ForeFlight packs in new features

A June 26 email to current users announced a slew of improvements and enhancements, including the ability to toggle aeronautical chart details on or off, flight delay notifications, enhanced route planning capabilities, terrain and obstacle alerts, and fuel planning enhancements. The updates were also detailed on the company website, with embedded videos that explain many of the new features and capabilities in detail.

ForeFlight has long been the market leader in aviation apps for Apple’s mobile devices, and constant innovation has helped the aviation software firm withstand (and, arguably, squash) challenges from competitors large and small, as AOPA reported back in 2015. A steady drumbeat of improvements has been maintained since, and version 10.1 includes a long list of new features and enhancements. Subscription prices have held steady, meanwhile, ranging from $99.99 per year for the basic plan that includes all tools essential to VFR and IFR pilots, with enhanced features available at $199.99 for the Pro Plus plan, or $299.99 for the top-tier Performance Plus plan.

The version 10.1 update includes flight delay notifications that are pushed to users via email when traffic management initiatives impact a filed flight plan. Aeronautical maps can now be instantly de-cluttered with a finger tap, allowing users to filter out unneeded labels and overlays. Trip Assistant (available through a web interface for Performance subscribers) helps users plan door-to-door travel, with traffic delays factored in. The fuel planning features have been refined to more easily switch between policies and update target values, another feature included with “Performance” plans.

The hazard advisor (available with the Pro Plus or Performance Plus plans) provides automated alerts when approaching obstacles or terrain, and the synthetic vision view (also available at Pro Plus or Performance Plus subscription levels) now includes larger airport markers, and the ability to access detailed airport information with a single tap in the same way this can be done with the map view.

Routing decisions are also made easier with a more sophisticated graphical route advisor that supports user-defined altitude constraints and generates a more tailored route recommendation. That, the company notes, will in turn increase the likelihood of instrument pilots hearing the magic words “cleared as filed.”

There’s more to version 10.1: Users with Sirius XM SXAR1 receivers can now overlay detailed freezing level layers on the map; a new transition altitude alert feature provides audio and visual callouts when climbing or descending through a transition altitude; user-defined waypoints can be easily added to the map and incorporated into a route; and ForeFlight MFB customers can now access weather data used by the U.S. Air Force and Army.