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iPad support?

CaptainMike707
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aivlasoft

aivlasoft

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Hi,

 

EFB requires the Microsoft .net-framework installed on the target computer. Since the .net-framework is not running on any Apple products, EFB will not run on an iPad. Sorry.

 

I fully understand that the iPad is a nice tool for many things, but I guess that a second monitor for EFB is much cheaper than an iPad ;-).

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  • 2 weeks later...
Clipper

Clipper

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Sorry to hear that. iPad is perfect for an EFB.

A second touchscreen is actually not so cheap, and not so easy to get a hold of.

Only ones I know of is Lilliput. Hard to get anywhere and a much more expensive solution than the iPad which can be used for so much more than just another screen.

 

Have to look somewhere else then I guess.

 

But how about android?

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GG_Flyer

GG_Flyer

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This message is just my "2 cents" written as a .net developer on my own.

 

.net development for either iPhone/Pad or for Android would probably have to use one of the Mono environments from Novell (MonoTouch or MonoDroid.). There'd be some differences in the UI - I'd imagine that not all user controls in the EFB DisplayUnit would run under Mono.

 

It is bad that there's no "Express-like" development tools to even test or prototype such development. MonoTouch is 399USD for a one year license per developer and I'd guess MonoDroid would be similar. IANAA(Apple)Dev so I'd have no idea how distribution would occur - would an AivlaSoft DisplayUnit for iPad® have to be sold through the Apple AppStore??

 

What it would all come down to is, how large would such a market be - the market of FSX owners who would pay a premium to use their iPad/Android device as a front end for EFB? Now contrast the size of such a market against the number of FS9 owners who would pay for AivlaSoft EFB for FS9®. After all, FS9 development would only require a non-SimConnect connection from the DataProvider... plus a few other non-trivial tricks.

 

There are several unknowns that would have to be addressed here first. I am not hinting at an FS9-focused EFB, nor am I pooh-poohing an Android/iThingy-focused EFB. If the demand in numbers were there for either option, then such an option could (I'm not saying would) occur.

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  • 1 month later...
Andydigital

Andydigital

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Ah you are kidding me, I bought Maxivista last night while I was in bed with my iPad :lol: but it has no touch screen facility it just extends the desktop to a second display for iPad. I had read many places that Air Display was a Mac only program, this now no longer appears to be the case, I can't believe I've wasted £5.99 and not even run Maxivista yet, lol. Thanks for the tip though Rob.

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Andydigital

Andydigital

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Hi guys just a quick update on this thread.

 

Air Display does work quite well but with a few provisos. You have to start FSX first otherwise it throws up an error, it says that the graphics card is not supported. This happens because direct X is disabled by Air Display, so starting FSX first gets around this problem and Air Display continues to function normally once you launch it . This causes one major problem though, it stops you from dragging the gauges from FSX to the Air Display screen.

 

Other Windows applications and EFB work amazingly well though, the iPad screen is a little on the small size but it's better than trying to use small net book.

 

Maxi Vista was a complete waste of time though, every time you dragged an application to the screen and it would crash, well not every time but quite often, so avoid it at all costs because it doesn't have a touchscreen facility either unlike air display.

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RMdeVries

RMdeVries

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Hi Andy,

That's a quick 'review'. ;) Thanks. Could you make a photo of the iPad with the software running ? And the screen resolution of the iPad is 1024x768. I've seen a photo with that setup with a FMS. I believe the AivlaSoft needs a larger resolution to work nice with.

 

Rob

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Andydigital

Andydigital

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OK here are the screen grabs directly from the iPad, you can capture screen shots just like you can in Windows, just hold the sleep and home button briefly together to capture.

 

IMG_0023.png

 

IMG_0024.png

 

IMG_0025.png

 

IMG_0026.png

 

IMG_0027.png

 

IMG_0028.png

 

IMG_0031.png

 

IMG_0029.png

 

As you can see almost every page is perfectly readable on the iPad, the only one that is very cramped is in the last image above.

 

1. You cant see the zoom or full screen buttons anymore because its so cramped, it would be nice if you could customise which buttons will display, the cursor arrows aren't really needed on a touch screen, you just click with your finger where you want to centre the screen on.

 

2. One button or short-cut key we could do with is to toggle the FIS display on and off, sometimes it can get in the way when using EFB with an iPad.

 

3. Toggle the status bar on and off in the options, every pixel counts on the iPad.

 

I must say I'm very impressed with the 1.2 update to EFB, I've been using if far more since the update came out, so thanks.

 

EDIT: Just had a thought why not have a hidden toggle for the FIS display, something simple like clicking somewhere in the clock box in the top left hand corner of the screen :)

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aivlasoft

aivlasoft

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Hi Andy,

 

the screenshots are looking quite impressive ... and all is running on the iPad ;-).

 

I will try to address the items that you mentioned with a next version. The idea with "buttons to choose" sounds very good - and hopefully it is simple to implement ;-).

