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Bought I Phone - What Now?

E. D. Eliot

Well Known Member
So, I'm probably in the low 10% on this forum as far as computer, etc, savvy and would like to gain your input as to what I should do now.

I purchased an I Phone and am currently learning to use it (yeah, I know, I'm about one decade behind most of you). Please advise as to which add ons I should get/purchase in order to view the actual weather picture. Radar weather would be helpful as well as sig mets, etc, etc. Any advise that you have would be appreciated. I'll add am I Pad when I resume flying later this year. Thanks.
 
i use foreflight mobile

You can use the same subscription on your phone and ipad. It is $75 per year. Way, way more than just weather and charts but it does those also!
 
Foreflight, AeroWeather and myradar apps are all good!

Also, DocScan for the iphone is great to snap pictures of your logbooks so you have a PDF backup.
 
Foreflight is good, but you are locked into buying a Stratus box for in-flight ADSB wx. For that reason, plus others, I like WingX. Will work with several, less expensive, ADSB-in boxes. Lots of display options. It displays on my GRT HX as well as the iPad mini. IMHO weather on an iPad is fine, but you really want traffic displayed on the panel, not your lap.
I think you will find the iPhone display too small. I suggest an iPad mini as the smallest display to consider.
Either way, that in flight radar is worth its weight in gold when you need it!
 
The free Intellicast app gives good radar and 10 day forecasts. Plus, it has a good display of near-surface winds. It's not an aviation app, just a decent general-purpose weather app.

Dave
 
what is THIS thing for?????

welcome Ed! now you are in REAL trouble! I can relate, my wife handed me her old iPhone 4s, now I have to find children to show me how to upload an app! :confused:

by the way, if you injure your peepers, you'll want an I Pad! :)
otherwise, .... you'll get more action if you refer to these dang things as
'iPhone' and 'iPad'

I have Foreflight on mine, but only because it's one of the few (only) with 'real' Canadian charts.

have fun!
 
Foreflight is good, but you are locked into buying a Stratus box for in-flight ADSB wx. For that reason, plus others, I like WingX. Will work with several, less expensive, ADSB-in boxes. Lots of display options. It displays on my GRT HX as well as the iPad mini. IMHO weather on an iPad is fine, but you really want traffic displayed on the panel, not your lap.
I think you will find the iPhone display too small. I suggest an iPad mini as the smallest display to consider.
Either way, that in flight radar is worth its weight in gold when you need it!

Foreflight now works with FreeFlight's ADS-B solution as well as Garmin.

That said, everyone should try all the apps out there and use what they are most comfortable with in the end. And don't forget FltPlanGo, which is free and works with several ADS-B/GPS boxes.
 
Lots more than Aviation

Ed,
Perhaps you are just asking the aviation side. ForeFlight or one of the wannabes goes without saying but don't forget all the other great stuff your new smartphone can do:
- iMaps and/or Google Maps. You don't need that clunky stuck to your windshield anymore. Sell it on eBay and use your phone.
- Email. Laptop? You'll use it a lot less now. Sort through all the junk on your phone as you go about your day. It'll sync with your phone and you can deal with the important stuff later.
- Voicemail. Depending on your carrier, you can probably get your voicemail displayed on your phone where it is much easier to manage.
- Texting. Soon much easier than on that old flip phone.
- Camera - Toss the pocket camera. You might still want a SLR if you are a true photo nut but otherwise your new iPhone will be a great camera.
- BlueTooth - connect to your headset and make calls (on the ground of course;)
- Internet - INSTANT access to VAF and all the other great sources of information for whatever you might want or need to know. Give SIRI a try too.

Take the time to learn all the features and you'll enjoy your new tool!
 
FltPlan.com

Rather than drop $75+ per year try the FltPln go app. It is a FREE download (I love free stuff). Then go to FltPln.com and create an account, also FREE. Your app will communicate with the website for flight planning etc. The charts, approach plates, airport information etc. is all downloaded onto the iPhone or iPad and accessible during flight. Moving map, the whole deal. When the charts etc. need to be updated simply download the new ones, easy peasy.

The approach plates even show your location on the plate, how cool is that?

Did I mention it's FREE?!:D

Also +1 for myradar app, use it all the time.

I use AeroWeather app as well.

Just my 2 cents.

Skid
 
Thank

Thanks to all who responded - yeah, now I have to ask my son how to install what I need. Problem is that he does it so quickly that I can't follow it so I'll try to do it myself. Thanks again.:cool:
 
Ed,

Hopefully you've been playing with the iPhone. That is the easiest way to get comfortable with it. Don't worry about naysayers. Every piece of technology has its strengths and weaknesses. Now that you have chosen, it's time to get everything you can from it.

