ForeFlight Mobile version 7.1 equips you with more weather briefing and analysis tools in the Imagery view to make better go/no-go decisions, delivers subscription-free weather and ADS-B traffic via FreeFlight Systems’ certified RANGR-series ADS-B products, and gives you more options to manage chart downloads.
Enhanced Weather Image Library
We are a company of pilots and so we understand that weather is a top priority when it comes to flight planning and decision-making. Having our own in-house Weather Scientist (Scott Dennstaedt) allows us to focus on advancing the capabilities of the preflight weather briefing tools within the ForeFlight platform. Scott and the development team have been busy thoughtfully organizing ForeFlight Mobile’s Imagery and nearly doubled the number of collections in the library. Eight new weather image sets are available and include forecasts for ceiling and visibility, convection, and precipitation. Additionally, products like icing, turbulence, and AIRMETs are enhanced with greater resolution of altitude and/or time.
This article from Scott provides an introduction to the new weather imagery collections.
Over the next few weeks we will provide more guidance and insight on how to effectively use these weather products in your day-to-day preflight planning regiment. So stay tuned to Twitter, Facebook, your email inbox, or right here on the ForeFlight blog for more details. The Pilot’s Guide to ForeFlight Mobile is also a great resource to learn more about the new weather imagery collections.
We have also added a Recents button to Imagery view on the iPad version of the app. Now you can view and swipe through all of your favorites and recents on your iPad or iPhone. For those of you that move between devices while planning, these settings sync so that you can easily pick up on your iPad where you leave off on your iPhone (or vice versa).
The new forecast weather products are available to all subscribers.
Need a refresher on those weather chart symbols? Grab the current Aviation Weather Services Advisory Circular from the Documents catalog:
Test Drive the New Prog Charts
The Prognostic Charts that pilots have known and used for years are undergoing a facelift this Fall. As part of the Imagery enhancements, we are including these new charts giving you a chance to become familiar with them before they are officially released by the National Weather Service. Read this article from Scott where he walks through the new features of this helpful weather prediction chart.
FreeFlight RANGR-series ADS-B Solutions Deliver Weather and Traffic to ForeFlight Mobile
Our ForeFlight Connect program now includes FreeFlight Systems’ RANGR-series of certified ADS-B products. The FreeFlight Wi-Fi connectivity solution enables you to affordably equip your aircraft well in advance of the FAA’s 2020 mandate and immediately realize the benefits of inflight subscription-free FIS-B weather and TIS-B traffic on your iPad or iPhone. The RANGR GPS receiver also provides position source and data for the ForeFlight Mobile moving map view and instrument panel. ForeFlight Mobile is compatible with any certified FreeFlight Systems product that has the capability to receive data. This includes the FDL-978-RX, FDL-978-XVR, and FDL-978-XVR systems.
Delta Downloads and Download Manager Enhancements
We have received lots of positive feedback on Delta Downloads and the 70%-plus increase in download speed that the system delivers. With 7.1, Delta Downloads is activated on all customer accounts. In addition, the Delta Downloads infrastructure enables some helpful changes to the way US VFR charts and IFR Enroute charts can be managed in the Downloads view.
We have made it easier to manage these charts both as individual downloads or grouped by State or Province. Tap the rotating caret to reveal individual charts in a State or Province group.
A new heading—“Packed and Unselected Regions”—contains charts you have Packed, as well as those you regions you may have de-selected. The re-organization makes it easier to see charts you may want to delete or unpack.
Apple iOS 8.4 Expected To Resolve GPS Accessory Compatibility Issue
As noted in a previous blog post and via a customer notice email, iOS 8.3 introduced an incompatibility with previous generation GPS accessories like the DUAL XGPS 150 and some Bad Elf devices. The issue was escalated to Apple by ForeFlight and Bad Elf and, based on PIREPs we have received, is expected to be resolved in the forthcoming iOS 8.4 update. This issue has frustrated many pilots who own Wi-Fi only iPads or GPS accessories, and we are glad relief is on the way.
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