Newest Foreflight Q+A thread (hint)

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
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Display name:
Dave Taylor
What is the DL schedule for the various db's? Hate to get all ready to go and find I need 20 more mins to dl everything.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
What is the DL schedule for the various db's? Hate to get all ready to go and find I need 20 more mins to dl everything.
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They're available 2-3 days before the old ones expire. If you go to the downloads page, it will show you what the cycles are.
 
Dave,

When you keep making these new threads it's harder for me to find 'em in a timely manner. ;)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I promise to stop with this one as long as it doesn't get polluted with unrelated topics! :) :)
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Well it is an Apple thread by default, so you don't have to worry about Kent making it into one! However, it could end up with a picture of Johnson Creek in it! :rofl:
 
Dave: I got my last set of updates almost a week ahead, but when the old ones expired, I didn't have an internet connection and got a gridded screen with a route and no charts. Before I fly again, I'm turning WI-FI off and making sure the new charts work without a connection lest I don't launch into the air again with an I-Pad with no charts (good paperweight only once airborne).

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Dave: I got my last set of updates almost a week ahead, but when the old ones expired, I didn't have an internet connection and got a gridded screen with a route and no charts. Before I fly again, I'm turning WI-FI off and making sure the new charts work without a connection lest I don't launch into the air again with an I-Pad with no charts (good paperweight only once airborne).

Best,

Dave
Click to expand...


Its not just a paperweight. You can still play angry birds!
 
I had a similar experience this last transition. The updates were downloaded and ready to go, but for some reason for about a 24 hour period spanning the last day of the old cycle and first day of the new, I got a message on every procedure plate that said they were out of date and no georeferencing was available.
 
got a gridded screen with a route and no charts.
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OMG, this is pretty serious for me. Thanks for pointing that out Dave. This needs to be advertised better.

I noticed downloads available over the weekend and took them, but once again was not expecting them.

a) is there a way to give me 24hrs notice (I mean a big bubba popup) that my charts are going to expire?

b) is there a way to set it up to "always download the charts, don't wait for my input!"
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
OMG, this is pretty serious for me. Thanks for pointing that out Dave. This needs to be advertised better.

I noticed downloads available over the weekend and took them, but once again was not expecting them.

a) is there a way to give me 24hrs notice (I mean a big bubba popup) that my charts are going to expire?
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They could do that.

Let'sgoflying! said:
b) is there a way to set it up to "always download the charts, don't wait for my input!"
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Probably not in a way that would be very useful (iOS limitations)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
OMG, this is pretty serious for me. Thanks for pointing that out Dave. This needs to be advertised better.
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This is NOT expected behavior. Dave (S), have you heard anything back from them?

a) is there a way to give me 24hrs notice (I mean a big bubba popup) that my charts are going to expire?
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Both the ForeFlight icon on the iPad's home screen and the Downloads button within ForeFlight will sprout a red "bubble" with white text indicating when charts are available. This happens as soon as the charts become available for download, which is more than 24 hours in advance.

b) is there a way to set it up to "always download the charts, don't wait for my input!"
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Not with the way Apple/iOS works currently, I don't think. The best they can do is probably to send you a push notification that tells you there's stuff there, you'll still have to tap the green Download button to start grabbing it.
 
Kent, I posted it here in one of the Foreflight threads right after it happened so folks would know.

Best,

Dave
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Dave,

I saw that - I'm just wondering what you heard back from ForeFlight? (I do believe you contacted them directly, right?)
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I know that their support is awesome. I contacted them late evening, Sunday, July 3rd, and they got back to me with a meaningful (read "not canned") within a few hours. And I presume you're correct that Dave contacted them directly.
 
I think for now I will just write it on a calendar....anyone know the dates? is it q50d, starting Jan 1?
 
No, I have no idea how to even contact them. Guess I'm used to support where you spend a lot of time on hold and I don't have much spare time.

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
No, I have no idea how to even contact them. Guess I'm used to support where you spend a lot of time on hold and I don't have much spare time.

Dave
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Foreflight is certainly not that company. I've sent in bug reports and had responses within a few hours. Then the bugs were fixed the next release.
 
Dave Siciliano said:
No, I have no idea how to even contact them. Guess I'm used to support where you spend a lot of time on hold and I don't have much spare time.
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Send a detailed email to team@foreflight.com, preferably including your iOS version, ForeFlight version (available in More->About) and a full description of what happened. You'll hear back quickly... And the more detail, the better.

This certainly isn't a bug of which I'm aware, but if it had something to do with the data rollover, I don't have the capacity to test it until the next update cycle. The crew does.
 
