How to set up Stolen Device Protection in iOS 17.3

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Apple added a new security feature called Stolen Device Protection for your iPhone in the most recent iOS 17.3 update. When this feature is enabled, some features and actions require additional security steps beyond entering the numeric passcode when your iPhone is away from familiar locations such as home or work.

Using your iPad on a Caribbean flying trip

Today you can confidently navigate the islands with everything you need right on your iPad, including geo-referenced VFR and IFR en route charts, airport and airspace databases, synthetic vision and even ADS-B weather in certain spots. Here we're going to take a closer look at ForeFlight Mobile and Garmin Pilot, since they offer the most comprehensive resources for Caribbean-bound pilots.

How to share your location from an iPhone via satellite

We're entering an exciting new era of communications thanks to recent developments in satellite connectivity. Here we'll take a look at the satellite connectivity feature included with iPhone 14 and 15 models and how you can share your location on a cross-country flight from any altitude.

How to set up aircraft profiles and equipment codes to file VFR/IFR flight plans

Filing a VFR or IFR flight plan today is a breeze with today's aviation iPad apps, but entering all the required aircraft data to meet the ICAO requirements of the form can be a bit confusing. Here we'll break it down in plain English to help you understand each requirement.

Weather flying with ForeFlight (webinar recording)

ForeFlight's preflight and datalink weather features can make your flying safer and more comfortable - but only if you know how to use it properly. Join Sporty's Senior Flight Instructor Bret Koebbe for an in-depth look at how to go about the self-weather briefing process in ForeFlight and how to use ADS-B datalink weather en route to stay up with the changes.
GPS outage

GPS outages—how ADS-B receivers can protect against jamming

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Portable ADS-B receivers like Sentry are must-have devices for many pilots, delivering subscription-free weather that helps make better in-flight decisions. Beyond datalink weather, many pilots have also discovered the value of having a portable ADS-B receiver as a backup. There's another level of redundancy that most pilots don't consider, though: GPS failure.

Get more out of your iPad’s battery with Apple’s built-in utility

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Pilots tend to focus more on optimizing the iPad's battery life than the average iPad user, since this is critical to keeping the device functioning in the airplane over the course of a flight. Fortunately, there's a dedicated utility in the main iPad settings to help shed some light on which apps are using the most power, possibly while running in the background.

How to use the ADS-B datalink weather features with Sentry and ForeFlight (video tip)

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Portable ADS-B receivers provide subscription-free weather and traffic information to pilots, displayed on mobile devices like iPad or iPhones. Here, we’ll take a look at how to use the ADS-B datalink weather features when flying with a Sentry portable ADS-B receiver and ForeFlight.
Garmin Pilot widget menu

Weather planning with Garmin Pilot: widgets and flight profile

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One of Garmin Pilot's standout features is its split-screen mode. While many pilots know how to use split-screen for viewing approach charts or traffic, there are also some valuable tools for weather planning, both before takeoff and during cruise. Here's how to use the Widgets and Flight Profile features.
Arrival alert in app

Overlooked tools for learning about an airport in ForeFlight

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Flying to a new airport can be an intimidating experience, but with a little time spent studying ForeFlight you can learn a lot and enjoy a safer arrival at Big City International. This means more than just checking the runway layout and the tower frequency, though; in recent years, a number of new resources have become available. Here are five to check out.

How to scan documents into your favorite aviation app

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More and more pilots are going completely paperless in the cockpit, but that requires some paper documents to be scanned first. Fortunately, Apple includes some hidden capabilities in the Notes app, including the addition of a powerful scanner utility. This can be used to scan just about any type of physical document.
Garmin Pilot SV with pressure altitude

Understanding pressure altitude and GPS altitude in aviation apps

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If you've flown with synthetic vision for long, you've probably noticed that the speed and altitude don't match the panel. What's going on. The answer is pretty simple—the panel and the iPad are showing different data from different sources—but the details are important. Here's a somewhat geeky dive into the details.