Doug G. Posted June 17, 2012 Report Posted June 17, 2012 For those of you who prefer Android there are a number of apps available. The most useful overall I have found is Avilution's Aviation Maps. The best place to get it is at http://www.avilution.com Doug
bitten192 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Posted June 17, 2012 I use NAVIATOR $50.00/year om my 7" lenovo. The pad has a stand alone GPS so there is no monthly fee for 3G/4G. Charts update via wifi.
Jim Meade Posted June 17, 2012 Report Posted June 17, 2012 This is going to be a specific subject of my visit to Oshkosh this year. I am tired of my iPad and Foreflight and also tired of paying $60/mo for the Garmin 496. I'm looking for an upgrade that will keep me with the changing technology at an attractive price. Windows is my preference (not starting an OS war - just saying).
CT4ME Posted June 17, 2012 Report Posted June 17, 2012 iPad 1 is no longer a good EFB possibility... the moving map guys are starting to implement features that are not supported on the iPad 1, and no IOS6 on iPad1. Tim
Doug G. Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Posted June 17, 2012 The Avilution subscription is $4.95/mo. GPS tracking, sectionals, TACs, TFRs, nexrad, METAR & TAF, direct AFD acess, a flight specific notepad, etc. Oh, and a much cooler airplane. :-) Jim, I prefer Windows also, but I don't think they are going to last long in the tablet market - very little support among manufacturers or programmers. They are behind the curve. (They have been down this road before - I own a Zune MP3 player.)
chanik Posted June 17, 2012 Report Posted June 17, 2012 The only thing Avilution does not have is geo referenced approach plates. The new Android Gramin app is supposed to support that, but I haven't tried it yet. Pretty happy with Naviator
Doug G. Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Posted June 18, 2012 I tried the Garmin app for the free trial. There were things I liked about it, and thing I didn't. Two negatives - I was not thrilled by the user interface, and the subscription price is higher than Avilution's. I am Sport Pilot - VFR day only - and I mainly use my tablet for planning and backup. Any other apps useful anyone?
Doug G. Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Posted June 18, 2012 FYI - I am using a 10" Toshiba Thrive. A good device, but not recommended because of the weight. #1 on my list right now would be the ASUS Transformer Prime - thin, light, and Android ICS. Extra cool with the detachable keyboard.
CT4ME Posted June 19, 2012 Report Posted June 19, 2012 Wasn't there a serious GPS problem on Prime?... I know they sent out a clunky plug-in module to fix it... tim
Doug G. Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Posted June 19, 2012 Hmmm...not that I've heard of. They have a cheaper version of it (T300) which is close, a touch heavier and a touch slower. It is replacing the first Transformer. I'll have to look into the gps thing, all I have heard is good.
CT4ME Posted June 19, 2012 Report Posted June 19, 2012 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/asus-offering-free-gps-fix-for-transformer-prime-owners/7497 tim
Doug G. Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Posted June 19, 2012 I see MS has just come out with a new tablet. Haven't looked at it yet. Doug
Doug G. Posted June 20, 2012 Author Report Posted June 20, 2012 Well I guess the Prime is out, although I suspect the Dual GPS reciever would solve the problem w/o the "dongle." It improves the GPS definition and accuracy on my Thrive.
