obstacle file, but that was painless. (And running it off the on-board SD card seems to be working fine, BTW.)

I'm not seeing this as a hugely advantageous upgrade, but only because I live in the flatlands. If I lived in high country, this would be terrific!

Flew with the latest version on Saturday, everything worked fine. I switched to the VFR map (from sectional) and noticed the terrain colors are pretty dark making some of the other map data difficult to read in sunlight. Need to see of I can tweak the setting for easier visibility.

Otherwise, I like having the obstacles, despite every single wind generator appearing to be represented.

 

[stevenclin]

Flew with the latest version on Saturday, everything worked fine. I switched to the VFR map (from sectional) and noticed the terrain colors are pretty dark making some of the other map data difficult to read in sunlight. Need to see of I can tweak the setting for easier visibility.

Otherwise, I like having the obstacles, despite every single wind generator appearing to be represented.

I wish the terrain display would automatically disappear if your groundspeed is under, say, 5 knots or something. I like having the terrain in-flight but it's annoying when looking at charts on the ground at home and having them all covered with red. Sure I could disable the terrain display and then re-enable it when I fly, but would be nice if it were automatic... (yes, I know this is nitpicking!)

 

[AcroGimp]

Wow, I honestly wasn't expecting to see this before I got to my subscription renewal in August.

Nice update Garmin - hope to play with it over the next few weeks.

'Gimp

 

[txflyer]

They can seem to do everything with android except synvis. What's up with that?

 

[RotorDude]

Garmin have finally updated the official GP version on the Google Play website, and have published version 4.3.1 with "misc. bug fixes", presumably found in 4.3.0 among others.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Garmin have finally updated the official GP version on the Google Play website, and have published version 4.3.1 with "misc. bug fixes", presumably found in 4.3.0 among others.

Weird. I noted no bugs in 4.3.0, but have dutifully updated to 4.3.1.

 

[Paul Hamilton]

I flew with 4.3.1 today, and it has no problems. It's a safe download.