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The user must ensure that Avare is always updated to the latest version, and ensure that all Avare databases and charts are kept current. If Avare and its databases and charts are not of the exact same version, the GPS position displayed may be inaccurate, because the FAA sometimes changes the format of their materials. Avare does not automatically fetch any databases and charts when they are expired, so it is the user's sole responsibility to update any expired charts and databases. To do so, ensure that your device has an internet connection and then just press the Map, Options, Download and Update buttons in Avare.•Quick Start - Intro
•Help - More Intro
•New Features - Recently Added
•Fly There - Address & Landmark
•Plan - Basic Flight Planning
•
Online * - FAA Chart Maps
Note: Under the Downloads list on the FAA website, select the chart type for which you'd
like to see a map legend. For example, to see a map showing the area covered by each of the
FAA Sectional charts, click on the "Sectional Raster Charts" link.
*Requires internet
•When you first launch Avare, after reading the disclaimer just click OK if you agree to the terms. Before using Avare the first time, you must have an internet connection on your device (WiFi or Data) to Download the free Database and at least one of the free charts. Later you can add any airport diagrams, terminal procedures, and other files you'll need. Please get only the materials you need because downloading all available materials will use both your online resources and ours, overloading our servers. Help us keep Avare and the FAA resources free for all users.
To get these free resources: Press the Options button (square button on the lower left side of the Map screen), press the Download button, select one or more items you need from the list, then press the Get button to begin downloading. Note that the Option button is only available in the Map view, so if you don't see it just press the Map button at bottom-left first and Options will appear above it. When you're done Downloading, just hit the Back key on your device to see the Map view. After doing this, no data connection is required to use any of the materials you've downloaded with Avare.
Notes:
•Move around or change zoom on the Sectionals simply by holding a point on the chart and dragging or two finger pinching, just like when viewing photos on your device. If your version of Avare displays a minus/plus rocker button when you press the Options button, that will provide extended zoom capability by changing the zoom range available using the pinch zoom method.
Note: Either the default horizontal Landscape or vertical Portrait mode display is available, selected in Preferences.
•The square Center button at the bottom-center of the screen will center the location icon and continue tracking your current GPS location (if the GPS is on and has acquired your location) on the "moving map" chart.
Note: While GPS is acquired in Avare, the map will constantly track from your currently displayed location. This is very handy in flight, because you can drag the map to place the location indicator icon at any spot on the screen (or even completely off the screen) and the map will continue tracking beneath it. So for example if you are flying northwest, you can put the location icon at the southeast corner of the screen and see a greater distance ahead on the map at any given zoom level. To instantly center your location icon again, just press the Center button.
•The "Pan" (Pan/Draw) button allows you to jot quick notes on charts. In the Maps screen, tap the Pan button at the lower-right. When the Pan button changes to the Draw button, the charts will not pan, and the Map screen becomes a touch operated pen for writing or drawing on charts. Draw or write notes on the screen with your finger. Notes length is limited due to memory size.
To erase all notes and drawings in Draw mode, long press the screen and then press the Clear button that appears.
To temporarily hide your notes/drawings and return to normal Map functioning (Pan mode), just tap the Draw (Pan) button again.
•Long-press any point on the chart (with GPS acquired) to display text at the top of the screen giving approximate compass direction and distanceFrom, followed by exact GPS bearingTo, that point in relation to your GPS location. Very handy when contacting ATC or making CTAF calls!
Note: The current Destination used by Avare for various features can be set after a long-press on the chart. Just tap either the button that pops out containing the name or coordinates of the location you pressed; or the button that pops out containing the word "Plan" to send that Destination to the Plan feature.
•The "Find" button in the bottom Menu
activates a search box for a 4-digit
Destination Airport code (or Navaid code, Fix code, etc.)
that Avare uses to display a course, bearing, etc. This
code also determines the Destination airport Avare uses when you display A/FD
info. If you do not remember the airport code for an airport,
enter part of its facility name to search for it. Avare offers some capability
for offline facility search (try using just the first letter and
scrolling down through the list) and when online, Avare automatically taps into
Google Maps if needed to search for airports and even cities or complete street
addresses (see "Fly There"
in the Help menu above). You can also specify radial/DME pairs in
destination like BOS275010 for BOS VOR, 275 degree radial, 10 miles.
To input a Destination airport, just tap the Find button in the Menu and then input the four digit airport code (example: KLAX, not LAX).
