Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
By GAFlyer4Fun
#1386617
Keef wrote:...
It's a pity, though, that Apple is making so many mistakes these days. It makes me very leery of buying a new iThing, with Android stuff so much more configurable. Part of that is that the 8.3/8.4 TaiG jailbreak flatly refuses to work on my iPad despite doing all the right things.


It is an imperfect world as these things get more complex.

I originally went the Android route rather than the "i"-thingy route as it seemed to have more freedom, flexibility and I might even get around to writing my own apps etc. I also checked the SD specs before I got my android device.

Android upgrades also breaks stuff. One of the upgrades ended up killing my battery in a few hours so I spent quite some time trying to work out what it was but it had turned on every possible energy zapping feature of the smartphone. Power saving mode did not help!
Being in a weak signal area for most networks doesn't help either.

Anyway, I am migrating to the I-thingy as I am fed up with the android Maps stuff regularly crashing in the Navigator app, and they have tweaked the settings in later releases so I have less control over what it does/does not show on the map.

Another reason is SD wont run reliably on my S3 although to be fair I have not tried it for at least a year. The S3 has been the recommended android smartphone for SD for a number of years.
It works great on some but not on my actual handset even with no non-standard apps on it so it doesn't get any easier than that.

It must be a nightmare trying to develop reliable software for android. Having said that, I once knew a software developer that had written his own iphone app and also went on an Apple i-developer course in the US. He came back certified, but rather overwhelmed by it all.

I thought about getting a nexus tablet for SD but others have said its not suitable.

So I have my first i-thingy being delivered tomorrow. Will be interesting which iOS version it has.
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By davey
#1386618
I'm currently trialling SD on my Nexus 7 ( 2nd gen ) and having no problems whatsoever.
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By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1386619
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:I thought about getting a nexus tablet for SD but others have said its not suitable.


That's a myth. I've been using SD on a Gen 2 Nexus 7 for just under two years now.

It's absolutely fine; amongst other long journeys I've been to Friedrichshafen, Bordeaux and Zurich (and back!) with it. e.g.:







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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1386623
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:I thought about getting a nexus tablet for SD but others have said its not suitable.


In what way?

Remember there are two generations of Nexus 7, with the new (2013) one having a faster processor and a higher resolution and brighter screen. The old one (2012) seems to work fine for most things but it isn't as fast. I have a 2012 just for flying stuff, whereas my 2013 is general purpose.

The good thing about Android is that if an update breaks something, it's relatively easy to go back to a previous version of the software!

I've no reason to update any of mine past Android 4.4 though.
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By Gertie
#1386630
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:It must be a nightmare trying to develop reliable software for android.

Well, there's stuff you have to learn and rules you have to follow, as for any other platform, but the tools (and even documentation!) are quite reasonable, particularly given the price.

No, I don't find it a nightmare, there are plenty of vastly worse platforms out there.
By Rusty Spanner
#1386631
Don't listen to the fanbois, I've used a nexus 7 for Skydemon (first generation) for 2 years now, it's been great, I have an Ipad Mini also, the display is better, but not that much better to justify the price.
By GAFlyer4Fun
#1386645
Just to be clear, I am not saying every nexus will have problems with SD. Some work great as the above posts have shown. Others guys have been less fortunate - see posts by PeteS and Hatz over the last couple of months for examples (search for nexus) and they have gone back to Ipads.

Similarly when I was getting trial period SD support from Tim and trying to resolve problems with my S3 a couple of years ago, mine was the only example of an S3 that he knew of that was having problems. He has plenty of happy customers using an S3. I know SD has improved since then, but I just don't trust my particular S3 for this purpose (it is also unstable with the built in android navigator on the roads even after downloading the newer version in case that fixed something).

I am over generalising, but to me this just seems typical of android - some devices of same make/model work great with an application and some devices have problems from time to time. I don't need the distraction of an app crash in flight whatever platform it is running on.

I don't tend to hear of similar issues with Ipads apart from an iOS update earlier in the year causing problems with GPS.

Anyway I am going to try something non-android for a change as I don't know how many android devices I would have to buy to eventually get one that always works well with SD.
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By Gertie
#1386651
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:I am over generalising, but to me this just seems typical of android - some devices of same make/model work great with an application and some devices have problems from time to time.

It's an open platform. Different devices will have different apps, services and other Carp running on them, some of it of unknown quality. Some of it stuff you've put there knowingly, some of it pre-loaded bloatware, some of it stuff your kids put on it when they got hold of the device, and so on.
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:I don't need the distraction of an app crash in flight whatever platform it is running on.

So your best bet is probably certified panel mounted kit.
By GAFlyer4Fun
#1386674
Gertie wrote:...
It's an open platform. Different devices will have different apps, services and other Carp running on them, some of it of unknown quality. Some of it stuff you've put there knowingly, some of it pre-loaded bloatware, some of it stuff your kids put on it when they got hold of the device, and so on.

Yes I accept that point. The S3 I bought was a new unlocked sim-free handset to minimise bloatware etc.
Gertie wrote:...
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:I don't need the distraction of an app crash in flight whatever platform it is running on.

So your best bet is probably certified panel mounted kit.

There is the problem, syndicate aircraft and nobody can agree what to fit due to cost as most of them have gone down the personal gps solution so don't want to fund panel mount certified gps kit.