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GPS data not available to apps after iOS 8.3 update

I'm using a Wi-Fi only iPad with remote GPS connected via bluetooth (Bad Elf GPS Pro). Following update to 8.3, the GPS position data from the Bad Elf receiver is not available to other apps on the iPad that require it (in particular, Seattle Avionics FlyQ efb). Bad Elf bluetooth connection is good, and the GPS position data is displayed on the iPad using the Bad Elf accessory app, but it appears to not be available to the FlyQ app. Spent hours with tech support and other paths trying to fix this problem, including reloading iOS 8.3 update and applications, and even bought a new Bad Elf GPS receiver. I think this is a fairly common hardware/software combination (Wi-Fi only iPad, Bad Elf GPS, FlyQ app) for private aircraft pilots, so would expect others to be seeing the same problem (unless they were smarter than I was, and delayed updating their OS). Have others experienced this problem or found a solution? Quite frustrating, as navigation is the primary use for my iPad.

iPad (4th gen) Wi-Fi, iOS 8.3

Posted on Apr 12, 2015 5:31 PM

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Posted on Apr 12, 2015 5:57 PM

Actually, it's a bug on all bluetooth GPS devices since iOS 8.3 !

I personally use Garmin Glo and Dual Electronics 150 & 160 and the trouble remains the same.


Bad Elf blog suggest that Apple is aware of the problem and will correct it very soon.

I will believe it when i'll see it...

249 replies

Apr 18, 2015 6:20 PM in response to Pierre J.

So do I. However ten days with none forthcoming, and reports that 8.4 suffers the same anomaly, self-help was in order. I bought my iPad in large part for its EFB features. Not being able to connect to the GPS in my Dual is not acceptable.


Now that I'm out of danger, anyone interested in a little over/under action on how long it will take Apple to fix this issue? Since it's been 10 days already, let's arbitrarily set the over/under date at 1 May. I say 10 days over (11 May). What say ye?

Apr 19, 2015 4:56 AM in response to buff.flyer

My situation is the same as yours regarding Dual XGPS160 and WIFi only iPad mini. Very, very annoying. Seems Apple has come back to the MS standard for Software updates. I will never trust Apple again. And if they are too slow to fix this I will have to rethink my all Apple strategy and go back to MS and Android.

Apple have known about this for some time now but no warning back to pilots. I found the problem in the Air! lucky I wasn't dependent on the iPad for navigation or else I'd have been up **** creek without a paddle.


I'll give Apple another week to sort this out but after that all bets are off!


Very, very disappointed and very, very annoyed. Trust shattered.

Apr 19, 2015 6:21 AM in response to PilotDon

PilotDon,


Wow. Someone who's more depressed than I am. 🙂 It's not all bad, Don. This is just an example of what Milton Friedman called the concentrated interest and the diffused interest. The concentrated interest are the auto makers, since any bonehead can drive a car (except a manual transmission, of course, which have been going the way of the Dodo for the same reason). The diffused interest are the relatively small group of pilots, and those who provide products to them.


Fortunately, the military and commercial pilots have concentrated interests (unions) and buying and regulatory clout, so I agree with the Bad Elf commentator who is betting that Apple will eventually fix this bug. (BTW, want to get in on the over/under game? Sounds like you are a *way* over this morning 😁)


It does provide a rather nice opening for MS, which seems to have been improving both its products (the SurfacePro line) and software responsiveness out of necessity to compete with Apple and Google. Capitalism works!


Meantime, there is a remedy: rollback your iPad mini. Reinstalling a few apps was worth the price to me. And remember the lesson I have always preached, but this once thought would not apply to Apple: "Just say 'No!' to version Oh!"

Apr 20, 2015 1:43 AM in response to buff.flyer

Ha Ha. You're mistaking anger for depression, Buff. One involves payback 😎 and the implies giving up.


Part of my anger comes from the fact that I was one of the early Apple fans building an Apple II+ from bits and expanding it all the way up to 64k RAM with a secondary Z80 processor. Loved it. Then Apple went all proprietary and so I (and most everyone else) went into the web of Microsoft. I was blown away when Apple produced the Lisa - science fiction brought to life - but, with a jaw-dropping price tag of around $12,000 in 1984 it was not meant for mere mortals.


