We hope you had a great start to 2023. The team has been hard at work the past few months on several major projects, two of which are now ready for you to use.
Today's release is a significant update that includes a revamped menu design, as well as a new Instrument ribbon that replaces the InfoFields. The new ribbon includes features such as ATC now, ATC next, HSI, Bearing to Next, and more.
UI Design
Several menus and tools have been updated to align with EasyVFR's modern design philosophy. Under the hood, changes have been made to allow for workflow improvements in the upcoming months.
Menu Restructuring
Menus have been restructured to group items that are often used together more logically:
Map-related options are now located in the Map Layers menu.
The "System" menu (in the EasyVFR 4 menu) has been renamed to "Preferences" and includes items that you may want to personalize but likely only need to set once.
The "General" menu (in the EasyVFR 4 menu) has been renamed to "System" and includes all system-related items that you typically do not have to verify or change, such as Units, Language, Alarms, and the behavior of the VP and Instrument ribbon, etc.
The country selection has been moved to the Status card -> Data.
The visibility of the Instrument ribbon and Vertical Profile can be set in the EasyVFR 4 menu -> Preferences. "Off" always hides them, "Auto" shows the VP when there is a route or flying and shows the Instruments when flying, and "On" always shows them.
Simple Aircraft Profile
The Aircraft Profile is now also listed in the EasyVFR 4 menu, so that Essential and Live users who do not have access to the Pro Aircraft Profile features can still access it. This allows them to choose a speed that fits their aircraft, making their route calculations more realistic.
Instrument Ribbon
The previous InfoFields flexibility was great but limited us in improving the screen organization because a user could place an InfoField anywhere on the screen. We believe that there is no default setup that fits all flying missions and that each use case requires a unique set of instruments. So we have come up with the Instrument ribbon, which allows you to easily insert or add any of the 29 Instruments to the ribbon. In portrait mode, the ribbon is stuck to the top, and in landscape, it moves to the side. Every instrument has a default color and unit, but for several, these can be customized.
ATC now, ATC next, HSI, Bearing to Next
Some new instruments have been added, such as:
Bearing to Next: An arrow pointing towards the next waypoint and shows time (EET) and distance.
HSI: A nice and clean HSI design is added, guiding you back on to your planned route including time (EET) and distance.
ATC now and ATC Next: Combining the ATC name with the Frequency. ATC next shows the next ATC ahead of your track.
We have many more major projects in the pipeline that we are eager to share in the upcoming months. For now, we would love to hear what you think of the design upgrade and Instrument ribbon.
A full list of release notes can be found below.
Cheers, Team EasyVFR 4
Release notes
NEW: Aircraft Profile now allows to specify the speed to use as takeoff and landing thresholds.
NEW: Simple Aircraft Profiel for Essential and Live users.
NEW: Instrument ribbon added as replacement for InfoFields.
IMPROVED: For each Traffic object received, last 10 location points are drawn so the path flown can be determined.
IMPROVED: Above a certain camera altitude traffic objects will not show text anymore, and the traffic symbol will be scaled with the camera altitude to avoid heavy cluttering of the map when zooming out.
IMPROVED: Support for Android devices with a dual built-in GPS unit.
Downloads
Apple iOS, iPadOS, M1 and M2 macs
Minimum requirements:
64-bit and 2GB RAM. Effectively:
iPad Air 2 and higher.
iPad Mini 4 and higher.
iPhone 6S and higher.
The iPad Mini 5, 6, and iPad Pro perform extremely well.
Sideload: To install you must enable the option: "Allow the installation of apps from sources other than Play store" in Android Settings, Lock screen and Security. Some Android devices require you to tap&hold the link below, then choose [Download link] to store the APK on your device from where you then can install this downloaded APK. https://members.pocketfms.com/WebProgramDownloads/EasyVFR4/EasyVFR4_4.1.318.apk
After downloading the DMG file, open it and drag the EasyVFR 4 icon into the Applications folder. EasyVFR 4 is now available via Launchpad.
When you get the message "EasyVFR4.app can’t be opened because it was not downloaded from the App Store" choose [Open in Finder] from that popup, then right-click on EasyVFR4.app and choose open. Now the same popup will appear, now with a [Open] button.
From there on you can launch EasyVFR 4 from the launchpad without this warning.
With every update, you need to redo step 2.
This topic was modified 4 months ago by Rob Weijers
This topic was modified 4 months ago 3 times by Tim Peter
I have only downloaded the Windows version of the 'new' version so far in order to familiarise myself with it. However I cannot for the life of me find out how to 'Turn off' the Route Profile view. Can you help please?
ist there a possibility to save the settings on the new instrument ribbon? I have modifyed the instruments, but after I cosed the program and restart it, every setting is gone and back to default.
Hi Bob, you can find this setting at the StatusCard, Traffic option:
Please note that this setting only works when in flight mode. When not in flightmode EV4 will show all traffic regardless of vertical seperation. This because we got too many support emails from users thinking their traffic device was not working because there was no traffic visible.
ist there a possibility to save the settings on the new instrument ribbon? I have modifyed the instruments, but after I cosed the program and restart it, every setting is gone and back to default.
Any Idea?