Note that a selection list of your recently input Destination codes is displayed before you begin to input a new one. Familiar symbols are used to indicate the various types of Destination codes such as VORs and intersections. Airports have an empty round symbol. For convenience in selecting VORs, etc., airports are sorted toward the bottom since they can be quickly selected with a long-press in Map view.
To Delete a Destination, from the list of previously used destinations in the search list, long-press it, and a list of buttons will appear. Select "Delete" to delete that destination.
To clear a
Destination once it has been set,
long press at the destination in Map view. A "Delete" button will
appear. Press the "Delete" button to clear the currently set
destination.
Note that when there is no Destination set, the current chart name may be displayed at the top-left (e.g. "Los Angeles" to indicate that Avare's currently displayed location is on the LA Sectional).
•Press the Options button (square button on the lower left side of the Map screen), and a list of buttons for additional features and Preferences will appear.
≡ The "Preferences" button in the Options list displays a list where you can choose among available Preferences (details below).
≡ The Help button in the Options list activates a web browser app to display in-app Help with a few links to online resources. Press the Back key on your Android device to return to Avare.
≡ There may be an Extended Zoom (- +) button in the Options list, that enables you to extend the zoom range provided by using the normal two-finger pinch zoom feature.
≡ The North Up/Track Up button in the Options list provides some capability to change the map display orientation. Because Avare uses the free official FAA charts, text on the charts will rotate along with the chart.
≡ The Navigate/Simulation button in the Options list toggles Avare's use of GPS for positioning the map. In the default Navigate mode, if GPS is on and location is acquired Avare will track your location.
≡ The Chart Type button in the Options list shows the chart type currently displayed. Sectional is the default.
•To browse charts freely without reference to your GPS location, press the Options button, tap the Preferences button, and select Simulation Mode. Then you can zoom in or out, scroll and pan freely, or quickly zip to any location simply by inputting a Destination as described above.
Notes: Simulation Mode works without any need for cell or data access or GPS. If GPS is on and has acquired a "lock" on your location, it will retain lock in Simulation Mode while Avare is active and the device is on. This is helpful because once internal GPS is lost, some devices won't re-acquire without a cell or WiFi signal (such as when aloft in many areas). In Simulation Mode, Find will center the chart display at the airport code you input, and you can then browse from there or input another airport code. After browsing, to re-center the map on the current Destination (if any is set), just tap the Center button. When you use Preferences to turn Simulation Mode off again, the display will return to your current GPS location if available.
•To track a course to destination enter a destination, and a magenta great circle route will appear from your current GPS location to that destination. Once set, the magenta route line doesn't move with the aircraft location. A dashed black and white Destination track line shows the current bearing to the destination. A red dashed line shows the current aircraft ground track. Align the two dashed lines with the solid magenta line for the shortest route to your Destination. If your location has diverged from the magenta course line you can use Find to re-select your Destination. You can also just fly so that the two dashed lines are superimposed in alignment.Main Avare Screens
The main screens in Avare are selected via theMenu
row of buttons across the bottom:
•The "Map" Button in the Menu at the bottom of the screen displays the currently selected chart type at the current location. Map is the default screen in Avare, and will often be displayed when using the Back key on your device from within another Avare screen such as the Find screen.
Note: if Avare is unable to acquire your GPS position or you have no Destination selected, a black screen may be displayed. If so, you can display a chart by using Preferences to select Simulation Mode and then using Find to select a Destination that is on a chart you have previously installed via Download.
•The "Plate" Button in the Menu at the bottom of the
screen displays the FAA airport diagrams, and terminal procedures for
the currently selected Destination, selected airports in Flight Plan,
Near and Find modes, and auto loads the Plate on landing roll out, if the option is
selected in Preferences, and if in Map view mode.
To view an Airport Diagram (AD) first Download the collection of ADs that covers the location of your intended Destination. For example, "California" for LAX. Then input the Destination airport code in the Find screen as described above, tap the "Plates" Button, then select "AIRPORT-DIAGRAM" from the drop down list and Avare will display it, provided that you have Downloaded the relevant AD file and the FAA provides a diagram for your selected Destination airport. Note that the "GPS Taxi" feature in Avare can indicate your current location on an airport (see details in the Airport Diagram section of Avare's Help).
•The "A/FD" Button in the Menu at the bottom of the screen displays the airport info for the currently selected Destination airport in text format.
