Altimeter for Aviators
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Support
Please go to the Help screen to see how to use Altimeter for Aviators.
Free/Hobby project:
Contrary to popular belief, an App like this only brings in a bit of pocket money. It is not a business. Revenue is around 1000 dollars per year. This is a side hobby and interest for me. I earn my living as a classroom teacher. The time I have for supporting this App is sporadic and not always when expected. I am not an Apple employee or paid by Apple. In fact, I pay a yearly subscription and commission percentage of all sales I make to Apple to be able to appear in the App Store. So please be mindful that this is basically a genuinely free App with a very cheap in-App purchase - it doesn't come close to the price of the device you're using or the kind of equipment you're used to in an Aircraft. And it's certainly not somehow supported or subsidised by Apple (the opposite in fact). Please do feedback here to alert me to problems and help me keep Altimeter for Aviators as a usable and useful App - but please don't expect the service or response rates that you should from Apple regarding your hardware, it's operating system or from the manufacturers of expensive cockpit equipment. I'll do my best to respond, but sometimes Altimeter for Aviators needs to wait (possibly for a few weeks in some cases), as other things can have a higher priority.
iOS 17.4 major issue
The iOS 17.4 release stopped Altimeter for Aviators working entirely
Version 2.5 fixes this and is now available in the App store (released on 25th March).
Update: Unfortunately, there are some reports that the fix doesn't work in all cases - if you're still having problems, please check you're definitely running version 2.5 of the App:
In the iPhone App the version number is shown at the bottom of the Options screen. In the watch App it's at the top of the far right screen, before the 'Tips'.
Please also check on your phone in Settings - Privacy and Security - Motion and Fitness. Altimeter for Aviators should appear as an option there, and permission needs to be switched on.
Details:
In iOS 17.4 the Barometer now requires user permission. BUT, in iOS 17.4 an App trying to use the Barometer doesn't trigger the necessary permissions screen, or even trigger the code in iOS to make it an option for the user to select in the privacy section of settings. iOS 17.4.1 has come out quickly on the heels of iOS 17.4, but this still doesn't resolve the problem. With help from other developers online, it appears that requesting your step count does trigger the necessary permission, which then covers using the Barometer as well as your step count, and maybe a whole lot of other motion and health data??? So the new release for Altimeter for Aviators now uses that work-around, making a request for your step count. It does nothing with the data and immediately deletes it, but doing so prompts the necessary screen to make iOS think Altimeter for Aviators needs to be given permission by you for Motion detection. The Barometer previously wasn't part of the group of motion features requiring permission, but since iOS17.4 now is, so permission needs to be given, yet this was impossible to give, unless using other features (such as step count) due to an oversight/feature of the iOS 17.4 release.
Apple has been formally notified of the bug, but as yet I have still not had any response. If you use your favourite search engine to search for iOS 17.4 barometer you will find several reports about this bug in various forums, and some of these suggest Apple has acknowledged this and that a fix will be forthcoming.
Anyway, thank you to all those customers reaching out to me to alert me to the problem, particularly using the feedback form below. Apologies for taking a while to figure out what was going on. It's been a stressful week. Also, apologies to those customers who have reached out to me using the App Store review process but not had any response, or at best a slow response. Unfortunately, Apple appear to be overwhelmed at the moment. I have responded within a few hours of receiving your reviews, but my first reply was only approved, 4 days after the original post.
Lastly, to any of you who have left 1-star reviews. I understand, and certainly don't blame you. I also thank you for the heads up. But please do consider changing these back to higher stars now the App is working again, and appreciating that the cause of the fault was a bug in iOS, not Altimeter for Aviators. There are also a couple of new features I've added in the Watch version, to make the most of the release process :) These are evident at the bottom of the settings screen.
