ForeFlight Release Lets Pilots Multitask

ForeFlight released its 12.4 version of the multifunctional flight planning app on May 26, 2020, with a selection of new features that bring feedback from customers into reality. Among the updates: multitasking for iPad, and global traffic (via internet) from FlightAware.

New iOS multitasking allows users to run apps side by side on the display, in a splitscreen mode—but it is only supported on the iPad, not the iPhone version. To view two apps side by side, both must support multitasking—such as Safari. While running the another app, the user swipes up about an inch to open the iOS dock, which is normally seen on the home screen. By tapping and holding the ForeFlight icon, then dragging it to the side of the screen the user wishes to view it on, the user will open the app in splitscreen mode. If the app doesn’t open this way, the underlying app doesn’t support multitasking. Though it may seem like a small thing, the mode took a lot of effort on the team’s part to get it in play—and it makes a big difference when looked at from the viewpoint of cockpit logistics. One projected use? To run the timer on the clock app side by side with ForeFlight. A demo video from ForeFlight demonstrates this and other new functionality.

Other new features include the availability of Internet Traffic from FlightAware to stream live global air traffic, allowing the pilot to analyze airport activity and check on flight status. According to ForeFlight, Internet Traffic is tied to the same Traffic map layer used to display ADS-B traffic, and that layer is now accessible any time the user has an internet connection on the ground. The layer will automatically switch to showing only ADS-B traffic when it’s connected to an external ADS-B In device.

The team also applied a layer of simplification to a number of commonly (and infrequently) used features on the app, including the development of a compact menu that can be accessed via the More tab, and which keeps you on the page you’re currently viewing. Other, less-frequently-used tabs now appear as “modals” the pilot can quickly dismiss by swiping down from the top—such as Downloads and Settings. Checklist and Logbook tabs now open into a full-screen, double-column layout to better utilize the screen real estate. The Frequencies, Services, A/FD, and More tabs have been combined into a single Info tab, and the Forecast Discussion is now nested under the TAF section.

All updates noted are for both the non-European and European versions. For more information, visit ForeFlight.