To get airport
(A/FD) text info, first input a Destination airport in Map view as
described above, then tap the "A/FD" Button and scroll through the info. Note that
if you have Downloaded the "A/FD Images" file for your Destination airport (e.g.
"A/FD SW" for LAX), the drop down A/FD bar on the top of the A/FD screen is
used to select between the text and graphical versions of the A/FD. The regional
graphical A/FD files are typically quite large, but can provide information beyond
what's contained in the smaller FAA text version that covers all FAA regions and is
included in Avare's required Databases file.
•The "Find" Button in the Menu at the bottom
of the screen enables you to search for a Destination airport, VOR or
waypoint.
•The "WX" Button in the Menu at the bottom of the screen provides some of Avare's current Weather options.
•The "Plan" Button in the Menu at the bottom of the screen enables you to do limited flight planning online or offline in flight (see details in that section of this Help file).
•The "Near" button in the Menu will display a selectable list of airports nearest to your current GPS location.
To use the Near feature, first ensure that GPS is on and has acquired your location, then press the Near Button at the bottom of the screen. The airports are listed by increasing distance with nearest at the top. Each airport's name, code, distance, bearing, and 100LL fuel (if available) is displayed (Jet A may be shown as "A" alone, or as 100LLA indicating availability of both fuels).
Note: To select an airport on the list as Avare's current Destination, simply press the name of that airport and then press the button that pops out, to select the code displayed on that button as your Destination.
•The "GPS" Button in the Menu at the bottom of the screen enables you to monitor the current status of the GPS system currently in use by Avare on your device. Note that this differs from the GPS/Simulation button that selects whether Avare is currently using GPS to display your current location.
•Text information is displayed at the top of the Map display screen, when your GPS position is acquired and you have input a valid Destination.
In the top row: Destination (or chart name if no Destination is selected) at the left; Distance from GPS location, time to Destination direct at current GPS speed, GPS bearing to Destination at the right.
In the second row: GPS elevation MSL at the left; GPS ground speed and GPS heading at the right.
•GPS Status information is available from the Map screen by pressing the Options button and tapping the "Preferences->GPS->Show GPS Status" option so that a black "target" screen appears. This feature is helpful in positioning your GPS device for best reception, and in troubleshooting any GPS problems. At the top-left is the GPS time and number of satellites acquired. The current Lat/Long locations, and an estimate of the location accuracy are also displayed. The target display simulates the relative strength (size of each indicator circle) and relative locations of satellites acquired. To close the GPS screen and return to the Map display press the Back key on your device.
•TFRs that you have recently fetched using
Update in Download via internet from the FAA are automatically
displayed as red graphics on charts by default. If you long-press
the red indicator at the top-center of a TFR shape, text for that TFR will be
displayed in the TFR section. It is user's responsibility to Update the
latest TFRs from the download list under the Databases group.
Even though Avare gets the TFR data from the FAA website, you must call your FSS for the latest TFR data, as the FAA TFR website may not be current.
•Runway Extensions (if set in Preferences) show 6 degree approach to all runways at the airport currently set as Destination. Note that due to variations in the FAA charts, extensions may not line up with airport symbols on charts though Avare's accuracy has been tested.
• KML Tracks
Preferences allow you to Enable Tracking, and
turn the display of your flight Track on or off. Any time you'd like to
record your flight Track, just tap the Options button and then the
"Tracks Off" indicator button. That will turn on the Track feature,
which creates a Google Earth & Google Maps compatible file on your
device. Avare then periodically stores in this file the coded stream of
text "bread crumb" location data from your active GPS receiver, and
displays a Track connecting these bread crumbs on the Map view. To stop
storing these bread crumbs, again tap Options and then "Tracks On" to
see options and information regarding the file. Later you can view the
file in Earth or Maps to "re-fly" your route.
• Distance & Speed Rings
To see rings displayed on Map view for Time or Distance from your
current GPS location, use Preferences to set the Style and Size of the
rings.
• Checklists
Users can now use the "List" tab in the main
screen to get to the checklists screen. User can either import a
checklist from a text file using the Import button, or can write one
using the Add button.
To add a check list item at the bottom of the list, press the "Add"
button. To move or delete an already showing check list item, press the
"Lock" button, then grab the item to be moved by the hand icon, then
drag it to the desired position. To delete an item, long press on it,
then select the animation button "Delete".
