For Sale Introducing PocketATC, a new iPhone app for mastering ATC radio comms

B

brafter

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
19
Display Name
Display name:
brafter
I've been working on a team including pilots and a former air traffic controller to develop an app for just over a year now, and I'm pleased to announce that it's now available.

Back in 2015, I was just in the process of looking for a plane to buy when my wife and two kids and I ended up moving to Japan for a few years... so much for buying that plane. Flying's insanely expensive over here (around $400 to 450 an hour, ouch), so I've been stuck getting my aviation fix vicariously by listening to ATC recordings as I work on the app... not the best way to experience flying, but out of the various possibilities, probably one of the less unpleasant ways to experience the FAA.

Anyway, having developed language learning software for almost 20 years, I wanted to apply that approach to ATC phraseology, which--as many of you I'm sure will agree--seems an awful lot like a foreign language when you first hear it. (And for years after, sometimes.) With in-flight radio procedures, as with any foreign language, breaking down difficult language into manageable chunks and then repeatedly listening to them is an effective way to gain confidence and proficiency, and I think PocketATC helps you do just that with more than 400 recordings and transcripts. I won't bore you with all the details; you can find out more at the website (link below) if you're interested.

I wish I were here to announce an app that's free, but unfortunately that's not realistic due to the truly enormous amount of work that went into developing the code, parsing the audio, and authoring the transcripts, not to mention the cost of marketing the thing. As a result, we've priced it at $15.99. Not cheap I realize, but hopefully we've been able to create something that offers good value and an effective, new approach to student pilots as they work toward proficiency.

Feel free to post any questions or feedback here, and thanks for taking the time to read this.

brafter
https://www.pocketatc.com

[Edited to add the price of the app]
 
Last edited:
korben88 said:
No love for the android guys?
Click to expand...

I hear you! An Android version is definitely a goal of ours if there proves to be a market for the app. Unfortunately it's an expensive process, and I'm more familiar with the iPhone, so that's what we tackled first. I hope I'll be posting again in the not too distant future to announce an Android edition!

Brian
 
Interesting concept. Does the app include IFR interactions? Clearance delivery, etc.? (Sorry if this was covered, I scanned the web page but did not read every word.)
 
I went to App Store. It isn't there

Ok. Found it. Had to get there through the link in the website. Just going straight to App Store and searching for PocketATC doesn't work
 
Rules of conduct require a price to be posted in the advertisement.
 
I'm assuming your target audience is the new student pilot. I'd like to see fewer Big Iron airports and more airports friendly to GA. I can guarantee I will never fly GA into Atlanta or Boston or most of the others except commercial. I'm based 5 nm from KDEN and have never landed the cherokee there. But busy D airports, yup, even some C. Addison is the only one in that category or did I miss something?

From a learning perspective, I look at ATC like learning music. When I get a new piece of sheet music, I study, bar by bar, and play very slow to master not just the notes but the nuances, where to breathe (if on a horn not a keyboard), phrasing, and so on. Then work up to speed.

I haven't downloaded it, but is there a speed control to slow/speed the dialog?

How about a stupid version so people can try before buying?
 
jsstevens said:
Interesting concept. Does the app include IFR interactions? Clearance delivery, etc.? (Sorry if this was covered, I scanned the web page but did not read every word.)
Click to expand...

Yes, it includes approach, departure, center, ground, clearance delivery, CTAF, and tower frequencies, a little over 400 conversations now. It's a pretty good cross-section of flights, and we're working to add more.
 
murphey said:
I'm assuming your target audience is the new student pilot. I'd like to see fewer Big Iron airports and more airports friendly to GA. I can guarantee I will never fly GA into Atlanta or Boston or most of the others except commercial. I'm based 5 nm from KDEN and have never landed the cherokee there. But busy D airports, yup, even some C. Addison is the only one in that category or did I miss something?
Click to expand...

GA student pilots are one target market, and pilots training for jobs at overseas air carriers are another, so we've tried to include a broad range of content. We're working to add more GA content as well. Our purpose in including the larger airports isn't so much to prepare student pilots to land there, as to facilitate familiarity with a larger range of ATC interaction than they usually encounter. The result is better fluency and understanding, even if they're never going to be on the receiving end of a clearance to land at Logan.

murphey said:
From a learning perspective, I look at ATC like learning music. When I get a new piece of sheet music, I study, bar by bar, and play very slow to master not just the notes but the nuances, where to breathe (if on a horn not a keyboard), phrasing, and so on. Then work up to speed.
Click to expand...

That's a great comparison. In early prototypes we experimented with slowing down the audio, but it didn't seem to make it any easier to understand. But by separating each conversation into individual lines, the chunks of language are small enough to be manageable and easy to listen to repeatedly.

murphey said:
How about a stupid version so people can try before buying?
Click to expand...

We're working on what will essentially be a trial version with just one frequency's worth of conversations. That should be available within a few days.
 
Now you can try PocketATC before you buy with Test Flight Edition! This "lite" version of the app, which is free to download, includes 36 conversations from LAX Center along with explanations of each the app's three modes of study. Once you understand how PocketATC's learning method works, you can head back to the App Store to purchase the full version ($15.99) if you're interested to gain over 400 more conversations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top