FAQ
| Q: My Watch is not as accurate as my phone. | A: The latest OS appears to include automatic Watch pressure sensor calibration which should gradually improve accuracy over a period of 3 to 4 weeks. Failing that, in the latest Altimeter release (2.4.1), there is a new settings page where you can calibrate your sensor. |
| Q: I bought the 'VSI' in-app purchase, but it isn't recognised on my Watch. | A: On your phone go to the Options (Opt) screen and press 'Save'. This will cause all settings to be resent to your watch. |
| Q: How do I change from mb to inHg on the Watch? | A: Do a 'Long touch' on your watch to bring up a Menu. This allows you to change the units. Alternatively swipe to the settings page. |
| Q: Can I lock the pressure setting on the Watch? | A: Yes. Do a 'Long touch' on your watch to bring up a Menu. One option is 'Lock' which locks the pressure setting to prevent inadvertently changing it. Alternatively swipe to the settings page. |
| Q: Can the complication display my altitude? | A: No. The complication is purely to provide a convenient 'launch' for the Altimeter App. It is worth noting that Watch complications are not permitted to run frequent background tasks or update their display more frequently than once every 10 minutes in an ongoing fashion. Such a poor refresh rate could be dangerously misleading so is better to not have at all. If you find an alternative App that provides altitude data within a complication, you should be very cautious about its accuracy. |
| Q: My watch just shows a red display (indicating 'no reading'). Any suggestions? | A: Things to try: - Ensure your watch is fully charged and not in a power saving or emergency mode (which disable the barometer). - Try another app that uses the barometer in case the barometer on your watch has an issue. - Ensure the App has been open long enough for the barometer to respond (10 seconds is normally enough. 30 seconds should be ample.) - Unload Altimeter from watch memory to force a restart by pressing the power button and swiping on the Altimeter App. Once gone, restart it. |
| Q: What is the cost of VSI? | A: It depends on your currency. To enable VSI you need to use the iPhone App. Choose 'Opt' and 'Buy VSI'. This will show you the price and give an option to buy. Once purchased, your linked Watch will also get VSI. So a single purchase. |
| Q: How fast does it refresh? | A: About once per second once active. It can take 3 or 4 seconds for the barometer to switch on and start generating readings initially though. |
| Q: I have difficulty swiping after locking/unlocking on the watch App. Any tips or suggestions? | A: Try swiping in one motion. Start to move your finger in a swiping movement before touching the screen. Certainly, don't hold your finger on the screen before starting the swipe motion. Alternatively, you could use the crown to scroll to the top of the page to safely swipe on the title area. Note that whilst the lock/unlock control looks like it should be swiped, in fact you just need to tap it. You may have been misled into thinking these types of controls need swiping and learnt to do a type of swipe that is actually a tap (like a click on a mouse) with an after-movement that is mostly ignored. |
| Q: I was wondering if there is a serious issue with the recent version (2.4.1) and iOS 17.4? Nothing is updating and the local altitude is off by 4000 when Kollsman Window is set to the local airport baro measurement. | A: Thank you for this alert. Please see the top of this page. You are quite correct of course. |
| Q: The altimeter is not working in iPadOS 17.4.1, maybe because the iPad doesnt have a temp counter to trigger? In any case, I use the iPad with FlyQ when I am flying a 50 year old Cherokee, so it is nice to have a backup Reference Only altimeter for when mine certified one craps out (not that 50 year old avionics would do that). I am using V2.5 and it works fine on my watch and iPhone. | A: Thank you very much for alerting me to this. Hmmm. I am going to follow up with Apple again about this 17.4 iOS bug, but shall also try and figure a way to fool an iPad into putting up the permission prompt... |
| Q: Further to previous communication, app now works on my ipad 10.9 but still not on iphone 15s; both have apple update to 17.4. | A: That sounds odd and worrying. Can you please check a couple of things and maybe give some more details. Can you please check you have version 2.5 of Altimeter for Aviators. In the iPhone App it's shown at the bottom of the Options screen. In the watch App it's at the top of the far right screen, before the 'Tips'. Can you also please have a look on your phone at: Settings - Privacy and Security - Motion and Fitness and see if Altimeter appears there? If so, ensure the permission is switched on. Beyond that, ensure your phone is fully charged and not in some power-saving mode or similar. Please let me know if this resolves this, and if not, what you're seeing and how it's not working. Thank you. |
Requests and suggestions
| Request for an altitude alarm. | Nice idea. Not available at present, but on the wish list to investigate. However, I am cautious as you would want to be able to rely on such an alarm. If it wasn't reliable it could potentially be very dangerous. Once a Watch App loses active focus (you put your hand down), the data available suddenly diminishes rapidly (to save battery life), so continuing to track altitude is going to be irratic at best. The iPhone might be better, but even there, permissions to track your motion become an issue if not keeping the phone actively open on the App and not explicity gaining the extra permission, so this feature would suddenly make the App significantly more complex. |
| Request for an option to disable the screen swiping to change pressure setting on the Watch. It would be nice to be able to only change this using the Crown to avoid accidental changes by touching the watch face. | A good suggestion. Thank you. This is added as an option in version 2.5 of the Watch App |
| Request for an option to increment pressure setting in whole Hpa increments (rather than in 0.25 increments). | Good idea. This has been added as an option in version 2.5 of the Watch version. If selecting 1mb increments and in inHg mode, the increments are in 0.01 inHg. I'm not familiar with flying in the USA, so if there would be a better inHg increment to use, please use the feedback link below to let me know. Thanks. |
| Request for an option to enter pressure setting with a keypad. | Thank you. |
| How about an option for counter drum altimeter display? | Thank you. Noted here to consider for a future update. |
| A voice readout from say 50 ft down to zero on the QFE in say 5ft intervals. Great for landing practice. Radio altimeters are somewhat expensive. | Noted. Thanks. On the one hand this sounds interesting. On the other, features like this would begin to make me worry how people would be using it. It might start off as a bonus 'nice' thing in the background, but if it turns out to be reliable or even useful, it may then become expected and without realising it, relied upon. Weird Update, or battery fault, or interruption from another App or phone call (or bug in Altimeter for Aviators) or some such and a resulting missed readout could then contribute to an accident. I think there's a reason why such Altimeters are expensive! The need for precision and reliability and proper certification and approval is pretty high. |
Still have a question or some feedback to give?
Whilst not the intended purpose, putting your question as a 'review' in the APP store is actually very effective. You'll be individually notified of any response by Apple. Keep it polite and positive, giving as much information as you can to help me help you. If you give the feedback along with 4 or 5 stars I'll also know it's genuine and that you care about the App and are contributing to make it better. Thank you.
Alternatively you can send your feedback privately and directly to me.