 

Thanks!

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GG_Flyer

GG_Flyer

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Andy,

 

Those are all excellent suggestions; thanks!

 

Urs and I were talking several hours ago and I believe we have a few more ideas for his ever-growing to-do list that would help in supporting screen sizes such as you're using. I won't tip our hand though until Urs has time to do some code exploration. (Which might be week or two off - he's been hard at work on this version for many months.)

 

Regards,

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pasterke

pasterke

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Posted

Hi all,

 

just starting with the demo-version of EFB : it's just fantastic.

I'm considering to buy an iPad : in fact a good touchscreen also costs between 300 and 400 dollars and is not easy to get here in Belgium.(even 400-500 dollars). So the choice is easy.

To Andy :

thanks for testing Air Display: that convinced me to move on with EFB, it is a must have with a touchscreen.

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pasterke

pasterke

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Hi guys just a quick update on this thread.

 

Air Display does work quite well but with a few provisos. You have to start FSX first otherwise it throws up an error, it says that the graphics card is not supported. This happens because direct X is disabled by Air Display, so starting FSX first gets around this problem and Air Display continues to function normally once you launch it . This causes one major problem though, it stops you from dragging the gauges from FSX to the Air Display screen.

 

Other Windows applications and EFB work amazingly well though, the iPad screen is a little on the small size but it's better than trying to use small net book.

 

Maxi Vista was a complete waste of time though, every time you dragged an application to the screen and it would crash, well not every time but quite often, so avoid it at all costs because it doesn't have a touchscreen facility either unlike air display.

 

Just received my iPad today and I must say the combination EFB/Air Display works like a charm :D

No problems here with FSX : I do not have to start FSX first: maybe because I run EFB on my laptop (not the FSX machine)

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pasterke

pasterke

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As you can see almost every page is perfectly readable on the iPad, the only one that is very cramped is in the last image above.

 

1. You cant see the zoom or full screen buttons anymore because its so cramped, it would be nice if you could customise which buttons will display, the cursor arrows aren't really needed on a touch screen, you just click with your finger where you want to centre the screen on.

 

2. One button or short-cut key we could do with is to toggle the FIS display on and off, sometimes it can get in the way when using EFB with an iPad.

 

3. Toggle the status bar on and off in the options, every pixel counts on the iPad.

 

I must say I'm very impressed with the 1.2 update to EFB, I've been using if far more since the update came out, so thanks.

 

EDIT: Just had a thought why not have a hidden toggle for the FIS display, something simple like clicking somewhere in the clock box in the top left hand corner of the screen

 

 

just to confirm the above remarks from Andy

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  • 4 weeks later...
Andydigital

Andydigital

Posted
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For anyone who has tried to use the iPad with the actual Gauges in FSX and failed please read my findings that I posted over at AVSIM a short while ago, I'm pretty pleased as you may be able to tell from the post, lol.

 

Some good news on the iPad/Air Display and FSX front, I've figured out how to keep the gauges working (they no longer turn black when dragged to the iPad) with a sneaky and simple workaround. All you have to do is make sure a couple of pixels from the gauge remain on the main display. Here is a picture to illustrate what I mean, its a screen capture of just the bottom right hand corner of my main monitor, it really is a small price to pay aesthetically to get the gauges working with FSX and the iPad.

 

iPadAirDisplay.jpg

 

As long as you leave these few pixels in place on the main display the gauge remains visible on the iPad and you can resize your windowed undocked gauge so that it fits nicely on the iPad screen in Air Display. It works a treat and the touch screen functions perfectly :Big Grin:

 

I've only tested it with the ACARS/moving map gauge that comes with FS Flight Keeper so far, but I tell you its almost as if that gauge was made to work with the iPad/touch screen, it works wonderfully.

 

And another tip, if you use the external FPS limiter with FSX then you have probably noticed that when you enable a second screen/monitor that the frame rate drops in half exactly. The simple fix is to double the frame rate limit and all is well again. So if you normally lock your frame rate at 30 with the external fps limiter simply set it to run at 60fps instead and in FSX it will actually still run at 30fps.

 

I've even used the same trick with the FSX ATC window so it pops up on the iPad screen instead and I can choose the options by directly clicking on them with my finger rather than using the mouse, its brilliant :biggrin: Just remember to assign a button on your joystick or yoke to hide the ATC window when you have finished with it and Bobs your uncle your back to the other gauge again.

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  • 4 months later...
beckerm13

beckerm13

Posted
Posted

I just recently purchased and iPad2 and the AivlaSoft EFB software. Since this topic is several months old, I was wondering what, if anything, has changed in regards to using the EFB on an iPad? I assume that Air Display is still necessary; are there improvements that affect iPad use now that the version of EFB is 1.3.1 and version 1.2.1 was the last version mentioned in this thread?

 

Danke vielmal für die super EFB Software!

 

Tschüss!

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