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Android vs iPad in sunlight

Don

Well Known Member
I use an iPad with Foreflight as a back up now for my iFly 720. I started using SkyRadar's D model ADS-b (pirep to follow). Foreflight said they have no plans to support SkyRadar products, so the iPad isn't used much now. It's too dim, has no new information, and the battery life is poor. It is a decent backup for the 720 if the sun isn't behind me. Mostly I leave the iPad off since getting the 720, however, if I had ADS-b on the iPad, it would be on a lot more.

Wing-X runs on both the iPad and Android platforms and it will display SkyRadar weather. So it looks like I'll be moving to Wing-X when my FF subscription expires. I am wondering if there is a sunlight readable Android. I'd prefer an iPad mini size and if possible, better battery life than the iPad. I am looking for recommendations, particularly from folks with experience.
 
Wing-X runs on both the iPad and Android platforms and it will display SkyRadar weather. So it looks like I'll be moving to Wing-X when my FF subscription expires. I am wondering if there is a sunlight readable Android. I'd prefer an iPad mini size and if possible, better battery life than the iPad. I am looking for recommendations, particularly from folks with experience.

My ASUS Transformer Infinity tf700 has a 600 nit display that is completely readable in my RV-7A. I would like to find a smaller Android tablet with at least a 600 nit display but haven't found one yet.
 
My ASUS Transformer Infinity tf700 has a 600 nit display that is completely readable in my RV-7A. I would like to find a smaller Android tablet with at least a 600 nit display but haven't found one yet.

Yep - that tablet is super bright. I think currently it is the brightest 7" out there. (I use a _lot_ of different tablets ;-))
 
Nexus 7

It may be the same tablet as previously mentioned, but I use a Nexus 7 Andriod tablet (Model ME370T) using Android 4.2.2. It has excellent sunlight readable display.
 
I'll second the Nexus 7 recommendation. I don't have a bubble canopy but have been very satisfied with the Nexus 7 so far. Screen is quite a bit more legible than my Garmin 396 - have held them side by side, left them side by side on the seat beside me etc. I'll take the Nexus 7 any day over the 396 screen. Caveat - have only used Avilution so don't know how other programs might render on this screen.
 
opposite end of the spectrum?

How dim do these sunlight readable displays get? I'm no electrical engineer, but I believe there is a limit on the "range" of brightness and a brighter display may not go as dim?

Just curious as I do enjoy some night flying on occasion.
 
How dim do these sunlight readable displays get? I'm no electrical engineer, but I believe there is a limit on the "range" of brightness and a brighter display may not go as dim?

they will go quite dim (I read at night all the time)
 
You might want to double check on WingX and Android. I don't think it has many features and is not comparable to the iPad version. I don't think it would be viable on an Android tablet.

From their web site:

Note: WingX for Android currently does not include Sectionals, IFR Enroute charts, or the Moving Map. We're working on adding these features.

My iPad works well for me with a matte glare shield. I like the one from PowerSupportUSA. I have no issues with reflections on my iPad one, and much less on a new iPad 4. I haven't tried a mini in the plane. One caveat - I have a high wing C172, not an RV. However, I use the iPad outside too, and works for me.
 
You might also visit forums for WingX/Android. It's what convinced me to get an iPad. I'd rather have an Android but the software just wasn't there.

Bob
 
I have a two year old 7" HTC Flyer tablet that is very sunlight readable although I do not know the nit specs. This past weekend my buddy was showing me something on Foreflight from his iPad Mini outside and I could not see the screen at all and it was set to full brightness. Good to know about the Nexus 7 since my tablet is starting to get toward retirement.

Not to steer the discussion in another direction....ok I am slightly. Naviator is darn close to Foreflight's functionality so if you are looking for a tablet and considering whether or not to get an iPad, save yourself a few hundred $$$$ and go Android.
 
iPad Pilot News posted a comparison of ADS-B receivers, inclding software that supports them.

The comparison says the iFly supports the SkyRadar D-2. Maybe your iFly can display ADS-B data too?

As for Android software, Garmin Pilot is the only one of the top three iPad apps that has a credible Android version. However, it only supports a Garmin ADS-B product, not SkyRadar.
 
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The comparison says the iFly supports the SkyRadar D-2. Maybe your iFly can display ADS-B data too?

The iFly 720 does support the SkyRadar D 2. I was looking for a viable back up in case the 720 went black. I fly out of KXSA and there is a lot of airspace restrictions north of me where situational awareness is high (the DC SFRA, Pax River Naval AS, and a plethora or restricted air spaces).

It appears there may not be a better backup than the iPad, at least until Wing-X has a fully functional version for the Android.
 
Avilution supports the SkyRadar on Android. I haven't used it, but it seems to be popular among the Android crowd. The interface looks similar to the iFly interface in the pictures I've seen, though I haven't tried either platform.

