Latest OzRunways

[skippydiesel]

I must be getting old & cranky - I was quite happy with the last iteration of the OR This latest development(s) seem to have just added complexity for changes sake .I find it nowhere near as intuitive for my geriatric brain. Comments ??

 

 

[Thruster88]

I received the email about it but as an Android user i was only excited for a brief moment. Love ozrunways and Samsung.  

 

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

I agree skippy. The more powerful you make a program then the more commands it has to have and the harder it is to make it work.

 

If they would only make a stripped-down simple version then I would opt for it. Unfortunately, the programming people live with the thing and forget about how things have got hard to operate.

 

There is a phone company who advertises a mobile phone with no bells and whistles, all it does is be a phone...  a good idea, says me.

 

 

[waraton]

I spoke to an Oz Runways rep at a trade show last year and asked if they could look at making a version for open frame recreational aircraft with simplified functions and larger flight info to make it easier to read in that environment. I took two things away from the conversation, the first being that it is not a simple exercise and and the second was that is not their target market. 

 

 

[Downunder]

 

If they would only make a stripped-down simple version then I would opt for it.

 

They do. It's called the android version......

 

Come on over to the "dark side" Bruce...?

 

 

[cscotthendry]

I've made several suggestions to the OR people and the answer is always the same; Too hard.

They call themselves programmers, but every suggestion seems to be "Too hard" for them. Then when a new version comes out, I look at most of the upgrades and wonder who would have asked for those.

I have a video editing program that I stopped buying upgrades for because the company continues to add just more fizzy transitions and gimmicky stuff rather than features that make me as a user more productive.

It's a triumph of style over substance.

 

 

[WayneL]

Love the Android version, simple to learn with everything I need as a recreational user! 

 

Wayne.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

My mini Ipad has just died. I have felt the last couple of versions of Qzrunways was starting to get way too complicated. I just want it to be simple not all this erronious info coming up every time you touch the screen. Is the android version much simpler?..I havent seen it as I dont have any android devices. It would be great if the Ipad version had a "simple version" selection in the config. What do others think?..we are not professional pilots is there really any need for all this funky extra stuff.  It seems to me the software writers just want to keep developing the software well past the point of it actually being useful

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

If anyone else thinks the same how about we create a list of just essentials that we want and I will send it to Bas or Rowan and see if they will do a simple version selectable in the config

 

The maps are great

 

also the track north and reversing of track

 

Just need a quick plan option. The info available at airports of course is needed

 

BOM overlay is a must

 

fuel calcs and stuff I dont believe is necessary are really it is just simple maths you do in your head

 

Terrain maps and Lsalt are a must

 

Ersa stuff of course

 

Now thats pretty simple what else do you believe should be in a simple version

 

 

[cscotthendry]

If anyone else thinks the same how about we create a list of just essentials that we want and I will send it to Bas or Rowan and see if they will do a simple version selectable in the config

 

The maps are great

 

also the track north and reversing of track

 

Just need a quick plan option. The info available at airports of course is needed

 

BOM overlay is a must

 

fuel calcs and stuff I dont believe is necessary are really it is just simple maths you do in your head

 

Terrain maps and Lsalt are a must

 

Ersa stuff of course

 

Now thats pretty simple what else do you believe should be in a simple version

 

Mark:

 

This seems to be the "marketer's disease" that more features need to be added with each release to keep sales going. The video editing software I use suffers from the same "feature-itis" and I've stopped buying updates because of that. The software company's response to that is to go to a subscription model. Sound familiar?

 

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

There was a publishing program, like a word processor on steroids, where the manual plainly stated that you need to be using this program all the time or it would be too hard.

 

That manual was unusual. The normal thing is that the manual is written by somebody who is intimately familiar with the software and has no idea that us lesser mortals can get confused when the program does strange things.

 

With Ozrunways, I find the map auto orientation to be strange and confusing, and this is a minor example.

 

Maybe they will one day sell a simple version as well as a professional version.

 

 

[Blueadventures]

There was a publishing program, like a word processor on steroids, where the manual plainly stated that you need to be using this program all the time or it would be too hard.

 

That manual was unusual. The normal thing is that the manual is written by somebody who is intimately familiar with the software and has no idea that us lesser mortals can get confused when the program does strange things.

 

With Ozrunways, I find the map auto orientation to be strange and confusing, and this is a minor example.

 

Maybe they will one day sell a simple version as well as a professional version.

 

Agree. Maybe opportunity for another player in the market.

 

The feature I ask for is to be able to have personal way points with detail and contact formation stored and selected via the document tab were we get the ERSA info about the airport. 

 

 

[Neil_S]

Hi guys,

 

Try the free 30 day trial of AVPlan. It sounds like it has the features you are talking about wrt waypoints (I have made my own within it). I also only use the features that I find useful (eg not the IFR stuff).

