After reading some topics on foreflight no longer supporting older iPads, people being forced to update bloatware iOSs and then whole devices…

Thinking back say 6yrs, what real world improvements have been made to the program?

I can think of a few steps back, like removing t/o & ldg performance data and trying to sell it back to us, and the radar taking a dive in quality, but most of the additions in say the last 6yrs don’t really seem like that have been leap forwards


Think my suggestion to users I have talked to about this is, minus downloading nav data, just stop updating and keep your working device, you’re not really missing anything


Can anyone think of any major improvements?

I can't directly answer your question since I haven't really been using it that long. I've been toting it around for longer than 6 years but never really looked at it. The VFR charts made us legal even though we seldom flew VFR.

I recently bought a Scout so I've been using Foreflight quite a lot. Our company also has a small jet and that's all we use for it.

It's a pretty capable system now that I'm starting to use it. I don't know if these have always been there or are new but for the jet, the weight / balance is pretty handy and the runway analysis is getting better. For the Scout ops, having access to Nexrad (or whatever it is) is very useful. That's probably been there a while though I guess. Fuel planning (prices) and METAR is handy too. Again, not sure if any of this is new in the last 6 years though.

Everything on the iPad I have updates automatically and hasn't been a problem so far. It would be annoying if it outgrew the iPad and a new one was required for it to work though. I did what you suggested with an old Jeppesen program but they finally pulled it from us.

I'm sure if you stopped updating the app, you would have everything you needed and more as long as you could update the nav data.

That’s what kinda erks me about this whole iOS upgrade thing. My iPad mini 4 is perfectly fine, I bought it so I can mount it easily in my cramped cockpit. Now Apple won’t let it upgrade past the 16 level. FF follows. It forces people that want the newest and greatest to buy new expensive devices.

I’m not falling into that trap yet, until my iPad no longer keeps up.

If you are using basic VFR charts on ForeFlight you won’t notice much differences to the new bells and whistles that the more expensive options have.

I do like FF, I think they are forced to follow Apples IOS programmings.

So I’d blame Apple for this.

AKJurnee wrote:That’s what kinda erks me about this whole iOS upgrade thing. My iPad mini 4 is perfectly fine, I bought it so I can mount it easily in my cramped cockpit. Now Apple won’t let it upgrade past the 16 level. FF follows. It forces people that want the newest and greatest to buy new expensive devices.

I’m not falling into that trap yet, until my iPad no longer keeps up.

If you are using basic VFR charts on ForeFlight you won’t notice much differences to the new bells and whistles that the more expensive options have.

I do like FF, I think they are forced to follow Apples IOS programmings.

So I’d blame Apple for this.

I hear ya, I’m also reminded of that lawsuit Apple got for slowing devices down

Even flying IFR and kerosine burners, I don’t really notice much of a upgrade from 6 years ago, actually I lost functionality


I wonder if foreflight blocks any of the old old version from updating nav data and charts

Most of the big eye catchy improvements have been on the upper pay level for 3D fly overs, fuel management and stop planning etc. To the mid-grade users though, the performance profiles, W&B, checklist, flight plan filing, and a few others that have been added or improved are really nice. They have definitely streamlined some of the processes. For basic sectional map and plugging in waypoints & viewing traffic, I don't think a ton has changed from a user experience except I've noticed the notifications for hazard advisor and taxiing are less burdensome lately.

The downfall is since being bought by Boeing, everything is more expensive and pay gated and I miss the older radar views.

Legally, I don't believe sectionals are required to be updated or even carried for small non-commercial aircraft but the pilot is responsible for knowing current airspace & conditions pertaining to flight etc. But that's dumb and dangerous so pick the cheapest avenue that does what you want and spend the leftovers on fuel.

Yearly prices comparing just basic use:
Sectionals (Assuming you update every 56 days for 1 section): $56.22
Foreflight Basic: $120
Garmin Pilot Basic: $110
FltPlan Go, XWing, Avare: Free

To the hardware issue, this isn't JUST Apple & ForeFlight. Software always out paces hardware, hardware has to catch up, software & hardware stop supporting older, it's the tech world cycle. I would suggest getting cheaper hardware than iPads and learning one of the free options before I would just go without updating FF; at least you'll know you have updated sectionals and freq's.

Pro Tip: If you are a paid member of NAFI or SAFE you'll get a 33% discount on Foreflight plus some other things. If a Pro Plus or Performance user of FF, you save more than you spend on the memberships.

SugarGnarls wrote:Most of the big eye catchy improvements have been on the upper pay level for 3D fly overs, fuel management and stop planning etc. To the mid-grade users though, the performance profiles, W&B, checklist, flight plan filing, and a few others that have been added or improved are really nice. They have definitely streamlined some of the processes. For basic sectional map and plugging in waypoints & viewing traffic, I don't think a ton has changed from a user experience except I've noticed the notifications for hazard advisor and taxiing are less burdensome lately.

The downfall is since being bought by Boeing, everything is more expensive and pay gated and I miss the older radar views.

Legally, I don't believe sectionals are required to be updated or even carried for small non-commercial aircraft but the pilot is responsible for knowing current airspace & conditions pertaining to flight etc. But that's dumb and dangerous so pick the cheapest avenue that does what you want and spend the leftovers on fuel.

Yearly prices comparing just basic use:
Sectionals (Assuming you update every 56 days for 1 section): $56.22
Foreflight Basic: $120
Garmin Pilot Basic: $110
FltPlan Go, XWing, Avare: Free

To the hardware issue, this isn't JUST Apple & ForeFlight. Software always out paces hardware, hardware has to catch up, software & hardware stop supporting older, it's the tech world cycle. I would suggest getting cheaper hardware than iPads and learning one of the free options before I would just go without updating FF; at least you'll know you have updated sectionals and freq's.

Pro Tip: If you are a paid member of NAFI or SAFE you'll get a 33% discount on Foreflight plus some other things. If a Pro Plus or Performance user of FF, you save more than you spend on the memberships.

I’ll agree the prices are up



For me the 3D stuff is more useful for instructing, kinda good for VFR ops

Fuel and time planning, the free fltplan has always been better

When I last ran the numbers paying the dues for NAFI ended up about the same as full price with FF

If I couldn’t charge work for my FF, I’m not sure I’d keep it these days

One big upgrade for the Canadian users this spring was changing it so we can select radar weather while using ads-b in traffic. Last year if you had ads-b in hooked up it would not allow you to have radar weather. In Canada where we have no ads-b weather we were forced to choose between weather or traffic. So this years has improved to last from my standpoint.