Hi all,
I’ve realized I missed pushing out release notes here so here are the notes from the last three releases (April, May, June):
Dynamic Winds & Temperatures
- View global forecast wind speed, direction, and temperatures at multiple altitudes and times using these stunning animated weather layers.
- Both the “Winds (Temps)” and “Winds (Speeds)” layers use colorful heat maps covering the globe to represent their primary forecast values at the selected altitude and time.
- Overlaid on each layer’s heat map are smoothly-flowing particle animations representing wind direction and speed, providing an intuitive view of large-scale weather patterns in relation to the layer’s primary forecast value (wind speed or temperature).
- Use the Time Slider to view wind forecasts in a 24+ hour period, and move the Altitude Slider to view winds from the surface up to 63,000 ft.
- The new Weather Layer Legend just above the time slider dynamically adjusts its range of values as you view different altitudes to only show the colors and associated values that are present at the current altitude, a feature unique to these two layers.
- Both layers are saved when you Pack for a flight so you can view them offline, but ForeFlight only downloads the portions of each that intersect your route to limit the download size.
- Both layers are included with ForeFlight Performance subscription plans.
Weather Layer Legend
- Easily interpret ForeFlight’s graphical weather layers with a new color legend just above the time slider.
- The legend appears when any of the following layers are enabled: Radar (Composite, Lowest Tilt, ADS-B, Sirius XM), Enhanced Satellite, Color IR Satellite, Icing and Turbulence (US, Global, ADS-B, Sirius XM, 557WW), Clouds, and the new Winds (Temps) and Winds (Speeds) layers.
- You can disable the legend by deselecting “Map Legend” in the Map Settings menu.
- Learn more about weather layers in the ForeFlight Legends Guide in Documents > ForeFlight.
- Introducing ForeFlight Labs
ForeFlight Labs is a collection of cutting-edge capabilities that need your feedback before becoming fully-fledged features!
- These features are disabled by default, but you can enable them independently in More > Account under the ForeFlight Labs banner.
- Like other features, those added to ForeFlight Labs may be limited by subscription plan level, so only those features available with your subscription will be visible in ForeFlight Labs.
ForeFlight Labs: Taxi Routes
- Chart a course to or from the runway with an interactive and contextually-aware taxi route bubble editor. Available as a ForeFlight Labs feature with ForeFlight Performance subscription plans.
- Enable Taxi Routes in the ForeFlight Labs section of More > Account.
- Tap the new Taxi Route button in the Maps FPL window, the Plates view, or tap the bubble for any airport in your route and tap “Edit Taxi Route” to open the Taxi Route Editor for that airport.
- If you are at the airport then ForeFlight will set your current position as the starting point; otherwise, select from a list of runways and FBOs to set your starting point, then select a destination runway or FBO from the same list.
- ForeFlight will automatically create a taxi route between the two points which you can edit by tapping taxiway names, hold short and crossing locations, back taxi or runway taxi instructions, and other options.
- The dynamic Taxi Route keyboard and bubble editor allow you to quickly add, remove, and rearrange route elements as your clearance is read out to you, with dedicated Clear, Undo, and Redo buttons for flexible editing.
- Your finished taxi route is displayed directly on the moving map as well as on the airport’s diagram in Plates. Tap the route on the map to clear it or make additional edits.
Download in Background
- ForeFlight can now download charts and data even when the app is in the background, allowing you to use other apps on your iPad or iPhone without interrupting the download process.
- ForeFlight can download but not install data when backgrounded, so the next time you open the app it will take a couple minutes to install the new data before all downloads show as completed and the data become available.
- iOS may pause the background downloads if you sleep the device while low on battery power, so we recommend connecting to a power source if you plan to sleep the device while downloading.
Airport 3D Runway Lighting
- Prepare for a night approach or establish a mental picture with toggleable Day/Night modes and realistic Runway Lights in Airport 3D.
- Use the Day/Night toggle in the bottom-right corner of Airport 3D to dim the surrounding terrain and expose the airport’s runway lights.
