ForeFlight 12.6 includes weather in Profile View, iPad/iPhone Overheat Alerts, additional Internet Traffic details, and more.
Weather in Profile view
ForeFlight’s Profile View includes selectable Icing and Turbulence forecast layers, providing a cross-section of weather in addition to terrain, obstacles, and airspace along your route. Icing and Turbulence in Profile View are included in ForeFlight’s Performance Plus and Business Performance subscription plans.
Create a route on the Maps view then tap Profile in the bottom-right to open Profile View. Profile View shows a side-on view of your route in relation to terrain, obstacles, airspace, and now weather.
One major change to Profile is the addition of a layer selector that allows you to toggle different layers within Profile View, including Airspace, US or Global Icing, and US or Global Turbulence. Profile View uses the same color scales as the overhead map to depict varying intensities for each layer at multiple altitudes in relation to your route line.
Tap the Profile Layer Selector, and tap a weather layer to display it in Profile. In addition to Airspace, Profile View can display one Icing layer and one Turbulence layer simultaneously. Each selected layer shows how long ago the current forecast data was issued. All four weather layers use the same data as their corresponding layers on the overhead map, providing multiple perspectives of a single forecast. ADS-B, XM, and military Icing and Turbulence layers are not supported in Profile View.
Rather than using a time slider to show different forecast periods like the overhead map, Profile View combines any forecast periods that will be active during your flight into one seamless display. The waypoint markers in Profile View include estimated crossing times, allowing you to easily determine the forecast period shown at each waypoint and view the same forecast on the overhead map. Changing the selected aircraft or performance profile will display different icing and turbulence data in Profile view based on the route’s new enroute time.
If a portion of your route’s planned active time lies beyond a weather layer’s forecast range, Profile View will display a hatch pattern to indicate where data is not available (visible on the right side of the screenshots below). It will also provide warnings letting you know which forecast data is not available for some or all of your flight. This hatching also appears if you disconnect from the internet without downloading weather data via Pack. With the data downloaded, Profile view’s inflight mode also supports all four weather layers, allowing you to view current and future forecast periods in relation to your current altitude and heading.
Another way to use Profile View with or without a route entered is by placing two fingers on the overhead map to bring up the Ruler, then move your fingers to reposition it. Using the Ruler with Profile View provides a cross-section of the terrain, obstacles, airspace, and selected weather layers at the Ruler’s current position. Profile View shows only the current forecast period for Icing and Turbulence layers when using the Ruler.
Overheat Alerts
ForeFlight warns you if your iPad or iPhone is in danger of overheating with a prominent visual and audible alert, allowing you to take steps to cool the device and potentially avert a shutdown during a flight.
Manage all alerts in ForeFlight in More > Settings > Alerts. The alert is triggered when ForeFlight detects that your device is dangerously hot and at risk of overheating and shutting down. If your device heats up too quickly, your iPad or iPhone may still overheat and shut down before ForeFlight can display the alert. The alert will not sound more than once per hour, even if your device returns to a high-temperature state after initially cooling down.
Removing the iPad or iPhone from direct sunlight and turning an air vent towards it are the best ways to quickly cool it down. Other ways you can cool your device down include removing your device from its case, closing unused apps, and unplugging it from its charging cable. A number of powered cases that cool the iPad using fans are also available from Sporty’s and other vendors.
Additional Internet Traffic Details
ForeFlight’s Internet Traffic layer provides additional information for aircraft markers, including its expanded call sign, ETA, departure, and destination if available.
Turn on Internet Traffic in the layer selector in the Maps view. Tap on any aircraft marker to view a popup with information about that aircraft.
The popups for most aircraft on IFR flight plans show the departure and destination airports and filed ETA, while many aircraft on VFR flights provide only the departure airport. Some traffic targets provide no route details. If an aircraft is using a call sign, the popup will show its expanded name in most cases. Internet Traffic targets with blocked tail numbers will not report any route or call sign information.
Learn more about Internet Traffic here.
High-Resolution Basemap Improvements
ForeFlight’s High Resolution Basemap received some improvements to mountain peaks and passes. The Basemap identifies mountain peaks using a small triangle icon in place of the previous dot icon. The Basemap also displays many additional U.S. mountain passes with their associated elevations.
Download the High Resolution Basemap in More > Downloads > Download Settings. Turn on mountain peaks and passes in Map Settings (cog button on the Maps view) > Terrain > Peaks, Passes, and Cables.
You can also change the size of the icons by turning on the Aeronautical Map in the layer selector, and adjusting the text size slider in Map Settings.
Y/Z Filing in Canada
Customers flying in Canada can now file flight plans under Y or Z flight rules through ForeFlight. Since these flight rules both include VFR portions, certain fields in the flight plan form that are required for Canadian VFR flights are also required for Y and Z flights, including Undercarriage, ELT, Arrival Report, and more. Cross-border flights from Canada to the U.S. or to airspace delegated to the U.S. by Canada for ATC traffic purposes do not support Y/Z flight rules.