For aircraft navigation there are a number of options. Download one, use its free trial period then try the next. Try to use the full process - flight planning, brief, go/no-go decision making, and in-cockpit. For that last step, use it when you have a co-pilot and on familiar flights. It will help you to see when and where it adds to your enjoyment and safety.

Try the free apps First because there is no commitment and cost. Delete what you don't use. I remember downloading 4 or 5 weather apps. Within a week I only wanted one of them. I deleted the rest.

You can typically save yourself about 20% by watching for iTunes Card sales. A few times each year you will find $100 cards being sold for $80. These are great because they will cut the cost of the ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot subscriptions.

Today's smartphones are really powerful computers. Treat it as such. Use the camera for photography but also for task lists, parts you need to order, consumables you use up during your condition inspection, etc.

Store manuals, PDFs, etc on the phone. They are not great for long duration use but the search feature makes then resources. If you choose ForeFlight I believe you can even load the FAR/AIM. If not, you can download it or buy a nice app.

The uses for a smartphone are almost limitless, I'm sure you will find plenty of use.

Oh, and ignore Vlad's comment. He is on his second iPad already :)
 
iP ....

iPhone & iPad + ForeFlight = redundancy & backup

Aging eyes (not mine, of course!) may prefer to use an iPad, iPhone 6+, iPhone 6 (in that order!)

Also, have a 2.1a (or two) charger in the plane to keep one or both charged during those long flights.

Either can double as in flight entertainment (if loaded with content before flight).

And, I agree with Jesse: both = iSafe!
 
My subscription was supposed to renew at Foreflight, but now it no longer works on my iPhone OR iPad. They have the money, and they claim my subscription is good, but I keep getting "your Foreflight subscription has expired" messages.
Also, I got a message from them that my Dual GPS will no longer work because of a problem with OS8.3... does this make any sense to anyone?

John
 
My subscription was supposed to renew at Foreflight, but now it no longer works on my iPhone OR iPad. They have the money, and they claim my subscription is good, but I keep getting "your Foreflight subscription has expired" messages.
Also, I got a message from them that my Dual GPS will no longer work because of a problem with OS8.3... does this make any sense to anyone?

John

John,

The last time mine renewed I had to press a button under the accounts page in Foreflight on each of my devices called (I think) "Sync Accounts". That took care of it.

Supposedly downloading IOS 8.4 takes care of GPS compatibility issues, although I can't verify that since I don't use an external GPS...
 
John,

The last time mine renewed I had to press a button under the accounts page in Foreflight on each of my devices called (I think) "Sync Accounts". That took care of it.

Supposedly downloading IOS 8.4 takes care of GPS compatibility issues, although I can't verify that since I don't use an external GPS...

Thanks, Tom. I hope you are right about 8.4
John
 
Genius

E.D.,

Take a class as the Genius Bar - nearest Apple store .. They are geniuses afterall!
 
E.D.,

Take a class as the Genius Bar - nearest Apple store .. They are geniuses afterall!

Hmmm, the same folks that told me to buy a new iMac instead of fixing my old one? - a fresh install fixed it. I'll take it under advisement.

I upgraded to iOS8.4 and everything is working again. Since I never clicked on the "sync now" button, I'll never know how that happened, but it's all working - the only problem left is some tiny diagonal hash lines on the maps.
John
 
Snark

johngoodman - apologies - I did not give a snark alert.

Most of the geniuses are easily confused & it does not take long to go into the tech support back room (black hole!). I've had mainboards for MacBook Air's die on two different machines.

While many have experienced good reliablity with Apple; my experience has sent me back to PCs (ASUS ZEN) where I can do some real work @ the hdwe & OS level.

Only due to the value of ForeFlight and it's continuing integration with avionics suites do I continue to use Apple products.
 
Hmmm, the same folks that told me to buy a new iMac instead of fixing my old one? - a fresh install fixed it. I'll take it under advisement.

I upgraded to iOS8.4 and everything is working again. Since I never clicked on the "sync now" button, I'll never know how that happened, but it's all working - the only problem left is some tiny diagonal hash lines on the maps.
John

John,

Glad everything is working.

The small diagonal lines on the map page usually mean you have the 'Radar' option turned on (drop down menu in the upper left corner of the map screen), but you do not have an internet connection or cellular data connection available. Simply turn radar off and the lines will disappear.

Take care,
Tom
 
Last edited:
John,
Glad everything is working.
The small diagonal lines on the map page usually mean you have the 'Radar' option turned on (drop down menu in the upper left corner of the map screen), but you do not have an internet connection or cellular data connection available. Simply turn radar off and the lines will disappear.
Take care,
Tom

AAAHHHH! So THAT's what it means - Thanks. Thanks to everyone for all the help.
John
PS: Chaz, I was being snarky, too - no offense intended.
 
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