ForeFlight adds new aviation keyboard

ForeFlight previewed its newest features to pilots last week at EAA Airventure in Oshkosh and made the update available in the app store soon after the event ended. This is a relatively minor update that improves the keyboard in the app and adds new categories for ForeFlight’s signature Reported Turbulence feature.

Aviation Keyboard

ForeFlight’s new aviation keyboard was designed for pilots to simplify the entry of flight plans, numerals, and latitude/longitude coordinates. When you first open the app and tap in any field to enter text, the standard iOS keyboard will appear on the screen by default. You’ll then see a new button floating above the top right of the keys labeled “Aviation Keyboard.”

Tap this button, and ForeFlight will switch to showing the new aviation keyboard, which offers additional utility:

• extra row of number buttons at the top
• dedicated degree symbol (°) at the top right
• visual emphasis on the letters N/E/S/W when entering latitude/longitude coordinates

Then, press the “123” number button at the bottom left to display a dedicated number keyboard. In addition to the standard number pad, it includes all the letters and symbols needed to type out lat/long coordinates. It can be positioned on either the left side or the right side of the screen using the arrow buttons, enabling one-hand typing:

If you’d prefer to stick with the standard keyboard and hide the Aviation Keyboard shortcut button, go to Settings > Preferences and disable the toggle for “Show Aviation Keyboard.”

New Reported Turbulence Categories

ForeFlight introduced a unique crowdsourced turbulence feature earlier this year on the app’s Map screen. This feature presents live, automated reports from other pilots who are flying with a Sentry portable weather receiver. This weather layer shows over 50 times more turbulence reports than standard PIREPs, providing a useful preflight planning resource for pilots.

When the product first launched, ForeFlight visually depicted 5 levels of turbulence using the following symbology:

The reality is turbulence doesn’t always fit into these neat buckets, and sometimes, there will be intermittent pockets of heavier turbulence embedded in overall smooth air. To help represent these occurrences visually, ForeFlight added two new categories depicted with concentric colored rings:

• Intermittent Light Turbulence
• Light to Moderate Turbulence

Like with any automated turbulence report in this layer, you can click on one of the dots to get more information, including altitude, aircraft type, wake category, and airspeed.

Reported Turbulence is available with Pro Plus subscriptions and above by registering your Sentry or Sentry Plus device at plan.foreflight.com/account or as an add-on.