Apple iPad as EFB

I am working on an App for the AppStore for the iPad which will function as an EFB.

You select which states (or books like SC-1, SC-2, etc) you want and then click download, it will download all the plates and you'll have them in off-line form. If you start the app and the plates are expired it will show you and have the option of automatically updating them.

Unfortunately the GPS is unavailable to use except on the ground because it is an A-GPS (assisted GPS) that uses the cell signal as well. I'm unsure as to whether it will work if there is 'No Service' but I do know that it will drain your battery to keep your 3G ipad's radio on when it cannot receive service.

It will have better GUI than simply a PDF reader -- the app will know all the airports in the USA, so you can browse to the plate you need just by pressing 'TX - Dallas - Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport - ILS 17R' or by typing 'KDFW'.

As far as a GPS plug-in, it would have to use the dock connector which is patented by Apple -- I don't anticipate such a niche product (a GPS that is able to be used in the air) being produced.


Incidentally this was why I was asking about the FAA D-TPP stuff last week.
 
Very cool!

Will your app work on the iPhone?

Any idea on pricing? Price? Subscription based or one time fee?
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
Unfortunately the GPS is unavailable to use except on the ground because it is an A-GPS (assisted GPS) that uses the cell signal as well. I'm unsure as to whether it will work if there is 'No Service' but I do know that it will drain your battery to keep your 3G ipad's radio on when it cannot receive service.
Click to expand...

If it's the same GPS in the iPhone 3GS, it will indeed work in the air. I've tried it myself with other aviation map applications. It can be slow, especially for an initial fix, but it'll work.

Perhaps A-GPS's differ in function, but the one the iPhone uses is just that... assisted GPS. The cell towers make it triangulate the fix area much faster, but they're not necessary -- otherwise I wouldn't be using it while flying (or while geocaching and GPSing away from any cell towers).

As far as deactivating the 3G radio while using the GPS, yeah, don't know a way around that one.

Looking forward to what you'll come up with. Any chance of a JC discount?
 
iWait.....

AT&T....

iWait some more...

Hear me Apple.....

I will NEVER buy an iPhone, iPad, or ANY of your wireless devices as long as you chain them to the boat anchor that is AT&T.

You see, I need my iWhatever to actually WORK as a phone... in all the places I travel, with messages and texts delivered on the same DAY as they were sent!

Dropped calls? Just look at the complaints online. It's not your "high bandwith" users fault, it's YOURS.

Oh, and we are a Mac household. 3 of them.

Let the best wireless service win. Unchain it, Apple!
 
TXTBOOK said:
Very cool!

Will your app work on the iPhone?

Any idea on pricing? Price? Subscription based or one time fee?
Click to expand...

Not yet as I'm using some of the GUI features that are only available on the iPad -- but I might make an iPhone version.

Pricing will be the app is free, 30 days free and then I am thinking something nominal like $5/mo to cover my bandwidth charges and the time it takes me to update it every month. Maybe two tiers... a free level where you can only download plates within 50nm of your home airport? Or just one state?
 
Are we really still trying to extole the non existant virtues of the I Pad. lets see its a really friggin big I phone, that cant even make a call. Ok so you have an I phone that wont take calls, cant do anymore than original iphone, you have to pay for your apps, (does it have a camera?), and it wont even fit in your pocket or purse, can you even do a w&b in a 152 with this absurdly large unit.......sounds like a total dud to me, who did they market this for again....:dunno:
 
Nigel Croker said:
Are we really still trying to extole the non existant virtues of the I Pad. lets see its a really friggin big I phone, that cant even make a call. Ok so you have an I phone that wont take calls, cant do anymore than original iphone, you have to pay for your apps, (does it have a camera?), and it wont even fit in your pocket or purse, can you even do a w&b in a 152 with this absurdly large unit.......sounds like a total dud to me, who did they market this for again....:dunno:
Click to expand...

What? He just said it has more GUI capabilities than the iPhone, which is why he can't simply port the app over to the iPhone. Thus implying that it can do more than the iPhone. Did you see the video with the iWork software that is going to be released? The iPhone clearly can't do that. Both the iPhone and the iPad will and do have free apps. It won't fit in your pocket but it will fit in the purses I see women carrying around these days. Why wouldn't you be able to do a W&B for a 152 in the iPad? There are plenty of free apps that allow you to do it in the iPhone, and we know that the iPad can run iPhone apps. So yes, it clearly can, for free.
 
mrmeschi said:
How about a Bluetooth based GPS and XM antenna? WXWORX has one.
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Apple hasn't been very forthcoming on what kinds of bluetooth services the iPad will be able to use and or publish. For example the iPhone has bluetooth but it cannot synch with your computer via bluetooth (a shortcoming in my opinion.)

In my opinion the types of bluetooth devices will probably be limited to headphones, speakers, keyboards, maybe a wireless webcam. That sort of thing. I doubt there will be the low level tinkering ability granted to get a bluetooth GPS to work... but then again, who knows.

If I can successfully make this app, I'll probably expand it to include the en routes and sectionals. Even if the GPS didn't work (or you didn't have one, only having a WiFi iPad) the ability to type in an intersection or VOR/etc and have the map go to that location would be pretty interesting. The compass will work in airplane mode, I wonder if a ghetto-type 'set your DME and radial from a fix and groundspeed' type of solution might work, and if so how accurate (or how horribly inaccurate) that would be.

I'm trying to stay focused on one thing at a time though -- the death of projects like this is overreaching at first, then things seem way too complicated. Besides, I don't want to spend the $$ to subscribe to the fix database and enroute/sectional subscription unless I think it would be worth it.

