Something new from uavionix and foreflight. Mentions bigger displays to come. Another product development to track.
I guess I would rather pay for a improved sunlight readable tablet. Mounting the tablet with RAM mounts where it’s useful and in the line of sight is not much of an issue.
Funny; I get this not once but twice
Anyway, this is Android, not IOS, so what happens to non-US Jepp data? Or non-US anything-FF actually. Last time we discussed this, years ago, FF was not available on Android outside the US, apparently (presumably) because Android is a lot easier to root so Jepp won’t license their non-US data on Android platforms. Garmin Pilot was the same. Has this changed?
Peter wrote:
Last time we discussed this, years ago, FF was not available on Android outside the US, apparently (presumably) because Android is a lot easier to root so Jepp won’t license their non-US data on Android platforms. Garmin Pilot was the same. Has this changed?
If this is true, one could only marvel at the incredible level of incompetence of anyone claiming that iOS is any harder to get one’s hands on than Android. But well, that’s how it is: the more incompetent one is, the more likely they are to land in a position of power and making strategic decisions.
Inkognito wrote:
I guess I would rather pay for a improved sunlight readable tablet.
I’d rather have a FF on a decently sized ND instead of a micro-FF in GI 275 format – not sure who would want anything like that in the first place.
zaytsev wrote:
not sure who would want anything like that in the first place.
I had that discussion with an executive in charge of developing such a product (not the one we discuss here). Apparently there is a significant market in all those Cub style back country planes who value panel mounted basic intruments and would like to fly without an input. I did question this market exists but he insistent and is putting money into it.
claiming that iOS is any harder to get one’s hands on than Android
This is going down a rabbit hole (until we find out more about the product, and Europe) but I think the main difference is that under IOS you get much more frequent OS updates and the apps need matching updates to keep working. I would bet FF will not work for more than a year unless the OS is updated. Then the rooting is lost, which translates to more hassle. Under Android you can run really old apps, for years.
Obviously we need a lot more details, but it does look like it could be interesting. I have come around to dedicated displays – I originally had my traffic on the ipad, but have now added a dedicated FLARM display. It crashes from time to time, but it’s nice having it just work without touching a single button. Perhaps this one could be similar for the moving map.
Sebastian_G wrote:
I had that discussion with an executive in charge of developing such a product (not the one we discuss here). Apparently there is a significant market in all those Cub style back country planes who value panel mounted basic intruments and would like to fly without an input. I did question this market exists but he insistent and is putting money into it.
A huge number of people use FF in their planes in-flight as the primary source of navigation, airspace and traffic awareness. The downside is iOS screen brightness and overheating issues that require you to have multiple iOS devices running simultaneously in the cockpit. If this signifies a move for FF to support non-iOS hardware its equally huge, especially if options for a larger screen size are added over time as per this statement: “SkyPlay Mini is the opening move, not the whole game. Larger screens are to be announced at a later time”
The press release statements that indicate this operates in conjunction with e.g. an iPad Mini are confusing, if its not just a mirror of the iPad. Maybe the role of iOS becomes solely to update the panel mounted device before flight.
Peter wrote:
I would bet FF will not work for more than a year unless the OS is updated. … Under Android you can run really old apps, for years.
I can assure you that this is not the case. I have (the last compatible) FF still running on my iOS 16 (only) device just fine (released in 2022; the current version is iOS 26 – released in 2025).
OK, so old FF runs on old IOS. That is as expected. Do you still get database updates?