Doug G. Posted June 20, 2012 Author Report Posted June 20, 2012 I had hoped this would be an apps forum, but it is heading the way of the other discussion - hardware. To try to bring it back...these are the apps I find useful or interesting: AviationMaps from avilution Aviation Tools from cosinus Aviation Pocket Knife from ? Aviation Weather Mobil App from NOAA Aviation Weather from ? Wind Computer from Avdroid FlightIntel for Pilots from ? I found all of these either on the Amazon app store or Google Play. Doug
Doug G. Posted June 22, 2012 Author Report Posted June 22, 2012 Yeah Tim...Google Maps came pre-installed on my tablet, but it is excellent, great for getting a bird's eye view of airports. (BTW, take a look at KOSH, it was taken during Airventure!) Has anyone tried Foreflight on Android? It doesn't look like much in Google Play (used to be Google Market). It has not been updated since November of last year. Doug
CT4ME Posted June 22, 2012 Report Posted June 22, 2012 'Foreflight for Android is just a weather app... 'good one, but only weather. BTW, 'hadn't looked at Avilution stuff for a long time... it looks pretty nice now! 30 day trial now. WingX has been teasing us with loose talk about an Android version for a year. Last Fall they were openly saying "any day now". In my last call, they said "we're still looking at an Android version, but aren't saying when" Tim
Doug G. Posted June 23, 2012 Author Report Posted June 23, 2012 The next update for Avilution's Aviation Maps will include the ability to file flight plans. I don't know all the details yet (phone only or phone/internet, which services, etc.) but the preview used DUATS. Doug
Doug G. Posted June 24, 2012 Author Report Posted June 24, 2012 Flying magazine had a review of a few Android apps. The most interesting/useful to me are Aero Weather and Spin-a-Wind. Doug
Doug G. Posted July 7, 2012 Author Report Posted July 7, 2012 The Aero Weather app is excellent. I am planning a trip and can put in every weather reporting airport along the route. The details show the metars & tafs, decoded if you want, and all the runways with headwinds and crosswinds for each. I think it as been ported over from the i-Pad.
CT4ME Posted August 28, 2012 Report Posted August 28, 2012 FWIW.... AOPA's Android APP "FlyQ" is now out... FREE It seems like a good program. Works good (so far) on my HTC One, but has a couple of problems on my 7" Sprint tablet. Great airport info, weather and flight planning. But NO MOVING MAP or Charts. You can file flight plans, and it ties into DUAT. I'm sure it will get better after a couple of updates. Tim
FlyingMonkey Posted August 28, 2012 Report Posted August 28, 2012 One feature I really want in an aviation app is "track up" map orientation. It just really helps my brain visualize where I'm going and where I need to go to see my heading and my track line in relation to it. I'm not sure why, but most apps seem to not include that. Probably because most apps use sectional data, and it looks a little weird to see sectional text upside down. WingX and Anywhere Map Freedom both do track up. I have both an iPad 3 and a Nexus 7, so it's also nice that both of those apps are available (or will be soon in WingX) for both platforms, so I'd only have to learn one interface. I had an Anywhere Map ATC for a while, and I really like the program, but it was dog-slow on that hardware. Hopefully the app is better.
FlyingMonkey Posted August 28, 2012 Report Posted August 28, 2012 FWIW.... AOPA's Android APP "FlyQ" is now out... FREE It seems like a good program. Works good (so far) on my HTC One, but has a couple of problems on my 7" Sprint tablet. Great airport info and weather. NO MOVING MAP or Charts. You can file flight plans, and it ties into DUAT. I'm sure it will get better after a couple of updates. Tim Yeah, I was a little disappointed with FlyQ. Definitely nice weather and planning info, but kind of useless in the air. Also it's designed to run on phones, so it's small on a tablet, and just gets blocky when you use the "2X" button to stretch it out larger. It definitely needs more cooking time, IMO.
Jim Meade Posted August 28, 2012 Report Posted August 28, 2012 I like track up for an approach, but normally I like north up. I learned to read maps in the Army 50 years ago and it was always taught by people who fought in some really nasty wars, to use north up. Still feels natural to me. BTW, does this site use some kind of on-the-fly spell checker? Sometimes I look back at a misspelled word and say - I know my fingers are fat, but they're not that fat.. Or are they?
CT4ME Posted August 28, 2012 Report Posted August 28, 2012 There is no spell check built into the board. It's probably being done by your Browser, or even a tool-bar. Most browsers have spell check built-in, or available for free. IE has IESpell or Speckie available as free add-ins. tim
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