As far as the relative worth of the iPad -- well, I think it will sell very well. I think also that other companies have the potential to poach some of this market that Apple is creating, just look at HP who is coming out with their own tablet. If you don't think it's useful then don't get one. Easy as that. I think the tablet as a platform is going to take off, and I like apple products so it isn't surprising I'm going to get an iPad.
 
I wish I didn't invest in a nice laptop for school last year. I would have just purchased an ipad to take notes on.

Ipad as in EFB would be very nice.
 
TXTBOOK said:
What? He just said it has more GUI capabilities than the iPhone, which is why he can't simply port the app over to the iPhone. Thus implying that it can do more than the iPhone. Did you see the video with the iWork software that is going to be released? The iPhone clearly can't do that. Both the iPhone and the iPad will and do have free apps. It won't fit in your pocket but it will fit in the purses I see women carrying around these days. Why wouldn't you be able to do a W&B for a 152 in the iPad? There are plenty of free apps that allow you to do it in the iPhone, and we know that the iPad can run iPhone apps. So yes, it clearly can, for free.
Click to expand...


Do you honestly believe that Iworks will work first time out, did the origianl Iphone? Do you think the apps a pilot would find useful like plates and GPS in the air are going to be free apps? And I meant can you do a weight an balance on a 152 because the IPad is so large, would you even be able to carry min fuel, with that beast on board...that was a joke about size and weight I could have phrased better....:D
 
minitour said:
Including a year of Jepp charts, I want to say it was just under 2. That included the screen protectors, bump case, extra battery, yadda yadda. That could be wrong, it's been a few years.

-mini
Click to expand...

My NACO charts cost $8 they have a full terrain database, all terminal procedures and enroute fixes. A big pluss is I don't have to charge them!
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
Maybe two tiers... a free level where you can only download plates within 50nm of your home airport? Or just one state?
Click to expand...

I think that may come back to bite you. I'm not knowledgeable to offer a good estimate at how many private pilots stay within their home state, but I'm willing to bet it's a good amount, especially the renters. And, when it comes to 50nm from my home airport, I know most of the procedures from memory anyway, limiting its usefulness.

Depending on the price, I'd think that a lot of people who get your app are private renters who don't have enough to fly on a regular basis but can afford playing around with "pilot toys" on their iPho-- uh, iPad. Shoot, when first started ground school, I loaded all sorts of apps onto my iPhone that I actually ended up using on a semi-rare basis. It's like a step above the impulse purchase... you know, when you buy something more because it's a cool toy over actually needing and using it frequently. Not that I don't expect you to make a great product that could be used day-to-day, just that you may want to keep that market segment in mind as well... the App Store is hugely appealing to them.

Just a thought. A reasonable (<$10) monthly fee would be fine by me, were I a user.
 
Nigel Croker said:
Do you honestly believe that Iworks will work first time out, did the origianl Iphone? Do you think the apps a pilot would find useful like plates and GPS in the air are going to be free apps? And I meant can you do a weight an balance on a 152 because the IPad is so large, would you even be able to carry min fuel, with that beast on board...that was a joke about size and weight I could have phrased better....:D
Click to expand...

The bold part: I don't know what that means because I don't think its proper English, but if you're saying "iWork will be flawed because it's the first release of it", I think you're wrong. Why wouldn't it work? iWork is already a popular application in OSX, they are just porting it to the iPad. I'm not saying it won't have bugs. Almost all programs do. But I hardly think its fair to say the app just plain won't work because its the first released version of it. I also don't know what you mean by relating it to the first iPhone. I never had any major software problems with the first iPhone.

I own apps on my iPhone that use plates and GPS in the air for free. I've got others that were like $1.99 or something.

I don't know why you think it's so big, either. I think it's thinner than a netbook, which is the smallest computer around, and I think its about the same width and length as a piece of paper... So in my mind, the iPad doesn't take too much more volume than say a manila folder with a few pages in it.

I think there is plenty wrong with the iPad, but I think you're focusing on the wrong things.
 
Cessnaflyer said:
My NACO charts cost $8 they have a full terrain database, all terminal procedures and enroute fixes. A big pluss is I don't have to charge them!
Click to expand...
Good for you. But I fly in more than one state. Charging the battery while I'm sleeping is much easier than getting replacement charts and replacing the old ones manually.

-mini
 
TXTBOOK said:
I think there is plenty wrong with the iPad, but I think you're focusing on the wrong things.
Click to expand...
Apple needs an ad campaign that somehow makes you feel inferior if you dont buy it, and Im sure they'll use that. I am torn because the Iphone could have been a great tool had it not been tied to the worst cell network that there is, and yes I have ATT, yes they suck, and yes I refuse to buy an Iphone because I'll get locked to ATT for 2 more years. I dont dislike the Iphone, but the Ipad is just an oversized version, nothing real exciting or new. The Iphone will suffice, if they ever get a decent Cell provider. Here is the progression for the IPAD:

1st generation : overpriced, oversized and does not work as advertised.
2nd generation : really just first gen with new software but getting better, but we still give you no choice on internet providers
3rd generation : now we have a device that works, is practical and affordable, although the original owners paid for it all.

Does any of this not ring a bell...those of you that buy first gen WILL get burned, Apple releases things prematurly and has the consumer pay inflated prices to cover the cost of getting it right. Name one Apple product that didnt follow this path...I cant think of one, remember the first IPod.....or the personal computer in the 80's. Hell, even SteveJ knew that 10,000 dollar beast was a dud. He called it the price of advancing technology, or somthing to that effect
 
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