- Runway edge lighting is supported for most paved airports around the world, while larger airports may also display touchdown zone lights, PAPI lights, displaced threshold lights with approach light system if available, centerline lights, end light flashers, and more.
- Airport 3D is available with ForeFlight Performance plans.
New Ways to Import Documents
- Easily import documents into ForeFlight and add them to custom binders using a dedicated Import button and intuitive drag-and-drop gestures.
- The new + button in the Imported Drive’s toolbar allows you to add files from the iOS Files app, your Photo Library, or by taking new photos with your device’s camera.
- On iPad you can also drag-and-drop files from other apps that support the gesture into the Imported Drive by opening both apps in split screen and dragging files over to ForeFlight. Import multiple files at once this way by tapping additional items while still holding the initial file to “stack” them, then drag the stack over to ForeFlight and release it.
- This drag-and-drop workflow (including the “stacking” gesture for multiple files) also works within any Document Drive to add documents or entire folders to a custom binder. Simply drag the documents and/or folders over any binder in the Catalog on the left and release to add them to the binder, or drop them on the Add New Binder button to create and name a brand new binder containing the selected items.
Link Multiple Jeppesen Accounts
- Connect more than one Jeppesen account in ForeFlight for expanded access to chart coverages, or combine linked coverages with those purchased through ForeFlight for even greater flexibility.
- Individual customers can sign into multiple Jeppesen accounts by tapping “Add Jeppesen Account” in More > Jeppesen after adding the initial account. ForeFlight Business account administrators can sign into and manage multiple Jeppesen accounts on the web at plan.foreflight.com/account/jeppesen.
- Individual customers can also combine their chart coverages from a linked Jeppesen account with those purchased through ForeFlight, allowing access to special coverages that may not be available through ForeFlight and enabling more flexible chart management.
- Learn more about Jeppesen charts in ForeFlight at foreflight.com/jeppesen.
New European Charts
- All customers with the Europe region can now access SwissTopo’s VFR ICAO chart for Switzerland as part of the Europe VFR map layer at no additional charge. Be sure to enable Map Touch Action in the Map Settings menu to easily view overlapping charts by tapping on them.
- Also, Rogers Data has released new 1:500k VFR charts for the following locations: the Balkans, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Norway, Romania, and Sweden. You can purchase these charts through ForeFlight as part of two new combo packages (“South East Europe” and “Scandinavia”), and all seven charts are automatically included in Rogers’ “Full Europe” combo package at no additional charge.
- Visit foreflight.com/europe/data for more information about European charts in ForeFlight.
European Significant Weather Forecast Graphics
- The European section of the Imagery view on mobile and web now includes standard and low-level SIGWX charts containing valuable forecast information.
- Standard SIGWX charts cover all of Europe, while the low-level charts cover Austria and Switzerland, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.
German VAD & VADJET Military Charts
- All European customers can now access VAD and VAD JET charts for military and civilian airports in Germany under the BUNDESWEHR section in Airport Procedures.
- The new charts are grouped together in the Downloads list under the Aerodrome Charts and AIP section.
3D View Visual Enhancements
- 3D View looks better than ever with sunlight reflections on ocean water, subtle improvements to the sky’s coloring, and more.
- The improvements appear in all 3D View modes: 3D Airports, 3D Preview, and 3D Review, all of which are included with ForeFlight Performance subscription plans.
Expanded Runway Analysis Support
- ForeFlight’s advanced Runway and Obstacle Analysis capability for jets now supports Textron’s Citation CJ2 and 680A Latitude, Gulfstream’s G550, G650, and G650ER, and two variants of Bombardier’s Global 6000.
- Runway Analysis is available for a growing list of aircraft types as an add-on to ForeFlight Performance subscription plans.
New Synthetic Vision Button
- The Synthetic Vision button in the Maps toolbar has a new look to better distinguish it from the adjacent Instrument Panel button.
