Android Wear App - iFly Wish-List

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iFly Wish-List

Android Wear App

11/26/2021 8:41 PM

John

Joined: 2/7/2020

Posts: 11

Android Wear App

I just tried this app on Android Wear HSI Watch - https://www.outerworldapps.com/HSIWatch/ and it seems it could be pretty useful in certain ways.

I know there is the development of iFly EFB and hopefully we are close to seeing the Beta release. However, I feel like it's a good opportunity for the development some sort of an iFly Android Wear app for our smartwatches. Personally, I feel like Garmin charges an exorbitant amount for their D2, which an watch app could replace.

Some useful watch functions (My watch has bluetooth and LTE so I can work without being connected to the phone)
-Quick look:
--- METAR
--- Airport Info
--- O2 Blood Sensor (Samsung already has an app, but it could be cool to integrate with an Android Wear iFly app)
--- Altimeter (Samsung already has an app, but it could be cool to integrate with an Android Wear iFly app)
-Advanced Features:
--- Direct To Feature
--- Flight Plan/Current Flight status (obviouisly, this would need a Flight Plan upload from iFly EFB)
--- Radar type, range ring moving map with the aircraft in the center - you can change the range ring to see airports and VORs around you
--- HSI NAV needle

Idk, just brainstorming. Would like your guys take. I know Foreflight is working something for apple watch, but I think this is a untapped area for the Android Market

11/26/2021 11:36 PM

Cobra

Joined: 4/20/2011

Posts: 2602

Re: Android Wear App Modified By Cobra on 11/26/2021 11:43:59 PM

Maybe I'm very unimaginative, but I have a hard time seeing a use case for a watch app that would justify the development effort. In other words, I think you'd get better bang for the buck putting development effort toward the main tablet app(s) rather than diluting that effort to support a smartwatch app.

FF only supports the iOS platform, so their development is more streamlined. AP already supports Windows, iOS, and Android, and maintaining a (mostly-)common codebase across those platforms that runs well on the variety of Windows and Android platforms out there already consumes additional development resources compared to FF. Adding smartwatches to that mix further complicates/taxes that development effort. Adding WearOS smartwatches but not Apple watches would break the "works seamlessly across multiple platforms" selling point iFly currently has going for it, but supporting both Apple and WearOS watches would create that much more development complexity.

While some of the things you mentioned as suggestions maybe seem kinda neat or mildly useful at first glance, none of them are truly compelling, and most seem to pale when I think about them for more than a few seconds. None seem compelling enough to justify buying into the development complexity that it would add. Why would I mess with flight plans on my watch instead of using a tablet or PC? Why would I need or even want an O2 sensor app built by AP/iFly when I've already got other O2 sensor apps availalble? Why would I fiddle with my watch to punch in Direct-To somewhere (which probably requires I take both hands off the controls) when I can just do that on the tablet that's right in front of me?

The only thing that seems like a true benefit would be using the screen real estate of the watch to offload/declutter the tablet display. Like maybe the traffic zoom instrument popping up on the watch instead of taking up a chunk of the tablet. But to see anything on the watch I need to let go of the yoke with my watch hand and bring it up to a position where I can see the screen, whereas if it's on the tablet I just glance down at it without changing what my hands are currently doing. I don't know if I'd ever want anything really important (like the traffic instrument) to only be visible on the watch screen. So I dunno how much I'd ever really use that capability.

Add in that only a relatively small subset of users will have a smartwatch, and it just doesn't seem like a good place to be spending a lot of development effort, to me. I think I'd prefer those dev resources be focused on the core product.

11/27/2021 1:42 PM

John

Joined: 2/7/2020

Posts: 11

Re: Android Wear App

I guess I see your point, but the future is about seamless integration with all available technology (IMO). While you say smartwatches are owned by a small subset, my experience disagrees. Smartwatch affordability and sales increase show that it has become the norm is not a "small subset." I do think that there is an age discrepency with smartwatch ownership. When I fly, most of the guys under 40 at the airport has a smartwatch.

Now, is smartwatch integration with EFB something we NEED? I agree with you there, the answer is NO. It's a luxury. Hence, this is why I put it on the Wish List.

However, I think that eventually, smartwatch integration with EFB is something that becomes a norm in the future. I think it's safe to admit that Foreflight has and is still the gold standard when it comes to EFB related product development in aviation. The fact that they are integration smartwatches shows us that it is part of the future. Their current integration shows ground track, ETA, waypoint, METARs, altitude, flight timer (i think it is connect with the Foreflight app timer on the EFB), etc... You're right, we CAN get this on the tablet alone, but using/integrating all our smart technologies is the future (IMO). Imagine, when your watch starts to vibrate due to the fact that your oxygen saturation level is low in your blood when you pass a certain altitude and the alert is also sent to your tablet in flight. Your radar picture idea was pretty neat, btw. I can't believe I did not think of that. Combine that idea with some vibrating alert for extremely close proximity, would be awesome. Again, I agree, this is a luxury, not a NEED.

Unpopular Opinion - I do wish that AP would just focus its development on Android (Android guy bias). :D

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