At times we have to let go of the old to allow room for the new. Technology is evolving at a rapid pace as everyone knows, Apple comes out with a new operating system annually along with new devices, Google the same, and desktop platforms are picking up the pace as well.  It's certainly an exciting world to be in the software business but in order to take advantage of the amazing new technologies we have to cut ties with the older technologies.  We strive to maintain compatibility with older platforms as much as we can but with users adopting new technologies faster these days this gives us more leverage to bring you new and exciting features without affecting too many.

Starting with the next update of APDL which we are soon sending to Apple for release version 7.1 to you, iOS 8.1 will be the minimum required version.  We launched Jan 4th, 2015 with iOS 7 support due to the slower than usual adoption of iOS 8 but now with the adoption over 70% we feel confident now is a good time to make the transition.

Logbook Pro Mobile for iOS will also set a new minimum of iOS 8.1.

Logbook Pro Mobile for Android will move to a minimum requirement from 2.2 up to 4.0.

Logbook Pro Desktop will drop support for Windows XP.

What does this mean if you are using an unsupported platform as outlined above? Nothing - you will be able to continue to use the software that you currently have installed.  It will continue to function as is.  You simply will not be able to upgrade to the next version until you have the required minimum supported version.

With our next mobile updates we will now support 64-bit iOS fully which is a requirement by Apple - we are in final testing of our new 64 bit architecture.  Logbook Pro for Android's last update added support for Google's new ART platform and 64 bit support so it's taking advantage of 64 bit now.

The Status Board is your central hub of information as an airline pilot and one of the favorite features of the APDL Beta Team helping us develop this exciting and very useful area of APDL.  The Status Board is INTERACTIVE and completely customizable as outlined in the documentation allowing you to tailor the status board. You can tap the widgets and go directly to update a flight, view legality, or swap information such as the clock from UTC to Domicile. As outlined above tap EDIT (#1) on the upper right and add/remove widgets to tailor each of the three flight phase boards to your desired configuration.

As shown above, when in EDIT MODE click (#1) the green + to add available widgets or the red minus to remove a widget. (#2) shows drag handles that you can tap and drag up or down to set the order of the widgets. When the configuration is complete tap (#3) DONE on the upper right to save your configuration.

APDL is flight phase aware, it knows when you're On Duty, Blocked Out, or Off Duty. Tap the header to switch flight phases as desired, it will turn yellow to indicate that you are not viewing the current phase that APDL detects you're in.

By default APDL will open to the Status Board as your central hub of information and interaction. You can have the app resume to your last used screen if desired by changing the setting in Settings / General. Explore the Status Board, tap the widgets, see what it can do for you and you'll learn how nicely this integrates with your daily use of the app. Have ideas for new widgets? Click here to see what other's suggested or add your suggestions to the list for our review.

For those waiting for your chance to live the dream as an airline pilot, that time is now! We have seen a dramatic rise in turn-key print jobs, binder sales, and we are loaded with data entry jobs getting paper or airline company logs transitioned into Logbook Pro. We are working as hard as possible to keep up with the demand and thrilled to see the change in times over the past too many years of airline pilots waiting for their opportunity.

This article won't go into the detail on prepping for an interview as there are several articles in prior newsletters that already outline this from the AirlineApps.com report to using the Analyzer to slice and dice your times, military conversions, etc. Instead, click here to go to the newsletter archive on our community forums then click "Search Forum" just above the forum threads, right side. Type in "interview" and search and you can view all of our prior discussions on interview preparation and how we can help.

Don't wait until the last minute as far too many do. Click here and get your turn-key print job started now, you can always use the turn-key follow-on service later to add the new flights and refresh the ancillary reports later.

For career pilots the most popular binders are the Full-Size and Commander series.

Don't have your data in Logbook Pro yet? We offer a data entry service to do the hard work for you.

We are here to help, contact us and let us help you get ready for your interview today.

Hopefully you will never have a need to restore a prior backup, however, it is a very simple process should the need arise. Note that backups in Logbook Pro Desktop are NOT automatic. You can set options in Options/Backup dialog to prompt you to backup on exit or a time interval which we highly recommend. In addition, keep a history of backups, do not overwrite the last backup with your new backup. Backup (.BAK) files are small and you have the option to backup to your computer or use Cloud Backup to backup to NC Software's servers for a safe off-site backup which is highly recommended in the event of any catastrophe from computer failure to a stolen computer.

Assuming you have at least one cloud backup which you can view in your backup portal at any time by visiting http://nc-software.com/backup you can restore a cloud backup in one of two ways:

1) Within Logbook Pro click the menu item as shown above "Restore from Cloud..." which will take you to a dialog that will list your available cloud backups from which you can choose then restore.

2) From the backup portal directly by clicking the "globe icon with an arrow" which downloads your .BAK from the server. You can then click File...Restore .BAK file... from within Logbook Pro and choose the .BAK file or if you're setting up a new computer click the RESTORE option on the New/Open/Restore dialog.

For more information click here to view the Logbook Pro Desktop documentation.

As our home page states "Beginning a new Era..." we have only scratched the surface on what's to come in the new APDL FAR 117 app for airline pilots for Apple's iPhone and iPad platform. A three year effort with the last year accompanied by over 60 airline pilots in intensive testing and development we established an amazing platform for the new era of APDL. With a rock solid platform already available on the App Store in version 7.0.8 we are just about ready to send off the next significant update, version 7.1 which we hope to have available mid-March.

APDL 7.1 is fully 64-bit compliant taking advantage of the full potential of Apple's ARM64 powered devices such as iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad Mini with Retina display and other recently released Apple devices. 64 bit is the way forward with both Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) and we are excited to continue bringing you leading edge software of the highest quality and reliability. I won't list the details of the exciting features to come but know that your next update is just about ready and we are moving right into the next phase of our plan immediately thereafter. Our Logbook Pro team is hard at work on the APDL to Logbook Pro sync coming out in the next Logbook Pro Desktop update very soon.

Don't forget to review the complete APDL documentation available to learn how to get the most out of your app and also communicate with other APDL users on our public forums to ask questions or search and learn from discussions already on the forum.

We are beyond excited with APDL and cannot wait for the exciting new features to evolve that we have planned. Keep your suggestions coming as all of our products evolve from your feedback. Thank you all to those who have contributed already.

Don't have APDL installed yet? Click here to install and start your FREE 90 DAY TRIAL today.