fDeck: Graphically beautiful flight instruments

Change Log

VERSION 2.12


Release date

2023-11-13


Release type

Minor


Release comments

It gives me great pleasure to release version 2.12 of fDeck: flight instruments.

I recently had a request from Daniel B who is a skydive pilot:

"while using the hsi instrument , when I arrive over the waypoint (the drop zone) the cdi needle becomes very sensitive,  as expected with a vor when station passage occurs, which makes navigation quite difficult close to the drop zone. Is it possible to include in the app in future the option to change the cdi needle sensitivity to act as with a gps waypoint in a garmin G1000 or any other gnss unit with a sensitivity of say 0.3 of a NM? (ie. the sensitivity doesn't change during station passage)"

Great idea! This release adds this feature. CDI sensitisation is now an option on both the VOR and HSI instrument settings and this defaults to ON. When you get to within 3km of a station, fDeck will start to desensitise the needle. I've done good amount of testing but would appreciate your feedback when you get an opportunity to try this please?

Other changes in this release are focussed on the map page.

I added the precipitation weather overlay a few releases ago, but I have now additionally added the following new weather layers:

  • cloud base
  • cloud coverage
  • visibility
  • sea level pressure
  • temperature
  • wind speed

A reminder that all the weather overlays are premium features. Surely this is a great time to upgrade?

Another request I received was from Greg S who is a helicopter pilot and he asked if it would be possible to change the map icon to a helicopter to be more representative. Done! In fact, I went a little overboard on this - you can now choose between the following icons: General Aviation, Airliner, Helicopter, Transport, Military and...Spitfire!

I also added the option for you to customise the colour of the icon, and also the history track.

You will notice that I have had to create a dedicated Map Settings page to accommodate the additional options.


Release highlights

HSI/VOR desnsitatisation and additional map weather overlays


Other changes

No changes

Map
  • New weather overlays for cloud base, cloud coverage, visibility, sea level pressure, temperature and wind speed.
  • New icons for airliner, military, transport, helicopter and Spitfire :-)
  • You can also manually choose what colour you want your icon and history track to be.
HSI
  • Added desensitisation option
VOR
  • Added desensitisation option
ADF
  • No changes
Altimeter
  • No changes
VSI
  • No changes
Compass
  • No changes
Attitude Indicator
  • No changes
Flight Planner
  • No changes
Weather
  • No changes
Other changes/bug fixes (non-instrument specific)
  • Map SDK updated
  • Purchasing SDK updated
  • Advertising SDK updated
  • Some small UI alignment/sizing tweeks

I hope you enoy this release, Darren.
[email protected]

Click for details

VERSION 2.9.3


Release date

2023-09-23


Release type

Major


Release comments

Here is a long overdue update to fDeck: flight instruments. This release fixes the OpenAIP layer not working on the map page which I know many of you have been waiting for.


Release highlights

NEW FLIGHT PLANNING INSTRUMENT


Other changes

No changes

Map
  • OpenAIP aviation overlay reactivated
  • Map trail functionality made more robust
  • Map trail clear button added
  • Map now shows flight plan in magenta
  • Map basemap styles updated (new Day, new Night mode)
  • Map weather overlays are now a premium feature (sorry!)
HSI
  • Added AutoOBS option
  • Added Time to station display option
  • Added Distance to station display option
  • Added Slave to planner option
VOR
  • Added AutoOBS
  • Added slave to planner option
ADF
  • Added Slave to planner option
Altimeter

No changes

VSI

No changes

Compass

No changes

Attitude Indicator

No changes

Flight Planner

* NEW INSTRUMENT *

Weather
  • Rate limited the weather API call to max once per minute
Other changes/bug fixes (non-instrument specific)
  • Map SDK updated
  • Purchasing SDK updated
  • Various UI improvements

I hope you enoy this release, Darren.
[email protected]

Click for details

VERSION 2.8.13


Release date

2022-10-29


Release type

Major


Release comments

It gives me great pleasure to release version 2.8 of fDeck: flight instruments.

I have been promising this release for a long time to many people! I am so sorry that it has taken so long to get it out to you. No excuses other than life getting in the way. I build and maintain fDeck as a hobby and really don't get as much time to work on it as I would like.

Once again, this release wraps up a bunch of visible and invisible changes and I hope it will be well received by you all.

As always, if you see anything out of place or something that doesn't work quite right, then please let me know and I will jump on it right away.