Personally, I use my iPad much more out of the plane than inside, though air navigation apps are the primary driver for staying with iOS. There is just no comparison between WingX Pro and Foreflight to anything available for Android. I find most iOS apps to be just a little more polished than equivalent Android apps. In any case, by now I wouldn't want to switch platforms because I have a lot of paid apps that I would not want to replace. Full-featured Android tablets aren't really that much cheaper than Apple products anyhow. Android does offer cheap alternatives, but they don't provide the same level of quality and function.
 
As for Android software, Garmin Pilot is the only one of the top three iPad apps that has a credible Android version. However, it only supports a Garmin ADS-B product, not SkyRadar.

Not true at all. Naviator and Avolution are far ahead of the Garmin app on Android. As a Naviator user and familiar with Foreflight, they are pretty close in functionality. Naviator also has an ADS-B solution using the Dual 170.
 
Not true at all. Naviator and Avolution are far ahead of the Garmin app on Android. As a Naviator user and familiar with Foreflight, they are pretty close in functionality.

I said "the only one of the top three iPad apps ... credible Android version". By top 3 iPad apps I mean WingX Pro, Foreflight and Garmin Pilot. Garmin is the only one of those that participates in both the iOS and Android markets. I don't think either Naviator or Avilution are available for iOS.

Glad to hear Naviator is close to Foreflight. Good competition on both OS's keep the market advancing. Have you seen any Android aviation app comparison reviews? I hear more Avilution mentioned and had forgotten about Naviator since I hadn't heard about it in some time. Didn't one of those two have some sort of issue some time ago, and was unavailable for a while?

I mostly follow the iOS space, since those are the devices I own. I play with Android any time I have a chance, but I know very few people who have Android tablets. My Android experience is mostly with phones.
 
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I have a 7" Samsung Galaxy.
In regards to sunlight, I rate it a solid mediocre. :rolleyes:
Its fine in the clouds but can be annoying trying to read in full sun.
HOWEVER, this rating is done without experience with other tablets so I cannot say how it is different from others.

Fortunately, I rarely need it when the sun is out. The 430 and the GRTs have everything I need in good weather.
 
Garmin Pilot is the only one of the top three iPad apps that has a credible Android version.
Um... Not so. Air Navigation Pro is only barely lagging the iOS version on Android right now. The only thing missing from my perspective is the 3D view (like Skyview), which is available on iOS and not on Android. When it pops up on Android, i'm going to have a hard time justifying keeping my iPad.

To be fair: Air Nav Pro is adding features to the iPad version first, and Android version second. So new whiz-bang things will be iOS only initially, but that doesn't mean the Android version isn't credible.
 
I'll try to drag this thread back to its original discussion

I was working for Honeywell back in 1985, and I sold the first flat panel (LCD) display (color) for the F-16 cockpit. We had been working CRT technology up to that point and there was no way CRT was going to ever get bright enough to work in an F-16/F-15 cockpit. It would just wash out.

Our first work with LCD fighter cockpits was very difficult from a number of fronts, but high ambient viewability was one of the major problems. The most straight forward way to overcome the issue is by brute force increasing the back light. You can mess around with the LCD itself, but then you have to get a LCD vendor to modify the manufacturing process for a very small segment of the market and they just will not do it.

It has occurred to me that I need high ambient readability more than just in my RV-4. Just today I was trying to read my android outside and I needed to step into the shade to read it. I think there is a market niche for a high ambient phone. Call me stupid Mr. Motorola, I only sold a billion$ worth of cockpit avionics in my day matching military needs up with what Honeywell could do, but I think the market is there for the phone/mini tablet market.

I think it will come. Good ol' American capitalism will figure it out. We just have to wait.

The best part is that after I sold them, I got to fly them!
Hack
 
We just purchased 15 Nexus 7 tablets and loaded them with Garmin Pilot Apps for our SAR Air Squadron and they are very sunlight light readable in my -9A. Another member has a CJ-6 and says it is the first tablet he has been able to use in his cockpit. Dan
 
We just purchased 15 Nexus 7 tablets and loaded them with Garmin Pilot Apps for our SAR Air Squadron and they are very sunlight light readable in my -9A. Another member has a CJ-6 and says it is the first tablet he has been able to use in his cockpit. Dan

btw - if you add antiglare screen protectors ($3) they will be even better!
 
Nexus 7 and Navigator

Yes, that's me.
Mike, I am pretty new to Android os, so forgive my question. Does the Nexus 7 use the Android os and it runs the Navigator program?

Update; I did some Internet searching and found the answers, yes and yes. Found a Nexus7 32 gb for $179 at Wallmart! Pretty good deal.
 
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