To import a check list from a file, transfer that file on the phone / tablet in a shared folder (for example in /sdcard). Then press the "Import" button, type the full path and name of that file, and then "OK". Each line in the file will be imported as a single check list item.
• KML Reading
Now you can see your points of interest
(POIs) on the Map using KML import. You can generate a KML files of
your POIs using Google Earth. Once you have a KML file, place it in a
folder of your choice accessible by Avare (like /sdcard). Go to
"Preferences->Storage->User Defined Waypoints" then borwse to the
folder containing your KML file (like /sdcard). Restart Avare, and then
your POIs will appear on the Map screen. You can search your points of
interest in Find tab, then add them to a flight plan, or directly go to
them. You can place multiple KML files in the folder, and Avare will
parse all these files to generate a combined view of your POIs.
However, the user may only define 100 POIs in all files combined.
Note: While it can display your location, GPS Taxi on airport diagrams is not "moving map" so your location will not be automatically tracked at the center of the screen. Just scroll and pinch-zoom the Plate screen while on the airport with GPS On, to find the airplane icon tracking your current location.
See the Find section above for more information on using the Find function.
The Plan screen allows you to create and follow a basic flight plan with multiple waypoints. Waypoints are listed in the Plan, along with the total distance and time calculated from the current postion to the final way point.
To Create a Flight Plan with Single Line Input
To Create a Flight Plan
To Create a Flight Using Rubber Banding
To Activate Your Plan
Note: When a plan is active, Destination will be set to the next way point. All information in the A/FD and Plates will be set to the next waypoint, and not to the final destination.
•Terrain Maps
Avare provides USGS terrain
maps. These maps can be downloaded from the download list under
"Terrain".
Terrain maps show elevation around your
current position. Visible areas are at or above your GPS
calculated altitude. Black areas are below your current GPS
altitude. Note that GPS altitude is not accurate. Give good margin of
error to the calculations.
Plates are distributed in multiple files, one for each state. There are tens of thousands of procedures, making plate files large. For example, the Texas plates download size is about 300 MB. The Plate screen displays take off and alternate minimums, when downloaded.
The Plate files also contain complete pages from the green FAA A/FD book in an image format. Note that Avare's text A/FD is contained in the main Avare Database and does not require downloading the graphical A/FDs in the Plates files.Among the few problems reported with Avare or any of our apps, three categories have emerged:
1. Incomplete installation. Most of these problems have been related to internet connectivity problems during installation of the app, such as during download of the Database or charts for Avare. If you have problems with any of our apps, you might first try checking your internet connection and then deleting and re-installing the file(s) or the app itself.
2. Hardware problems. Nearly all of these few cases have been traced to defective SD card chips. These problems can be very difficult to trace because they may occur randomly, intermittently, and with very strange symptoms. Basically the problems our apps encounter are akin to you carefully placing an important item in a cabinet and returning to find the cabinet locked, the item missing or damaged, or even the entire room missing only to magically reappear a moment later. If you encounter problems, one thing to try is testing, formatting, or replacing the memory chip if possible. Sometimes deleting and re-installing the app and all associated files will cure or change the problem at least temporarily if it shifts the location where the app and files are stored on the chip. You might be able to work around the problem by moving the app and files to a different chip (e.g. from device memory to SD card or vice versa). Generally the permanent solution for a defective memory chip is to replace the chip.
3. Software conflicts. Another category of weird and intermittent problems arises from conflicts with other apps. Unlike nearly all apps currently available for Android, our apps use only the bare minimum of Permissions required for operation. Apps you have installed from other developers may use Permissions that enable them to automatically launch their app, display ads, collect and use your personal information or do other operations in the background even when you’re not using their app. Such activity by those apps can cause strange and intermittent problems with other apps. Usually, the apps that come pre-installed on your device won’t cause such problems. Something to try if you have problems with any of our apps, is to disable or uninstall other apps you’ve installed on your device. You might also try a virus scanner from a reputable provider, keeping in mind that some anti-virus apps from disreputable providers have themselves been used to install a virus.
For current and accurate FAA chart maps, please visit this FAA website:
Online FAA Chart Maps
Note: Under the Downloads list on the FAA website, select the chart type for which you'd like to see a map legend. For example, to see a map showing the area covered by each of the FAA Sectional charts, click on the "Sectional Raster Charts" link.
The following FAA chart maps are for offline reference only, and are not updated.