There is a potential BREAKING CHANGE for some of you in this release. I have changed the way I generate anonymous device ID's. I am hoping that this will be transparent to most of you, but some of you who have previously purchased the app or have an active subscription might find that you start see ing ad's again. If this happens to you all you need to do is a 'Restore Purchases' from the subscription pop-up, or directly using the option in the app settings page.


Release highlights

  • TWO NEW INSTRUMENTS! I have added a Groundspeed indicator and a Chronometer with fuel totaliser functionality. Both of these instruments use a new rendering framework (based on a 2D rendering engine called Skia) which will form the basis of all new instrumentation moving forward.

  • Map now can optionally show live precipitation intensity

  • Simplified X-Plane connection


Other changes

  • Nav view and edit screens updated
  • Nav info screen updated
  • User stations position entry screen updated
Map
  • Fixed OpenAIP endpoint
  • Map now uses latest v10 Mapbox SDKs
  • Added weather overlay precipitation layer
  • Added aircraft track line
  • Added map scale line
HSI
  • No changes
VOR
  • VOR distance now shows slant distance
  • VOR distance now shows decimal point range
ADF
  • No changes
Altimeter
  • No changes
VSI
  • No changes
Groundspeed
  • New instrument
Chronometer
  • New instrument
Compass
  • No changes
Attitude Indicator
  • No changes
Weather
  • No changes
Other changes/bug fixes (non-instrument specific)
  • User navaid creations now support deg/min/sec entry
  • Picker component has changed design
  • Background carbon image improved
  • Analytics now uses Amplitude (previously Firebase)
  • Crashlytics now uses Sentry (previously Firebase)
  • Ads are now using AppLovin (previously Google Admob)

I hope you enoy this release, Darren.
[email protected]

Click for details

VERSION 2.7.5


Release date

2022-02-09


Release type

Major


Release comments

This release wraps up lots of behind-the-scenes changes, as well as major optimisations of the gesture system and animations. The app is now far less CPU heavy, has even smoother animations and generally feels a lot more polished - IMHO :-)

BREAKING CHANGE: I have changed the message broker for the X-Plane to fDeck app connectivity. This means that if you use fDeck with X-Plane you will need to update the X-Plane plugin otherwise you will not be able to get them to connect to each other.


Release highlights

  • see comments above

Other changes

  • List view should be more responsive
  • Swipe left and right now full width
Map
  • Map now uses latest v9 Mapbox SDKs
  • Animation optimisations
HSI
  • Touch interaction improvements
  • Animation optimisations
VOR
  • Touch interaction improvements
  • Animation optimisations
ADF
  • Heading bug added
  • Touch interaction improvements
  • Animation optimisations
Altimeter
  • Making pressure adjustments is now far more intuitive
  • Touch interaction improvements
  • Animation optimisations
VSI
  • Animation optimisations
Compass
  • Touch interaction improvements
  • Animation optimisations
Attitude Indicator
  • Animation optimisations
Weather
  • Animation optimisations
Other changes/bug fixes (non-instrument specific)
  • App is now built against Android 12 (API31)
  • Status bar is now shown (previously this was hidden)
  • Status bar color changes when using mock/xplane location
  • The ad sub-system has been updated. This has no user noticable impact.

I hope you enoy this release, Darren.
[email protected]

Click for details

VERSION 2.5.2


Release date

2021-08-29


Release type

Minor


Release comments

This release changes the map provider from Google Maps to Mapbox. This enables a more modern API, smoother animations (for the most part) and a better path for new features.


Release highlights

  • see comments above

Other changes

  • No changes
Map
  • Map now uses Mapbox instead of Google Maps
  • Additional map basemaps available - Light, Dark etc.
  • Map now defaults to 'Terrain'
HSI
  • No changes
VOR
  • No changes
ADF
  • No changes
Altimeter
  • No changes
VSI
  • No changes
Compass
  • No changes
Attitude Indicator
  • No changes
Weather
  • No changes
Other changes/bug fixes (non-instrument specific)

The ad sub-system has been updated. This has no user noticable impact.

I hope you enoy this release, Darren.
[email protected]

Click for details

VERSION 2.3.6


Release date

2021-07-29


Release type

Major


Release comments

I am really excited to make this release available to you - it is the culmination a huge amount of new work, enhancements and changes based upon feedback from people like you. I really hope you enjoy it. It does contain some breaking changes. As I have changed the underlying database engine, any previously stored custom stations will be lost.


