See live traffic, current and recent flights, get a METAR or decode any airport code globally.
Click the LIVE menu on the AvTraffic website.
ADS-B Exchange has a new interface that reduces the time delay of displayed aircraft positions.
Extra detail for selected aircraft includes the closing time if the aircraft is closing plus its bearing and distance. The closing time is coloured blue, yellow or red as per the map symbols. On the map, see the aircraft's prior track.
Use a pinch gesture to zoom the traffic display. Use the zoom buttons to zoom to preset levels.
When you use AvTraffic while flying, don't forget to select your aircraft and select active (ACT) mode.
Use the toolbar buttons at the top right to select your aircraft and mode. Refer to the app's Help tab for more.
Please note that after upgrading to iOS 14, you will be asked to permit AvTraffic to "Access devices on your local network".
This is referring to the connection AvTraffic requires to send traffic information to AvPlan or OzRunways. You need to allow this in order to continue to send traffic between apps.
You will get asked the same question when you first run OzRunways or AvPlan and you need to allow this for them too.
You can change this in Settings/Privacy/Local Network.
On the status view you can now see the METAR for the nearest airport that has one.
Please note that METARs are only updated hourly and as such may not be the latest for the given airport. The information is provided for reference only and must not be used for making operational decisions.
The app is now using the QNH to convert between GNSS and pressure altitude internally.
The pressure altitude is now displayed as a flight level (Fnnn).
The EFB interface for sending traffic now uses the GDL90 protocol exclusively. The old dump1090 protocol is no longer available.
This means that the EFB configuration steps defined for previous releases is no longer necessary.
AvTraffic is now able to send traffic to any EFB using the GDL90 protocol.
This is great if you're a new user because you won't need to configure OzRunways or AvPlan with the special IP address as previously documented.
However, for the time being, you will need to go to the Options view in AvTraffic and switch on "Use GDL90 for EFB".
In the next release, GDL90 will be standard for all users.
PS - Don't forget to select active (ACT) mode when you're flying.
External ADS-B receivers report pressure altitude. Because of this, EFB apps need to adjust altitudes for local QNH.
In the past, AvTraffic has always dealt in GNSS altitudes and passed them directly to the EFB app.
In this release, AvTraffic now converts GNSS altitude to pressure altitude before passing it to the EFB app so it ends up being correct.
In order to do this, AvTraffic uses available ADS-B data from from nearby aircraft. You can monitor this on the Status View.
This month, Geoscience Australia in partnership with FrontierSI, University of Otago and RMIT have started investigating the issues and challenges to enable precise positioning for smartphones.
Over the next 2 years, they will be working toward obtaining centimetre-level positioning on mobile phones.
At the moment the team is going through a process of deciding which phone to test first and will be looking at how to manage data quality. Stay tuned for more developments as they come.
From July 16th, VFR aircraft in Australia not equipped with ADS-B Out will be able to use Electronic Conspicuity (EC) devices such as the Sky Echo 2 which sells for AU$900.
This will allow VFR aircraft in class G airspace to be seen by ADS-B In equipped aircraft including AvTraffic users.
Read about the Sky Echo 2 here.
Only bug fixes in today's release.
The traffic monitor in V3.4 and earlier creates traffic alerts based on distance alone.
Now, based of the aircraft's speed and track, it becomes a high alert when the closing time is less than a minute instead of a distance of two miles. If it is tracking away, no alert is raised even if it is close by.
If you have connected audio, the alert is spoken using a speech synthesizer instead of just a tone.
The spoken alert takes the form -
"Traffic - [distance in miles] [clock bearing] high/level/low"
The new history view shows the departure and destination points and times and the distance travelled.
The old aircraft selection button has been split into two, one to select the current aircraft being flown and a second button to select the mode - Active or Standby. This makes operating the app more like operating your transponder.
The Start/Stop button has been removed and both the Filter and Orientation buttons are now on the left.
Lastly, you can add a description to your aircraft. For example if you fly an AP22, you can set the description to "Aeroprakt Foxbat" which should be more meaningful to other users.
What's new in V3.3
We are looking for volunteers to host ADS-B Exchange feeders in Australia.
If you are interested, please take a look at their website.
V3.2.1 restores the nice alert message you get when you say "Never" to the request to access your location.
AvTraffic requires access to your location "While Using the App" even if you're not sharing (standby) so it can show you nearby traffic and airports. When you are sharing (active), it shares your location with other users as well.
To change this setting, go to Settings/Privacy/Location Services, select AvTraffic and choose "While Using the App".
What's new in V3.2
What's new in V3.1