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Logbook Pro
April 2011 Newsletter:
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Logbook Pro for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad 2.3.3 released |
Over the past few weeks we published a few updates
to our popular Logbook Pro app for iPhone, iPod
touch, and iPad. We just added some new
features you may want to use that doesn't even
require you to purchase the app such as our handy
new Time Calculator which can be used to help you
check duty times if needed. The latest version
of our FREE universal app is 2.3.3 and is available
on the
Apple App Store. If you haven't
installed this latest version I highly encourage you
to do so now and enjoy many exciting new features,
great stability and reliability improvements, and
much more. I'll highlight some of the changes
for you below.
Version 2.3 brings a new input system for Out,
Takeoff, Landing, and In "OOOI" time fields.
No longer do you need to fiddle with the iPhone
spinning wheel date or time selectors. Tap the
"Tap to set" area and you'll see a -/+ button to
adjust the date as needed and a 24 HR format time
input. You can tap the X to clear the time if
needed or tap into the time field to edit it as
desired. This makes the inputting of date/time
much faster and the system won't allow you to enter
an invalid value such as 9999 as it's smart and
knows the proper time formats making sure you don't
enter errant information which would be sloppy on
our part as developers.
Pilots have long requested a way to log flights "By
Day" like in APDL instead of By Leg which is the
preferred and highest fidelity way to log flying.
To help pilots tally up the total duration for all
of their flights in a single day we created a Time
Calculator. It converts an interval pair
(start - end times) into a decimal presentation of
the time for use as the duration in Logbook Pro.
The feedback was extremely positive and the gears
were obviously turning so people asked if we could
take this one step further and provide the total
"minutes" for them in a HH:MM format. Easy
enough, we added the HH:MM for each individual leg
and also at the top in blue for the entire set of
intervals. So not only can this Time
Calculator be used for a summary of flight time but
you can use it as a crude duty time calculator as
well.
For users using iOS 4 you're aware of the new
On-Demand sync capability where you can sync from
anywhere in the app by either doing a two-finger
vertical swipe or a double-tap in non-data areas.
Some may want to disable this functionality and
stick to the traditional Sync button on the home
screen or Sync on Start or Exit functionality.
If you're using iOS 4 you'll see the "On-Demand
Sync" settings on the bottom of the
Settings/Synchronization screen to give you complete
control over this functionality.
We believe in bringing information to you, not
having you chase down information such as what's the
latest version, etc. We realized people don't
know how to check for app updates on their iPhone or
iPad or don't check often enough as apps evolve
rapidly and I personally check the App Store Updates
area daily for app updates. The problem is
even worse on the Android side so we decided to
build in the same application update notification
system we use in Logbook Pro PC edition to help you
keep up with the new features (and ehemm, fixes).
This feature went into the 2.3.2 update and we just
pushed out 2.3.3 with some more new goodies so this
is the first time many of you got to see it in
action. Once every 24 hours we'll poll our
servers for a new update notification and if a newer
version is available you'll be notified as shown
above. Tap YES to be taken to the App Store
where you can download the update and keep your app
in top form and enjoy the new features and squashed
critters. If you
don't want to be notified of application updates you
could turn off the Update Notification system within
the Settings area but we highly discourage anyone
from doing this.
We added two more "interval" options for you.
"Next Flight" allows you to specify the default time
between the last flight's IN or Landing and the next
flight's OUT or Takeoff. We also added an "Out
to In" interval for those that don't log Takeoff and
Landing which specifies the time (in minutes) for
the IN to be based off of the entered OUT time.
We received more great feedback that people really
liked and relied on the "now" blue buttons from the
prior system. So we added one more option at
the top of the Intervals section "Use Intervals" and
when set to OFF the current time (local or GMT as
set) will be the default time for you and the
interval system will be bypassed.
If you're not enjoying these new features be sure to
go to the App Store and download Logbook Pro today.
