Better Updates Needed - iFly Wish-List

We have a new Forum! Go here to get started: https://adventurepilot.community.forum.
The new forum is easier to use and much more capable than the old, we hope you will join our community!

Below is a copy of the old forum. This will remain available for a short period so you can access and review the information contained here. To continue a conversation, or start a new one, please register and create a post at our new forum location.

Search

Home

Discussions

iFly Wish-List

Better Updates Needed

7/25/2011 5:37 PM

Brian

Joined: 12/1/2010

Posts: 3

Better Updates Needed

For prospective buyers, the update process works fine and I certainly do not regret my purchase, I am just polishing here. That said...

I like the iFly a lot, but you really need to fix the update process. I have a T1 line at work so speed at my end is not a problem, but I do not look forward to updating my iFly. I leave the iFly mounted in the aircraft and transfer the files back and forth with a thumbdrive as recommended. The only non-standard thing I do is that I like keeping ALL the databases up to date (not just the local ones) so that is arguably more data than necessary, but I don't see that as a problem.

I like seeing and being able to customize my update, but most of the time I just want to update the whole thing by selecting a single choice. You have such a great product, I don't see why updates have to be so kludsey. If the 2 gig file size capacity is a problem, then figure out a way to break it down into multiple files and update them in sequence or something. If you are giving additional gps software capabilities a higher priority that is fine and I appreciate that, but ease of updates impacts user satisfaction too. I probably update the databases almost as often as I navigate with it (wry smile) Thanks.

7/25/2011 8:37 PM

Walter

Joined: 7/8/2009

Posts: 2778

Re: Better Updates Needed

Hi Brian,

I don't have a date, but we do have some improvements planned. Among other things, we're considering a down-loadable app that would allow you to stick your SD card in your computer (via an SD Reader, or right into a laptop that has a compatible port), the app would quietly trickle down everything from our servers to keep all the data current. There are some challenges to going this route, but lots of benefit for our customers. This would require a different and sometimes challenging level of support (picture a customer call "I installed your app and my computer crashed the next day"...totally unrelated events but trying to convince an angry customer that can be problematic) Anyway, I try to avoid distributed apps when possible, but for this I think the benefit may be starting to outweigh the cost.

Thanks for the feedback!
Walter

Walter Boyd
President, Adventure Pilot

7/30/2011 11:29 AM

Wayne

Joined: 9/22/2010

Posts: 7

Re: Better Updates Needed

To avoid distributed app maybe WiFi dongle and an iFly based app?

7/30/2011 4:52 PM

Jim_W

Joined: 5/4/2011

Posts: 334

Re: Better Updates Needed

While talking about updates - I have two more requests:

(1) Please keep the 'Airport Information' available for at least 30 days after a sectional expires. Luckly I discovered this flaw at home while doing some flight planning. The Charlotte sectional was only one day out of date and I couldn't get any airport information while trying to decide which airport to fly into. If I had been on the trip, this would had been bad. Note - I do try to have my iFly up to date when I start a trip but sometimes I'm in the middle of the trip when the updates are released. A 30 day grace period would be nice.

(2) Could the 'Plates and Diagrams' section of the Up Dates menu be divided into two parts? I'm VFR only and really don't need the approach plates. I do use the airport diagrams often. Even though I use our library's T1 line to download the updates, it takes a long time to download the states that I need. I'd imagine it would be a lot quicker if I could down load only the airport diagrams.

Thanks! - Jim Williams