Thank you
PS I am using Apple IPAD
Hi Konrad,
That is weird, these settings are persistent, so they should not get lost at a restart of the app. To be honest I have no clue whats going on, all I can suggest at the moment is try the [reset to defaults] option once to see if that maybe clears things up.
I did what you saying and reset it to default several times but it is still the same. Weird, because from time to time the one or other changes are saved the other time not. Most of the time if I just change one parameter and restart the program, it is there. If I change more than one thing, no chance, it will be not saved.
I also tried with another IPad and it is exactly the same effect.
Can you post a screenshot of the instruments ribbon you setup and then refuses to save? Maybe it has to do with a specific instrument; maybe when I setup the same ribbon I can reproduce it here.
here are two screens- 1st without a new Instrument, 2nd with the new one. After Restart, the new one is gone. But this is not specific to a instrument, it can be anyone.
Hi Konrad, A picture says more then a thousands words 🙂 I found it, when a change to the instrument ribbon is made and the use closes the edit screen by tapping on the moving map (what is more used when in landscape) then the changes are not saved persistent. I fixed it for the upcoming version; in the mean time, close the Instrument Ribbon edit screen by tapping somewhere on the white space on the edit window itself, then it will save ok.
More and more NOTAMs are coming with regards to drone operations. These NOTAMs often are from GND to 500ft. By having Minimum effective altitude set to 500ft all NOTAMS that have an altitude upper limit of less then 500ft will be automatically hidden.
another question to the new Ribbon; I made a few flights and I realise, the ALT-AGL is always N/A. At the old version it works- to you know why?
Thank you
Konrad
Hi Konrad,
I just checked my iphone, and there ALT AGL works fine. Could it be your tablet/phone does not have a 3D position fix yet? An exact location is required to get the terrain elevation from the terrain database downloaded to come to the ALT AGL. That's the only logical explanation I can think of at the moment....
what I did..- I installed the previous version with the old instruments- ALT AGL works on all devices. New ribbon, ALT AGL N/A. I also tried Sky Demon on all devices, ALT AGL works fine.
Below you can see a snippet of my ipad in my plane- I hope you can see it?
I think it can not be an issue on the used device.
To be honest I am a bit confused. In a few days version 4.1.319 will be available, and I double checked that one does show correctly ALT AGL on all devices and platforms. I propose we wait for that version and see what that does on your ipad ?
Try clicking on a location on the VPV, then on the moving map the corresponding location should get marked using the hexagon symbol, and from then on you should be able to slide that hexagon on the VPV back and fourth.
as promised, the status and result after the new Beta Version. Alt AGL is still not working. I have installed the official release on the same device and all works fine.
Hope this issue will be solved in the next release version
Hi Konrad. I managed to reproduce the AGL problem, and its fixed in upcoming beta.
Regarding R144 not in the left bar, I don't understand exactly what you mean, sorry. I compared my 4.3.320 with the currently official 4.1.3, and both show the R144 and R164 stacked on top of eachother in the left side of the airspace window, and both versions look exactly the same. Can you maybe post the screenshot how you get it in 4.1.3?
thats great news about AGL Fix. I found out AGL are working if you planing a route- if no route is displayed, it does not working. But if it is fixed in the next beta, it is great.
RE- Restricted Area -
Maybe difficult to explain. Here are two pictures. a) Green circle = If no overlapping the EDR144 would be displayed as it should (It starts at FL75)
Picture with red circle- the restricted bar is not correct if there is some overlapping with other Restricted areas
2. in your red circle, you are looking at EDR 164. But you have cut off this information. The EDR 164 starts at 2500 AGL (!) which makes the altitude vary according to terrain.
EDR 144 will be on top, with no airspace in between. So the bar goes from 2500 AGL to FL100.
I try to make it more understandable. I clicked on EDR144 (FL075-FL100) everything would be displayed correctly.
If I click into EDR164 (2500-FL100) everything went wrong. The restricted bar starts at 4000ft (should be at 2500ft) and the overlapping EDR144 disappeared.
When testing this latest version in flight I noticed that when approaching EDDG the incorrect (tower) frequency is displayed in the instrument ribbon. There it showed 129.800 but the correct frequency is 129.805. See attached image for a screenshot taken in flight.
When testing this latest version in flight I noticed that when approaching EDDG the incorrect (tower) frequency is displayed in the instrument ribbon. There it showed 129.800 but the correct frequency is 129.805. See attached image for a screenshot taken in flight.
Kind regards, Chris
Hi Chris, I passed this on the the AeroData team, consider it fixed asap
I try to make it more understandable. I clicked on EDR144 (FL075-FL100) everything would be displayed correctly.
If I click into EDR164 (2500-FL100) everything went wrong. The restricted bar starts at 4000ft (should be at 2500ft) and the overlapping EDR144 disappeared.
Best Regards,
Konrad
Hi Conrad, check Leif's reply above. EDR164 is 2500FT AGL , not AMSL. Because terrain elevation is 2200ft, EDR164 starts at 2200+2500=4700ft AMSL.
![IMG 0811[1]](https://easyvfr4.aero/wp-content/uploads/wpforo/attachments/4/1267-IMG08111.PNG "IMG 0811[1]")
![IMG 0812[1]](https://easyvfr4.aero/wp-content/uploads/wpforo/attachments/4/1268-IMG08121.PNG "IMG 0812[1]")