The app is free and if you want to enjoy utilities
such as the Time Calculator you can use this without
ever having to pay a dime, not even the cloud sync
subscription - so enjoy!
Want to be notified of new releases? Be sure
to subscribe to our
Logbook Pro Revision History forum and you'll be
notified of new posts we make, i.e. software
updates.
Click here to subscribe to the APDL and Airline
Schedule Importer revision history forum as desired. |
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Announcing Logbook Pro Watch Edition 1.0 - a complete stand-alone logbook for your watch! |
Announcing the new, innovative, completely stand-alone,
fully featured, amazingly functional, pilot logbook solution
for your watch! What, you don't believe me?
There it is, pictured above right before your very own eyes!
:) Okay, it is a joke but a lead in to a very
important concept pilots must understand and that is making
the right choice in maintaining your pilot logbook records
that will last a lifetime and present minimal risk of data
loss.
Can you imagine if someone stole your flight bag with your
logbook(s)? It's happened! What happens if your iPhone
drops out of your shirt pocket and into the toilet?
It's happened! What if an iTunes update wipes out your iPad and/or iPhone? Can happen! What if your computer crashes or gets a
power surge from an electrical storm and completely fails
and all data on it is lost? Yes, it too has happened!
What if the free web site you're using decides to pull the
plug and has no obligation to you since it's free? It
certainly could happen! Our article last month on
disaster preparedness is so important especially in
light of the storms that produced tornado's in the south
just last week.
None of us want to lose our logbooks, our flying career is
very important whether we are student pilots, military
pilots, airline pilots, sport pilots, etc. I'm willing
to bet that you keep pretty close hold of your paper
logbooks and take special care not to tear pages or misplace
them because they are important to you, right? It is
just as important to make the right decision in choosing
your electronic pilot logbook as well.
Nothing sickens me more than to read articles on other web
sites with titles such as "Emergency" "Lost Everything"
"It's all gone!" "Where's my data" - it is sad to read but
it does happen! It is important as a software company
to ensure your data is safe and produce solutions that are
not going to jeopardize your hard earned flight history.
We, as developers, have to know the limits of platforms and
be responsible and make smart choices on how to use those platforms reliably
and not produce a product that cannot be reliably used for
the purpose of maintaining such important records as your
logbook.
In the image above the concept portrayed is if you could
have a complete stand-alone logbook on your wrist watch
would you? Is that really a smart thing to do? I
don't think so either. Is it really a good idea to
have a complete stand-alone logbook on a device that is
really not designed to handle the records of a pilot with 30
years of flying under his/her belt? Devices typically
have a "Lite" database which are not highly reliable, they
are not designed to handle a lot of information and are
prone to corruption. Think hard before you trust any
"device" with your logbook by itself. This is why we
purposely design our device products to be extensions of the
main product such as Logbook Pro PC edition which offers you
backup capability, full analytical and printing capability,
etc. While devices are getting more powerful, are
devices reliable enough today to trust with your valuable
records all by itself? That's your call, I'm sure you
can find plenty of people that spent weeks and months
inputting years of information to suddenly lose it all with
no way to retrieve it. Extremely unfortunate!
We see a similar problem with people choosing a free logbook
on the web before they pay a small fee for a logbook they
have in their possession for life or pay for a web based
solution. Paying does mean something and that money
may very well be what keeps your logbook existing. People don't realize
that signing up for a free service means that service has no
obligation to you, period! In addition, does a free
web logbook really provide you the features and
functionality you'll need some day in the future? What
about printing a hard copy of your logbook? What kind
of fidelity are you going to lose when transitioning between
one logbook and another solution? Choosing the right
logbook is a very very very important decision you need to
make as it is a solution you should stick with for the
duration. Be sure to do your research prior to
purchase, explore the vendors complete web site including
their support areas and see what others are reporting.
Don't fall victim to hype or false information leading you
into making a decision that you'll regret later.
