I'll start by saying this isn't a negative against IFly. My suggestion was not that what they currently offer is BAD, it's that there could be a better solution to something that across the board, very few EFBs have. GLAD TO HEAR THAT! IT WAS MY CHOICE, ESPECIALLY SINCE FF DOESN'T DO ANDROID, AND I STILL LOVE IT.
The IFly app for PC is identical to the tablet/phone version. Which means it's more suited/favors touchscreen over Mouse/Keyboard. It also favors a device with smaller realestate. GOING TO DISAGREE SLIGHTLY. I USE MOUSE KEYBOARD, AS I DONT HAVE TOUCHSCREEN PC, AND HAVE NO ISSUE DOING SO.
An example. I want to check out an airport. I click on airport -> Airport Info, it then makes the airport info full screen. COULD NOT REPLICATE; AIRPORT INFO POPS UP IN A BOX JUST LIKE ON TABLET, AND NOT FULLSCREEN.
But on a PC we have a large monitor (ultrawide for me even). Which means it does not need to be full screen airport info. I can get that information in half/quarter of the screen space while looking at the map still AND comparing to another airport at the same time. It could all fit.
Another example of software favoring for tablets/phones. To resize the resolution, I can't just expand a corner, like you can most apps or webpages on a computer. You have to go into Menu ->Setup -> Screen/Audio settings and then can mess with resolution. It should just rescal as you drag it wider/smaller. Additionally, if you alt-tab to check on something else, it takes you out of the menu you were in, in the IFB app. THIS IS TRUE; YOU CAN'T JUST DRAG TO RESIZE, BUT YOU CAN SWITCH FROM FULL SCREEN TO 'WINDOWED MODE' AND SET THE SIZE OF THE WINDOW YOU WANT...LEAVING ROOM TO OPEN OTHER WINDOWS ALONGSIDE. I USE WINDY AND OTHER APPS TO ASSESS WX WHILE USING IFLY TO DO THE FP.
I'm not saying you can't FP in the app. I do it now, same on my tablet. But Since I'm on a computer, It would be nice to have a solution to FP, check the weather, draw different routes and see how it would affect my range/gas, play with different altitudes, etc. All while being able to seamlessly go from the app to another webpage to cross reference stuff. Also as a result, on my computer (not a Windows tablet) I don't need the navigation. I don't need the "range" around my plane to always be where my GPS/Wifi is. TO FIX THIS, CREATE A FLIGHT PLAN. THEN GO INTO SIM MODE AND AUTO-FLY IT. WHATEVER AIRPORT YOU STARTED FROM IN THE PLAN WILL 'FIX' THE LOCATION OF YOUR AIRCRAFT ONCE YOU RUN A SIM FROM THERE. ONLY HAVE TO RUN IT A SHORT TIME TO GET THAT TO HAPPEN.
It would be nice to just set where I was by clicking a new airport with my mouse, and then being able to see the range my place would have from that airport with whatever fuel / W&B settings I set. YOU CAN DEFINITELY DO THAT. ONCE YOU HAVE THE BIRD WHERE YOU WANT IT; JUST KEEP EDITING AND SAVING THE FP TIL YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT... ADJUST ROUTE, STOPS, ETC. TO SEE THE EFFECTS. BUT YOU CAN ALSO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ONE THING FF DOES NOT HAVE: REALPLAN! IF YOU SET YOUR DEPARTURE AND DESTINATION, THEN RUN "REALPLAN" IT WILL FIND YOU THE BEST ROUTE, CONSIDERING PREFERENCES, FUEL STOPS, WINDS, ETC. IT IS TRULY AMAZING! TRY IT.
To top it all off, I could then save that whole route I just crafted and it would sync with the IFLY system. We're not talking about the current EFB which is primarily suited for actual navigation, we're talking purely Flight planning with all the extra things an interactive map could provide. DONT KNOW HOW MUCH MORE INTERACTIVE YOU CAN GET. YOU CAN CLICK/HOLD OR 'RUBBER BAND' THE ROUTE TO ADD NEW POINTS TO THE FP; CHG ALTS IN FP OR WITH MAP, ETC. AND YES, YOU CAN SYNCH THE FP YOU CREATE ON YOUR PC TO YOUR TABLET; EITHER DIRECTLY IF YOU ARE ON THE SAME WIFI WHEN YOU DO IT, OR BY SAVING TO YOUR PC (FOR EXAMPLE) AND THE DOWNLOADING IT FROM HOME VIA SYNCH. (IN MENU/SETUP/...)
IFLY doesn't currently offer that, none of the GA EFBs do. There are some Flightsim ones that do a lot of it, but they are not tied to an actual ecosystem you would then take with you. I THINK, SINCE IT SAYS YOU ARE RELATIVELY NEW, YOU ARE LIKELY GOING THRU THE SAME PROCESS I DID AS A NEWBY... AND I HOPE YOU'LL ALSO FIND, AS DID I, THAT IT DOES A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN YOU THOUGHT, ONCE YOU FIGURE OUT WHERE TO GO TO TELL IT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
HAPPY FLYING! --bobw
