I'm a VFR pilot, just bought 2 Droid X (aka DX) phones (wife and I) at Costco, and am amazed at the great aviation apps and in-flight uses I've already discovered. I've started a thread on this topic at POA (Pilots Of America dot com, thread 40704) and thought it might also be helpful to have one here. I see there are currently five other threads here on androidCentral that came up listed as similar even though I hadn't found them in my prior search, but all have few posts and none more recent than October. Given how incredibly fast the Android scene is moving, I'm hoping this can be a thread with a focus on aviation that's kept updated with new posts. I'm currently keeping the POA thread updated, and welcome help keeping this one updated too.
What I'm personally seeking right now are free VFR apps, but other pilots seem to be looking for good logbooks, IFR apps, EFBs and of course everything else you can imaging. As described on POA, my wife and I flew a 172Q on a looping round trip from SoCA to Canada just after buying our DXs and no time to read directions. Even so, we found them incredibly useful in the cockpit and on the ground. Given that Costco is now selling the DX for $49, that device in particular seems likely to gain many aviation users with its combination of large screen and excellent performance. Add the new Android tablets and all the other great Android devices, and aviation seems like a big growth area for 2011.
I've found it difficult to get useful results searching for aviation apps on the Market. Please share your discoveries on all aviation-related Android apps so we can all benefit from your experience. My current fav is the free OruxMaps (OruxMaps), and I was told by the developer that a new version may be released next weekend restoring the free VFR Sectionals that had been coming from RunwayFinder. RMaps has them now, but lacks the many great features of OruxMaps. Right now I'm using the stock task-switcher (long-press Home button) to use both apps, with gMaps terrain on Orux and Sectionals on RMaps.
Update: I'm disappointed to learn that links here on androidCentral can only be seen by subscribers, so I've edited this post to add names so you can at least search for specific apps on the Market.
What I'm personally seeking right now are free VFR apps, but other pilots seem to be looking for good logbooks, IFR apps, EFBs and of course everything else you can imaging. As described on POA, my wife and I flew a 172Q on a looping round trip from SoCA to Canada just after buying our DXs and no time to read directions. Even so, we found them incredibly useful in the cockpit and on the ground. Given that Costco is now selling the DX for $49, that device in particular seems likely to gain many aviation users with its combination of large screen and excellent performance. Add the new Android tablets and all the other great Android devices, and aviation seems like a big growth area for 2011.
I've found it difficult to get useful results searching for aviation apps on the Market. Please share your discoveries on all aviation-related Android apps so we can all benefit from your experience. My current fav is the free OruxMaps (OruxMaps), and I was told by the developer that a new version may be released next weekend restoring the free VFR Sectionals that had been coming from RunwayFinder. RMaps has them now, but lacks the many great features of OruxMaps. Right now I'm using the stock task-switcher (long-press Home button) to use both apps, with gMaps terrain on Orux and Sectionals on RMaps.
Update: I'm disappointed to learn that links here on androidCentral can only be seen by subscribers, so I've edited this post to add names so you can at least search for specific apps on the Market.
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