Think long and hard when choosing your logbook solution,
hopefully this article can open your eyes on how important
this decision may be to you someday. With Logbook Pro,
serving the aviation community for over 13 years, rest
assured your data is safe, your information is accurate, and
reliable.
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Are you logging ASEL, AMEL, Complex, etc.? You shouldn't be... |
Have you created custom columns that look like the
ones in the image above? Are you creating
columns for aircraft category & class type
information in Logbook Pro just because they exist
in your paper log? As the title of this
article suggests: "You shouldn't be..."
Logbook Pro is designed to produce the most accurate
flight logbook solution for you. Because we
have the power of the computer at our disposal there
are things we can do that you can't do in a paper
logbook. Duplicating the duration into other
columns such as Airplane Single-Engine Land (ASEL)
or AMEL or other aircraft attributes such as
Taildragger, Retract, etc. is not necessary and just
opens up the door to making mistakes. The less
you have to input the better chance the information
will be correct. Options / Aircraft is a very
important area of Logbook Pro. Each Aircraft
Type should be configured completely and as
accurately as possible.
Let's take for example the ASEL column most are
familiar logging in a paper logbook. When you
make an entry in Logbook Pro and choose your
Aircraft Type and enter a Duration Logbook Pro can
do the rest. We can take this duration and
apply it to other attributes of a pilot's logbook
that mirror the duration such as ASEL.
Therefore when you start using Logbook Pro you'll
see that the columns typically placed within the
Aircraft Category & Class section of your paper
logbook are missing -- because we don't need them in
Logbook Pro. When you run a report such as
Reports / Flight Log / Split-Reports / Commander &
Full-Size Series you'll see these columns DO appear
and they match your duration and are generated based
off of your Options/Aircraft configuration.
Logging these values in your own ASEL column will
not be used by Logbook Pro and may just confuse you,
so this is why.
So now what, you created custom columns, how do you
get rid of them? In the image above you can
see the Custom section of the Options area where you
can create custom columns. If you were to
simply clear the ASEL text out of the box the data
will still remain in the database. If you were
to come in later and use spot 1 for something else
say "NVG" then you would pick up all of the times
from your ASEL entries - not good! The right
way to remove a custom column is by clicking the
black X just to the right of the text box.
This will not only clear the caption for you but
also purge the database of any values that may have
been entered into this position previously.
We discussed this topic in our
May 2007 newsletter article but we're seeing
this crop up again and we want to help you keep the
most concise and accurate logbook solution possible.
So don't be one of those "over logging" as you don't
need to work this hard. Enjoy Logbook Pro and
the power of automation. Want to read or
search our archive or prior newsletters?
Click here. |
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Airline Pilots: We need your schedule/trip system point of contact for new integration |
To all of our airline pilots:
We want to continue to provide you the best possible
airline schedule importer and give you the most
accurate information available for your pilot
logbooks and managing your airline information.
In order to make the process of importing your
airline schedule information as seamless and
effortless as possible, we would like to arrange
direct integrations with your schedule/trip
provider. In order to do so we need a point of
contact to reach out to your trip source. If
you could please send an e-mail to
feedback@nc-software.com and include a
name, e-mail, phone number, web site,
anything to help us get in touch with someone that
provides you your trip data we would greatly
appreciate it. Thank you for your assistance
in helping us establish point of contact
information. |
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Using the Import Wizard repeatedly? Take advantage of map files |
The
Import Wizard is a powerful tool to allow
Logbook Pro PC edition users to import TAB or COMMA
delimited files. In some cases you may
repeatedly use the import wizard such as importing
files from a PDA product or airline schedule source
that may not work with our
airline schedule importer.
The Import Wizard has a feature I'd like to bring to
your attention which may save time for those that
use the Import Wizard to import data that has the
same format every time. I use this feature any
time I'm importing data as if something isn't just
quite right and I want to re-import, it saves a lot
of time. The feature is the "Template" system
as you can see on the bottom of the image above.