I came back to Apple a couple of years ago only because of the brilliant Navs software that was only available for the iPad. It converted me and I ended up buying two iPhones and two iPads and the Dual XGPS160. Even converted my wife to iOS which was going very well until 8.3 and, as they say, "if Mama ain't happy, aint' nobody gonna be happy".


I don't expect even Apple to get it right first time, *every* the time, though that would be nice. What I do expect is that if they stuff up, they let us know, apologise for the considerable inconvenience and fix their stupid mistake pronto!


I can get around this one for the moment without reverting to 8.2 because my other iPad has 3G and GPS built in. And my iPhone can run the Av software as a backup.


I was amused to see Milton F being quoted. I seemed to remember he tended to be ignored after his efforts in Chile back in the 1970s.


Cheers


Don

Apr 21, 2015 1:01 PM in response to Mark72658

I also have this same problem. I use an iPad mini II with retina display (wifi only) with a dual xgps150 bluetooth. I use the fltplan GO nav app. The app shows a "no GPS" flag on the iPad, however, the GPS still works on the iPhone. So, I guess I will be using the iPhone for navigation in flight until Apple fixes this **** mess. I too am looking at android devices. All the Android pilots are flying today with no issue. 😟

Apr 23, 2015 5:11 AM in response to Ziatron


http://lifehacker.com/5873007/how-can-i-fix-my-androids-crappy-gps


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cochibo.gpsstatus&hl=en


http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/282696-gps-problems.html


http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-4/453482-samsung-galaxy-not e-4-gps-problem.html


https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=81140






Pilots do not use internal phone GPS's, because we know that they are crappy and unreliable (or at least not accurate enough for aviation). We use external GPS antenna's that work off bluetooth. Like this one ...http://gps.dualav.com/explore-by-product/xgps150a/

The issue with the iOS 8.3 bug is that it prevents the external GPS from communicating with the iPad.


So, you see, it really doesn't matter if Android has a "bad" antenna, pilots would never fly off that alone anyhow. However I thank you for the web links.


And yes, Android pilots have no bug in their operating system . They can bluetooth to their external GPS antennas just fine. Android pilots are flying today with NO GPS issues.

Apr 23, 2015 6:11 AM in response to ChazMills

Chaz,


I read the page I linked and watched the video carefully a couple before I attempted the rollback to 8.2. I does work.


I'm not sure what step you having trouble with, or whether you are using a Mac or Windows version of iTunes, so it's hard to offer assistance, but the tutorial covers both. If the problem really is that iTunes can't see the file, you need to know where your computer saves download files (in Win 8.1 it's a directory actually called "downloads") and point iTunes to that directory. Mine found it, no problem.


Also, you mentioned a zip file. The website I downloaded the ISPW file didn't zip it, so I'm not sure what website you are grabbing the ISPW from. The tutorial linked to this page and it's the one I used. No zip file, no problem.


Good luck. As of this morning, Apple is still signing 8.2 so it's not too late.

Apr 25, 2015 1:07 AM in response to Mark72658

HI,

Clearly many of us are in the same position and are quietly (?) seething whilst we wait for Apple to solve this problem; meanwhile our expensive GPS units sit useless in our Nav bags. Garmin have been helpful and sympathetic, but have been taken as much by surprise as we have. It is easy to blame Apple, but a part of me is asking whether Garmin should also shoulder some of the blame. And since my PC does not see my GLO when I connect by USB, even a software upgrade would require me to return my unit to Garmin for update. My only concern now is that it could take some time for Apple to fix this as there is little incentive for them to do so if commercial devices are unaffected. Fortunately, after many years in aviation I have a "What happens if?" approach to flying and carry a Bad Elf plug in (Lightning connection directly into my iPad) which still works fine. I was considering buying a Bad Elf Bluetooth device as I had a similar experience with a Garmin GLO some months ago and I had that "Here we go again" feeling when it failed to proved positional data last weekend. However, now that I have read this thread, there seems little point. But for all of you desperate to return to iPad GPS flying, I can recommend the Bad Elf plug in. And if all else fails, I guess that we always have a map and stopwatch!

GPS data not available to apps after iOS 8.3 update

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