iFly GPS Forum

Great question. Our focus is to be the best in-flight app. To that end we try to keep the UI intuitive, text and buttons are large and clearly marked, the most common features are just a couple taps away, and the less common "advanced" features are designed to be easy to access - but not as prominent (EG, "More Options" buttons).

All new development passes through this filter: Who will benefit by this change? Is it easy to understand without having to be explained? Will it affect or detract from current app usability? We then very carefully select & design features that have the most benefit without compromising usability.

Recently we've introduced some fairly dramatic changes. Version 8, for example, dropped the round buttons and went to a button bar design, adding some floating dynamic buttons for re-center airplane, alerts, etc. This affected everyone and did prompt a mild learning curve. Version 9 added Seamless Charts, and the Quick-Info Popup. We made these changes eyes-wide-open; the UI refresh was a necessary step towards our goal: Be the best in-flight app. Now, other than some tuning, I think the big UI changes are behind us. But we still have a lot of great ideas in the queue, and we have a platform ready to expand and accept these changes without such hard impact to the filters I mentioned above.

We're not trying to recreate every feature found in the other apps. We're not going to do something because our competitor did it, nor are we going to do something because it's cool or neat. But if we can make a change that will save most pilots time, or make the flight safer, or make planning easier, you can be sure it's going to be considered.

Cheers,
Walter

Since this started with a request for more weather information, I have a question/suggestion. Perhaps you could use the old teletype cloud cover symbols on map pages to save space. They are only one character, and easily understood.

Using http://www.abstractfonts.com/font/13554

Clear = the last character, a circle

Overcast = third character on the 5th line, a circle with a plus in it.

Broken = 7th character on the first line, a circle with two vertical lines

Scattered = 6th character on the first line, a circle with one vertical line.

Few didn't exist. Perhaps a circle with a horizontal line.

For clarity, Flight Planning is a huge component of any navigation app. Support for efficient and safe flight planning within the iFly software is integral to our mission. Much of this planning is done in-flight...EG, routing around storms, fuel stops, emergency routing, IFR changes, etc, etc. Flight Planning comprises some of the most complex tasks a pilot performs with their navigation tool, so keeping this easy, effective, feature rich, and usable in-flight is a top priority. And I think we're acomplishing this pretty well.