Release highlights

New layout engine

The layout engine has been completely rewritten from scratch. Following feedback from my amazing users I have simplified the layout to make it far easier to use whilst flying. Gone is the slightly awkward and problematic pan/zoom canvas. Instead there is now two modes, ‘Grid’ and ‘Swipe’. The app defaults to Grid on tablets and Swipe on all other devices. Try each layout out and see which you prefer on your device. You can switch layouts in the app settings. In addition to the new layout modes, a ‘double-click’ interface has been added to each instrument. Double clicking on any instrument will immediately make it fullscreen. Double clicking on it again will return you to the flight deck grid/swipe layout.

New X-Plane connector

You can connect your X-Plane flight simulator to fDeck! Practice using fDeck "in-flight", or use fDeck as permanent external flight deck for X-Plane - the way you use it is only limited by your imagination! fDeck even sends commands to X-Plane to tune nav1/nav2/adf1 and synchronise OBS settings! I must admit that I built the plugin to enable me to better test fDeck without having to go flying. Testing the app is a great excuse to fly I know, but prohibitively expensive! More details can be found on our website, under the X-Plane plugin section, including instructions on how to download and install the plugin.


Other changes

  • now includes complete coverage of US and Canada (previously airports only)
  • database now updated on a monthly cycle
  • premium lounge membership required for updates
  • station list now colour codes stations that are currently tuned
  • all stations now have a valid ident
  • added a radio detune button
  • added option to manually check for cycle updates
  • added instructional video to database info screen
  • added Ad banner to screen for non-premium members
Map
  • map now depicts to/from radials as set by the any tuned instruments OBS
  • aviation overlays enhanced with US sectionals and IFR enroute low-altitude charts
  • added instructional video to settings screen
HSI
  • no longer a 'premium' instrument
  • added option to select the heading source (Auto/GPS/Mag)
  • added instructional video to settings screen
VOR
  • corrected bug whereby the OBS needle sometimes acted in reverse!
  • enhanced responsiveness of the OBS/needle operation
  • added instructional video to settings screen
ADF
  • added option to select the heading source (Auto/GPS/Mag)
  • added rotatable bug to aid tracking/joining a hold
  • reversed arrangement of time to station and distance-to-go to match VOR
  • added instructional video to settings screen
Altimeter
  • fixed numerous bugs around the altitude source
  • added text to display altimeter units
  • added dislay of ambient detected pressure (bottom right)
  • the altimeter knob is now a button and cycles between GPS/STD and baro referenced altitude
  • added instructional video to settings screen
VSI
  • fixed numerous bugs around the vertical speed source
  • option added to select units of vertical speed - ft/min or m/min
  • added instructional video to settings screen
Compass
  • added option to select the heading source (Auto/GPS/Mag)
  • corrected heading bug functionality to rotate with card
  • added indication of sensor source when in auto mode
  • added instructional video to settings screen
Attitude Indicator
  • [IOS] fixed bug whereby 'level' didn't work correctly when device was in landscape
  • added instructional video to settings screen
Weather
  • no functional changes
Other changes/bug fixes (non-instrument specific)
  • splash screen animation
  • updated app intro tutorials
  • redesigned premium lounge screen
  • fixed time to station units to show correct time to station
  • rework of location sub-system to be more reliable on app suspend/resume (esp. on Android)
  • internal database sub-system simplified - no longer using a cloud db - everything is local
  • stability improvements across the entire application (esp. on Android)
  • performance improvements across the entire application
  • enhanced animations - visual effects smoother and utilise less CPU overhead/power
  • application settings page has been grouped and a number of additional options added
  • buttons on each instrument have been made bigger for fat fingers/turbulent environments
  • screen auto-rotate option removed. The app uses a fixed orientation - change in app settings
  • many other minor bug fixes and improvements too numerous to detail!

I hope you enoy this release, Darren.
[email protected]

Click for details

VERSION 1.0.38


Release date

2020-06-03


Release type

Maintenance


Release overview

Wrap-up of numerous bug fixes following initial app release


Release highlights

None - maintenance release


Other changes

  • no functional changes
Map
  • no functional changes
HSI
  • no functional changes
VOR
  • no functional changes
ADF
  • no functional changes
Altimeter
  • no functional changes
VSI
  • no functional changes
Compass
  • no functional changes
Attitude Indicator
  • no functional changes
Weather
  • no functional changes
Changes affecting all instruments
  • no functional changes
Other work/bug fixes
  • corrected analytics event messages
  • fix for map incorrectly driving mock locations
  • smoothed out VOR & HSI needle movements
  • GPS altitude not displaying correctly in altimeter
  • faster map centre on 'locate me' button press
  • floor rather than round wind components on weather instrument
  • enabled smoother scrolling of the flight deck if button initiated
  • [android] database authentication corrected when offline
  • UX: Added subscribe button to instrument settings screen
Click for details