- The button now appears as a banking attitude indicator with vertical bars on either side representing the speed and altitude tapes.
- Synthetic Vision is available with ForeFlight’s Pro Plus subscription plan and above.
Content Pack Effective Dates
- Define Effective and Expiration dates for Content Packs in the manifest.json file and ForeFlight will display a warning in Plates and Custom Content when you view expired content.
- Both fields accept date and time information in the same format as the following example encoding midnight local time (based on the device’s time setting) on June 1st, 2021: “20210601T00:00:00”.
Hold Advisor
- Easily insert a holding pattern anywhere in your route with flexible parameters and automatic pattern entry selection.
- Access Hold Advisor from within Procedure Advisor to insert a hold just before your destination airport, or tap on any waypoint in your route or elsewhere on the map to add a hold at that location.
- Hold Advisor provides parameters for inbound or outbound legs, the pattern’s length (defined by either time or distance), left or right turns, and optional altitude, speed, and EFC settings.
- After adding the holding pattern to your route you can tap its bubble in the FPL Editor to make additional changes to it.
- ForeFlight does not yet support sending holding patterns to connected avionics via Flight Plan Transfer.
- Hold Advisor is included in Pro Plus subscriptions and above.
Augmented Procedures™
- Quickly find, select, and display the appropriate minimums for an approach to supplement the approach plate and reduce the risk of errors.
- After selecting an approach and transition in Procedure Advisor the Minimum section appears below, with fields for Aircraft Approach Category and Equipment Status, where you can specify if any of the airport’s approach systems like ALS or RAIL are inoperative.
- Using this information and high-quality Jeppesen procedure data, ForeFlight will display the relevant minimums for each approach type that may be used for the approach, along with any applicable restriction notes for each. Tap any of the available minimums to display them on the approach preview on the right.
- Augmented Procedures™ expands on the existing Custom Minimum field, which is still available if you wish to define a more conservative custom altitude manually. In both cases the altitude will be displayed directly on the map with a magenta marker at the missed approach point.
- After inserting the approach into your route, tap its bubble in the FPL Editor and tap Change Minimum to reopen the same menu and select a different minimum or update the Aircraft Category and/or Equipment Status.
- Augmented Procedures™ is included in Performance Plus and Business Performance subscription plans.
Runway Analysis: New Aircraft
- ForeFlight’s advanced Runway and Obstacle Analysis capability for jets now supports Bombardier’s Global 5000, Global Express, Global XRS, Learjet 60XR, and Learjet 70; Gulfstream’s GVII-G500; and Embraer’s Phenom 300.
- Runway Analysis is available for a growing list of aircraft types as an add-on to ForeFlight Performance subscription plans.
Runway Analysis: EOP Visualization
- Preview the ground tracks of available engine-out procedures (EOPs) in Runway Analysis along with their textual instructions for enhanced visualization while flight planning.
- Tap the EOP line in the Takeoff Analysis page to open the EOP selector, which lists the available EOPs below a map centered on the departure airport.
- Tap on an EOP in the list to highlight it in blue on the map, while other unselected EOPs are colored gray.
- Not all EOPs support visualization, including VOR-based EOPs from Jeppesen, although these are still displayed in the list below the map with their textual instructions.
- Engine Out Procedures are a critical component of ForeFlight Runway Analysis, which is available as an add-on to ForeFlight Performance subscription plans.
Military Flight Bag: Select Multiple MTR Types
- Government and military pilots flying with ForeFlight Military Flight Bag can now view multiple types of Military Training Routes on the map at once, choosing any combination of Instrument, Visual, and Slow Routes to better support mission requirements.
- With the Aeronautical Map enabled, open the Map Settings menu and tap Military Training Routes to select the type(s) of MTR to display on the map.
- In addition to simply viewing MTRs, you can tap on them to view detailed information, add them to your route, and file them as part of a DD-1801 or ICAO flight plan.
We are continuing to work on requested features like smaller fields and VRPs and I hope to have more on that soon for you all.
Hope all is well,
Josh