 

I find the Head-Up display with stuff like height AGL, altitude, groundspeed, track, and surface wind speed/direction from the nearest airport (if available) useful too. It has ERSA info and weather radar overlay etc. Give it a whirl.

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

 

 

[Downunder]

Is the android version much simpler?.

 

My answer would be YES but you should check it out yourself.

 

Perhaps OR could make a LITE apple version based on the android model.

 

With a bit of luck it maybe even cheaper.

 

I do think OR is moving towards more commercial operators, which is really where the money is I guess...

 

My opinion of avplan is that it is also fairly technical and complex......only from the seminars I have attended......

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Well this is the problem..software writers get carried away with how good they can do things but all it does is make the software more confusing. Just like Scott has said. If you dont use the software on a daily basis then its a big issue. I have found the past updates are just making it more and more unfriendly. Lets face it most of us are old farts and struggle to keep up with technology...the aviation..well rec avaiation is full of old farts. The young ones doing their commercial licence and use it every day probably think its fantastic but for us it just makes me want to go back to maps and my gps...really it does

 

I sent Bevan from Avplan the same question about this issue as I havent used it but again it looks complex on the videos on youtube. Also you dont need the pro version of avplan to get adsb in from say a stratux receiver or something else. ADSB does come in handy and doesnt take any brain power either. KISS  is what we need

 

 

[skippydiesel]

I am slowly coming round to it, after several days of periodic practice. 

 

 

[pmccarthy]

I find the latest update confusing. The last thing you need when flying is to be learning new stuff inside the cockpit. But I still like Ozrunways, liked the older versions better.

 

 

[Downunder]

ADSB does come in handy

 

One thing the android version does NOT have is the ability to show adsb paints. 

 

It has been promised as "coming" for a very very long time. 

 

 

[bushcaddy105]

I picked up the iPad on Saturday morning to plan a short trip and found the new route planning page quite confusing. When I brought up the old-style one leg-one line plan and imported the winds, the wind direction imported made no sense and was contrary to that shown on Windy. When I left the iPad home and flew the route from memory it confirmed that Windy was spot-on. Anyone else had this happen?

 

As another "old fart" (or at least aging), and a VFR only flier, I also am feeling that OzRunways is going the way of Windows 10 - Lots of whiz-bang stuff that is 80+% unused and only confuses the core role of flight planning and flight following.

 

I support the call for an OzRunways Lite.

 

 

[SplitS]

I want the opposite and just upgraded VFR premium for the extra features.  Oz runways is a fantastic piece of software.

 

My mini Ipad has just died. I have felt the last couple of versions of Qzrunways was starting to get way too complicated. I just want it to be simple not all this erronious info coming up every time you touch the screen. Is the android version much simpler?..I havent seen it as I dont have any android devices. It would be great if the Ipad version had a "simple version" selection in the config. What do others think?..we are not professional pilots is there really any need for all this funky extra stuff.  It seems to me the software writers just want to keep developing the software well past the point of it actually being useful

 

The android version will be a steep learning curve if you have to learn the OS. If you have used it before you will be ok but I hate the feature loss. Stick with apple IMHO ipads are generally way better on the hardware side to.

 

 

[WayneL]

I have not seen the iPad version since a bought an iPad 2 , years ago, did install a trial Ozrunways then but have RWY on my Android phone and a Samsung Galaxy Tab since the wife claimed the iPad. Happy with what's in RWY... what's in Ozrunways for iPad won't hurt me if I haven't seen it!!!

 

Found the RWY software very easy to learn and stable on the Android system, never had a software crash or lockup with RWY. Don't know why someone needs to familiar with Android software. Once RWY is installed just click on the icon to open and use.

 

Wayne

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

I want the opposite and just upgraded VFR premium for the extra features.  Oz runways is a fantastic piece of software.

 

Thats no issue as I am sure others would benefit from the extra stuff. I would like a config available to get rid of a lot of those extras...just another mode called " simple for old farts mode"

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

One thing the android version does NOT have is the ability to show adsb paints...

 

I was going to suggest OzRunways should slow down on the fancy stuff and develop a way for us to see all traffic.

 

Does this mean OR can show traffic that doesn't use their system? Did I miss something?

 

 

[Downunder]

I was going to suggest OzRunways should slow down on the fancy stuff and develop a way for us to see all traffic.

 

Does this mean OR can show traffic that doesn't use their system? Did I miss something?

 

If you have an approved onboard "3rd party" device that picks up adsb traffic, then apple OR with premium subscription will show it as well as normal OR traffic. 

 

 

[cscotthendry]

I regularly fly with a group. I thought of (what I thought was) a simple way to identify members of a group from other OR traffic by colouring the little bubbles. I suggested this to the OR people.

Their answer?

"Too hard".

I'm a retired software engineer, so I have a bit of an idea how hard things would be to implement.

This wasn't the first time I got that response from them either. But it will be the last time I suggest anything to them.