Once you have all of your columns mapped (checkboxes
checked) you can click "Save Template" and a .map
file will be created. This .map file remembers
what columns are to be imported and the destination
columns within Logbook Pro. When you use the
Import Wizard next time and you are SURE your data
has the exact same column order, you could click
"Load Template" and load the .map file. It
will then check the columns exactly as you did
previously and set the destinations the same.
Review the configuration and click "Import >" to
complete the process. For more information on
use of the Import Wizard to import TAB delimited
text files or CSV files
click here. |
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Logbook Pro for Android Development Update |
It's funny how a few years ago people were beating
down my door asking for an iPhone app. Finally
we have an awesome rock-solid app for iPhone and
iPad so we try to take a sigh of relief and this
little green monster (shown above) is now stuck on
my office window! I'm not sure who put it
there but I have a feeling it's one of you!!! :)
It is fascinating how far these smartphones have
come, it wasn't that long ago Palm and Pocket PC's
were the big thing and they are still around but a
new generation of smartphones is here to stay.
I personally own a Motorola Droid X and while the
transition from my iPhone 3GS was a little
tormenting from all the Apple hype and brain
washing, I have grown to "really" like this phone!
The larger screen, great display, solid Motorola
phone, I have no plans of changing devices anytime
soon. So it's just as exciting to me to
support Android as much as all of you that keep
reminding me "Android" at every turn!
Logbook Pro for Android is what is in development
now and it's coming along great. The Android
platform really is fascinating from a developer
standpoint and I'm excited for the opportunity to
give you the final announcement of its release.
As the name implies, it is "Logbook Pro" and it is
not APDL. Just like the iPhone app it is NOT
meant to be an APDL replacement. It is an
extension of Logbook Pro PC edition with advanced
features over our Palm and Pocket PC PDA Companion
products. For airline pilots needing duty time
tracking, rest requirements, etc. you should
continue to use APDL even it means keeping an extra
few ounces in an "airline calculator" that APDL has
become.
The interface for Logbook Pro for Android will
resemble closely the iPhone app as will our Windows
Phone 7 app when we get to that next. We want
to keep these three devices as closely aligned as
the platform allows. This will allow people
transitioning between devices to be familiar with
the product and its features without having any
significant new learning curve to deal with.
This also helps us from the developer perspective in
keeping functionality aligned from a code
perspective.
Thank you to all those that answered our call to
Android developers
forum thread to see what hardware
you're using. We are going to set a min
operating system cut-off at Android 2.2. I'm
sorry for those using 2.1 or earlier but there are
reasons we have to use 2.2 as our baseline which
covers most of the devices released as of the past
1-2 years. Logbook Pro for Android should also
work on the Android tablets coming out but we'll
take it one step at a time. As for cost, our
plan is to do the exact same as our iPhone and iPad
app, the app will be free and you'll pay a low cost
cloud sync subscription instead of paying for the
software which could end up costing more in the end
having to buy it again with each major upgrade we
release. This has proven to be a successful
solution for both us and our customers and based on
the usage of our iPhone and iPad apps it is a great
measure of the success of this way of doing
business.
I'll share more when there is more to share but I
expect things to remain quiet until essentially the
product is ready to be released. We have a
private beta team already established and based on
what we learned from the iPhone app process we hope
for a rock solid Android app at the time of release.
Thank you for your continued patience. It is
not my desire to be first but instead be the best. |
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Product |
Version |
| Logbook Pro PC Edition |
1.11.2 |
| Logbook Pro
Universal App for
iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad |
2.3.3 |
| Logbook Pro Palm
Companion |
1.10.5 |
| Logbook Pro Pocket
PC Companion |
1.10.16 |
| Airline Pilot's
Daily Aviation Logbook - Palm OS |
6.0.4 |
| Airline Pilot's
Daily Aviation Logbook - Pocket PC |
6.1.4 |
| FlightCentral Route
Browser |
2.2 |
| Airline Schedule
Importer |
8.3 |
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Click here to download updates as required.
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