I'll send an e-mail, but don't have the I-pad with me. All the OS and version info will have to follow.

Best,

Dave
 
I have a better idea, lets have a FF employee get a user ID here and monitor the thread. Then they can correct or improve things in a timely manner for us!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I have a better idea, lets have a FF employee get a user ID here and monitor the thread. Then they can correct or improve things in a timely manner for us!
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Yeah, let's make them do the Red Board, the Purple Board, and the Student Pilot board too!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I have a better idea, lets have a FF employee get a user ID here and monitor the thread. Then they can correct or improve things in a timely manner for us!
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Tyson does have an account here, but doesn't come around much - I think development keeps him busy! But I try to keep up with the ForeFlight threads here (not an employee, just a beta tester, nothing I say has any meaning, blah blah) and answer things as much as possible, and I do report bugs I can reproduce and offer suggestions based on things here too.
 
I was just about to joke that we already have one, they just pay him really poorly. QA testers usually make more money than Kent makes. ;)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Will FF allow you to install a purchased app on both of your ipads?
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One iPad *and* one iPod Touch, yes... Two iPads, no... You'd need two subscriptions for that I think.

If it'd be a one-at-a-time-use thing, though, you might be able to make a deal with them.
 
Tks. Figgered. Not an unreasonable policy really.
Got to thinking about it today when at 12% battery enroute and another ipad right there, 'not being productively used'. If you consider listening to music and playing games 'nbpu'. ;)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Tks. Figgered. Not an unreasonable policy really.
Got to thinking about it today when at 12% battery enroute and another ipad right there, 'not being productively used'. If you consider listening to music and playing games 'nbpu'. ;)
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Aha.

Well, here's some tips for keeping the battery going - Though unless you're doing some SERIOUSLY long trips and/or not leaving with it charged, you shouldn't have any problem:

1) Screen brightness. Turn it to half or less - A very small difference in brightness makes a HUGE difference in battery life. Mounting it or tilting it in a slightly lower direction can often make up the difference.

2) Turn off Cellular data. It'll be trying really hard to lock on to a tower, and it burns up the battery in the process, but you won't get anything out of it. To a lesser extent, turning off WiFi and Bluetooth will help, but cellular data is the biggie. "But can't I just turn on airplane mode?" Well, not if you want the GPS to work. It's on the 3G chip, which gets powered down entirely in airplane mode. Now, if you have a WiFi-only iPad and you're using an external Bad Elf GPS, airplane mode is just fine. If you're using a Bluetooth GPS, you'll need to have airplane mode off, and bluetooth on. Finally, if you don't want to turn WiFi on and off constantly, at least make sure the "ask to join networks" setting is off, as that'll use a lot of battery power.

Hope this helps!
 
Dave: I purchased a very inexpensive inverter for the Baron that plugs into the old cigarette lighter and provides 120 AC. One just has to watch the amperage draw. I pad makes noise when charging in the plane. Seems to be mainly from the cord. I charge behind me where I don't hear it.

Dave
 
Cheap inverters don't put out sine waves of AC power. They put out total garbage, usually, and "hope" your device can filter it and/or use it as-is.

Thus, the noises from your iPad's charger having a hissy fit. There's a capacitor or two in there that don't like your choice of AC power at all. ;)
 
If someone has already covered this in the thread, I apologize for bringing it up again. I didn't see anything about it.

Something occurred to me when my wife asked me how high up a cell phone will work. I told her that it was illegal to use a cell phone in a flying plane. It then occurred to me that when you do things like bring up a weather map, isn't the Iphone making a telephone connection to get the information? Is this not illegal?

Doc
 
MBDiagMan said:
If someone has already covered this in the thread, I apologize for bringing it up again. I didn't see anything about it.

Something occurred to me when my wife asked me how high up a cell phone will work. I told her that it was illegal to use a cell phone in a flying plane. It then occurred to me that when you do things like bring up a weather map, isn't the Iphone making a telephone connection to get the information? Is this not illegal?

Doc
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Illegal? No. Work reliably? No.
 
I would like to be able to see the radar and sat images captured in the fbo just before departing. Especially helpful are the animated images. They disappear when I reopen the map.
 
I made the suggestion that there be a one click update of current charts. Seems on my last flight, one of fifty somethings I selected didn't fully download and affect all the charts on my route. Since I don't download the entire database, I select 17 low altitude, same VFR, terminal procedures where i'm flying, FBOs and all high altitude. It's fifty something different check marks I have to push; then, monitor to make sure they all download. And, they suggest I test without an internet connection or in airplane mode before departure.
Why not one button to update all charts selected?

Best,

Dave
 
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