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Something for a future version when there's nothing else to do: Think about all the many things that iFly does and perhaps declutter?
For example, I suggest that iFly could remove the Setup and History Main buttons. They could be replaced with more important functions (if necessary) or eliminated altogether to give a little more room on the chart.
My thinking is that the Main Buttons should be used primarily for in-flight functionality, as is already done for "North Up/Track Up" and "Map Mode." Setup is generally not used in flight and is more logically accessed via the Main Menu button.
If there is a function that is under Setup that does need to be accessed frequently in flight, then it either ought to have its own dedicated button or be regrouped with a different Main button so that it's only two clicks away. (For example, History if kept, might be better placed under Flight Plan.)
I bring this up simply because I've observed how features often get grandfathered into systems (and are hard to remove) simply because "we've always done it that way" or "that's just how we did it the first time."
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There may be a way to declutter, but right off I'm not a fan of your first two suggestions. You may not use Setup or History while you're in flight, but I do, and I would rather not add button presses to get to something I need in flight.
On some of my flights, the History button gets pressed more than any other.
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That's fine. That's what the forum is for.
I had asked earlier if others had a use for the History button. Didn't hear from you then.
I never use the History button, so apparently I'm missing something. Personally, I don't think in terms of "History." If I need to go back and get something I just had, I call it up the way I did the first time. (Muscle memory.) At best, I could handle a "toggle" screen in iFly, where I flip flop back and forth between current screen and what I just had. But any more than a flip flop is too much for my tiny brain. So if they changed History to Toggle, would that work for you?
This is like sharing clever Garmin GPS tricks. Can you give me a typical scenario where you use the History button? (It would be fascinating if iFly could save a playback log, whereby users could upload their screens and button pushes after a flight so we could play back a flight on a simulator (at 10x) and see how others use it.)
When I worked for Cessna ages ago, we developed deluxe COMMS with 3 storage locations for frequencies. I found it hard to mentally keep track of what was stored where. In the end, most of us simply flip flopped between two frequencies like King.
As far as Setup is concerned, it would only be one more press to get to Setup from Menu, but would free up some of the interface. Please, what do you typically go to Setup for in flight?
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The last few flights I've pressed Setup a lot, but after thinking about why, I may not have been _using_ it as much as just exploring the new v9 and getting familiar with it. I could probably live with that one going away, though it doesn't bother me being front-and-center, either.
I didn't participate in the History discussion because I thought enough people piped up that my response wasn't necessary. I fly IFR and use the iFly as my EFB for charts. Either before I launch or during flight (usually a combo of both), I typically open the destination Airport Info, Airport Diagram, and what I expect to be the most desirable approach charts, so that in flight I can get to all those quickly via the History button. I might also queue up alternate airport info/charts, or if my destination doesn't have on-field weather, airport info for nearby and/or en route airports with weather reporting. For VFR flights I do the same thing, but the list of items I care about in my History list may only be 1 or 2 in that case, whereas I might have 2-10+ items in there for an IFR flight.
If my destination is flexible, I might have multiple potential destination airports and be checking weather at all of them, or monitoring my fuel status and will select my landing spot en route based on consumption, etc. Still want them all handy as I'm making my decisions.
So no, a toggle button that only kept "the last thing" would be a crippling of the History function and would not be an improvement for me.
I don't want to have to scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll all the way over to my destination airport (or zoom out, zoom out, zoom out, then zoom in, zoom in, zoom in after I'm done) every time I want to look at TAFs/METARs from that part of the map. The History button saves me from having to do that. Also keeps me just two buttons away from important charts I want to keep handy.
A paper analog would be like keeping the whole giant book of charts on your copilot seat, and every time you wanted to refer to a chart, you had to open it up and flip through them all to find the one you want, vs. pulling out the ones you're likely to want and snapping them into your kneeboard, with handy tabs so you can flip right to them. Why would anyone ever choose to do it the hard way?
As hard as it is for you to understand how others use the History button, it's hard for me to understand how others are NOT using it.
Guess it's what makes the world go 'round.
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Joined: 1/1/0001
Posts: 0
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There is no reason to eliminate the History button. There is sufficient room to add other things, if needed, without deleting useful functionality.
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