Ideally precisely as implemented by ForeFlight, the main difference is that SimBrief caters to the online flight simulation community by providing live ATIS for VATSIM, PilotEdge, etc., and also access to world-wide Jeppesen charts (without the tremendous expense in ForeFlight). Huge pluses for Navigraph Charts, but useability in Navigraph Charts is currently (last I checked) not up to part with ForeFlight. I very much hope it is soon!
Hello! Thanks for posting.
Could you elaborate on what a “tight integration” would look like, and how it differs from what is currently available?
Kind Regards,
Malte
Sure, gladly. First, please allow me to express how impressed I am with Navigraph’s combination of SimBrief and Charts. Unlike ForeFlight EFB, I can get valuable information specific to flight simulation, such as ATIS for online networks, including VATSIM and PilotEdge, plus export flight plans along with the ability to directly interface with various add-on aircraft (plus a few other simulation-specific features I will not enumerate here).
I think to truly understand and appreciate the “tight integration” provided by ForeFlight EFB (compared to the SimBrief / Navigraph combination) you would need to obtain a subscription to ForeFlight Professional Performance Plus (optionally with the Jeppesen Charts add-on) and take the time to dive in and really learn it on an iPhone and/or iPad.
Invaluable features include the Flights tab (at the bottom), where I create my routes selecting RW routes available as suggested routes on the Route section of the Flights tab. I greatly appreciate that ForeFlight displays the actual number of times a route has been cleared by real-world ATC. Typically, the most popular route is the best route, but depending on weather (which is displayed on a map built into the Route section), a different route may be better. Alternate routes are displayed on the map and brightly lit up whenever its corresponding route is selected in text format. ForeFlight also performs fuel calculations with the right subscription level. These features are also available in SimBrief, but they are currently not built into in the Navrigraph Charts app. The Flights tab n ForeFlight EFB tab also links to airport / procedure charts (either regional – FAA in the U.S. – or Jeppesen if subscribed) where weather, digital ATIS, frequencies, etc. are all provided.
Again, you would really need to use ForeFlight EFB to appreciate how well integrated the whole “electronic flight bag” experience provided is in ForeFlight. It’s a near-perfect presentation of what is currently available as two separate systems in SimBrief and Charts. I would use it exclusively (instead of alongside SimBrief) if it had the flight simulation-specific features to which I alluded above.
Please know, though, I do realize Foreflight is a product of a corporate giant (Boeing) with tremendous resources, plus it carries a premium price tag due to its real-world application (including the ability to file real-world flight plans), and therefore it may be difficult for Navigraph (as good as you are) to compete feature-for-feature.
I hope this helps.
-Tim
Thank you for the writeup!
Hmm, so am I understanding you correctly in that you want more of the planning features of SimBrief directly implemented in Navigraph?
We do have performance-related features on the roadmap for the future, which would include SimBrief-powered planning inside of the Charts application to get various performance calculations directly inside our app, but it does not sound like that would completely cover your expectations…
I know I told you to elaborate and you certainly delivered on that, but could you instead do a summary of more concrete features that you would wish for? Based on your previous post, it sounds like some of them ideally should end up in dedicated topics based on their complexity and scope. Something like:
- More detailed auto-routing function with multiple suggestions from online networks and Simbrief
- …etc
Note
ATC-related features are not easy to accomplish in the simulated world, since there are many different networks - all with different levels of possible integration. Please consider this - we cannot control what information online networks expose to us!
Looking forward to your response!
Kind Regards,
Malte
Hi SkySail,
Currently I am following the “path of least resistance" by using ForeFlight EFB along with SimBrief. The two together provide nearly all the functionality I need (except perhaps a ready way to obtain Digital ATIS from online ATC networks from a real-time Charts app that I keep open all the time in my cockpit, like I do ForeFlight EFB on an iPad).
Although I would really like to see Navigraph Charts take off and become as feature-rich and as operationally user-friendly as ForeFlight EFB (it would save me some $$$ if nothing else), it is not within my realm of possibility to assist by providing a concise (and lengthy) list of specific feature requests. For one, I do not regularly use Navigraph Charts – I mostly maintain my subscription to in a small way help fund its development – and two, I cannot participate on a consistent basis due to my extensive travel schedule.
My suggestion to you and the Navigraph development team would be to dedicate a developer or product engineer, specifically a real-world (or highly proficient simulator) pilot who can fly IFR, and further preferably also ATP, to use and immerse himself or herself in the ForeFlight EFB app, particularly by duplicating real-world flights in a simulator as so many sim pilots are fond of doing. ForeFlight supports linking to a simulator for moving maps, which is helpful, but I personally do not feel the need to use it to simulate a real-world ATP flight where onboard navigation systems perform the same function inside the sim. ForeFlight EFB’s learning curve is not ridiculously steep, and the insight gained from “knowing the competition” would be invaluable to Navigraph’s future development.
As I travel with an iPad and ForeFlight EFB, I could provide ForeFlight usage tips, if requested. I do have access to a real-world ATP/CFII relative in the USA who uses ForeFlight EFB for his ATP job. He has himself given me guidance learning ForeFlight. I could relay questions to/from him, as necessary. It is up to Navigraph’s development team, however, to decide how best to integrate planning features, etc., into your Charts product.
Best of luck!
-Tim
We do aim to improve our product as much as possible, adding features that bring our users as close to the real thing as possible. As you already understand, though, we can’t immediately create all the features that ForeFlight has built over many years in the industry with a fraction of their workforce, it will take time! Some things like navlog, vertical radar, map ruler, scratchpads, and annotations among many others are already on the roadmap, and I’m sure there will be more to come.
Since we can’t do it all in one go, we rely on our users to voice their opinions and expectations of the development of our products. In this forum, that is mainly handled in this Wishlist section - which already has a bunch of suggestions that are similar to ForeFlight features.
We’d be much more interested in particular features that catch your eye, and that you believe would fit well into the simulator world! I have flown with ForeFlight VFR in real life, among several other “EFB-like” apps, and the main things that I used are pretty much all planned for future updates to Navigraph Charts!
It sounds like you want the feeling of using Navigraph Charts to move in the same direction as ForeFlight, which means that you are comparing us to (in our eyes) a giant. We like that, and we do have a shared interest in achieving new levels of realism. Unfortunately, we need to take smaller steps before we get there, and the order of those steps is decided by the priorities of our users. So please do let us know of any such concrete features that you would like, and we’ll move in the right direction together!
Kind Regards,
Malte