Apps4Av Inc. is a registered non-profit organization in the state of MA.
Avare is an open source project on GitHub.
Please donate to keep the project improving. Any amount will be appreciated.
Thank you!
Please do not download any charts/plates that you do not need. Downloading only the needed files will help us keep server hosting costs down, which along with donations helps us keep Avare and chart updates free to all. Thank you.
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
•Procedures & Graphical Chart Supplement
•
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 flight plan.
•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 Chart Supplement
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 on the Next Text Field on Map view, 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 "CSup" 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
(Chart Supplement) text info, first input a Destination airport in Map view as
described above, then tap the "CSup" Button and scroll through the info. Note that
if you have Downloaded the "Chart Supplement Images" file for your Destination airport (e.g.
"Chart Supplement SW" for LAX), the drop down Chart Supplement bar on the top of the CSup screen is
used to select between the text and graphical versions of the Chart Supplement. The regional
graphical Chart Supplement 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 "FAA" "FAA" Allows pilots to file, cancel flight plans, and get weather briefings from the FAA, similar to DUATS, DUAT.
•The "Plan" The "Plan" Button in the Menu at the bottom of the screen enables you to do flight planning online or offline in flight, and get WX from FAA for the planned route, (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 Tools screen. This feature is helpful in positioning your GPS device for best reception, and in troubleshooting any GPS problems.
•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. The glide range ring displays the glide range based on airplane's configured best glide speed and sink rate. The glide range ring shows the wind at current altitude (w), and the calculated airspeed (t), separated by /.
WARNING: Do not use the glide ring in case of emergency to arrive safely at a landing point. There are approximations made in calculations for weather, terrain, and obstacles.
• Civil Air Patrol CAP Grids
To see CAP grids and labels, use Preferences to enable CAP Grids.
• 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.
• 3D View
Note: This screen requires significant memory and processing power, and may crash / misbehave on older devices.
To see charts in 3D, download elevation charts from the Download menu for your area. Charts and other data will be displayed under 3D tab.
Move around on the 3D screen using touch. To check out 3D view of a destination you have not been to, use Simulation mode with Destination set to the destination.
To see terrain clearance, use "Terrain" as chart type selection in 3D screen. Red terrain is above your altitude, and green terrain is 1000 feet below your altitude.
• Fuel Tank Reminders
The fuel tank reminder is implemented as a display instrument that is selectable in any field of the top two status lines.
To enable it, double tap the display field you wish to use for it, and select "Fuel Tank Switch Timer" from the list.
The timer starts up at 30 minutes and will count down to zero. It is initially suspended/stopped.
Single tap the display field to toggle start/stop the timer value. When the value reaches zero, a dialog is displayed
indicating "Switch Fuel Tanks". You must hit the OK button to dismiss it. The timer will self-reset to 30 minutes to
begin the cycle all over again.
The long press gesture on the fuel tank field will reset the countdown timer to 30 minutes.
• Area Plates
Avare provides plates for the airports (US, Canada) that do not have airport diagrams available.
You can download these plates from the Download menu, under the VFR Area Plates category.
All these plates are Geo. referenced.
• Flight Plan Course Line
The flight plan course line (if shown) is color coded. Legs drawn in cyan are ones that have
yet to be flown. The magenta colored leg is the one currently active. Legs that have already been
flown are drawn in gray.
• UI Configuration
You can turn on and off non essential parts of the UI. Go to Preferences->UI Configuration for this.
• Flight Plan Controls
While on the Map/Chart display tab, you now have the ability to show flight plan controls. There
is an option under Preferences/Display/Show Flight Plan Controls. When enabled, 3 buttons will
appear on the right edge of the map page when there is an active flight plan. The top button is a
"rewind" image, it sets the next way point to the previous one in the plan - it is the same function
as the "previous" button on the "Plan" tab. The middle button is a toggle for "pause/play" of the
flight plan to control whether or not perform way point passage logic. When it is paused, way points
are not automatically passed and the button will appear as a "pause" image. When active, it appears
as the "play" button. The bottom button is a "fast forward" image that will advance the plan to the
next way point in the sequence - same as "Next" on the "plan" tab..
• Loading and Displaying Esri Shape Files
Avare can load and display an Esri shape file (.shp) from the charts download folder. The user will place
the shape file to be loaded in the user data folder (see Preferences). The shape
file name must be specified in Preferences->Display->Shape File Name. The user must then restart Avare to load the shape file.
Avare can be restarted by restarting the device, by using Avare preference "Leave Running", or from Android App Settings.
An example countries shape file can be downloaded from Natural Earth.
Note that maximum points in a shape are limited to 1024, and maximum shapes in a file are limited to 256.
• Backing up data
Users can back up plans, lists, preferences, waypoints, and recent airports to the Google cloud automatically by adding a Google drive sync account under Android Settings->System->Backup. To back up data (usually before re-installing the app), go to Android Settings->System->Backup and select Back up now.
Data will be restored automatically at the app install.
Data downloaded from the server (charts, plates, chart supplement) will not be backed up.
• Displaying NavAids near a point
On long-press, a section called "Position From Navaids" shows 4 closest navaids (VORs, NDBs) within a 150 miles radius.
Based on current altitude, distance to the VOR is yellow if the point pressed is outside the VOR's service volume (see FAR AIM 1-1-8).
If the listed navaid has HIWAS (Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service) capability, an (H) superscript is printed next to the VOR identifier.
This feature allows planning visual waypoints based on VOR radial crossing.
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.
You can select addresses and landmarks like "address,Statue Of Liberty" or "address,800 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02199" (without the quotes, and with "address," as prefix) as your Destination in Avare. If you select
a Destination in this way it's added to those listed in the Find screen just like airports,
coordinates or other Destinations you've set in Avare. To use the Fly There feature you
must be connected to the Internet before entering a new address. Once Avare
decodes the address, it subsequently appears in the Find screen list, and then no Internet
connection is required for navigation to it. Multiple addresses can be stored in the Find list.
Use the Fly There feature:
•With Avare's Find screen. With an Internet connection, tap the Find button and in the Search box enter an address (or a location like "address,1 wtc"), and a pin icon appears in the list of Destinations. Tap the pin icon to select that as your Destination.
•With Google Maps, allowing you to see street and terrain maps and even satellite views when selecting a Destination. With an Internet connection:
See the Find section above for more information on using the Find function.
•Terrain Maps
Avare provides USGS terrain
maps. These maps can be downloaded from the download list under
"Terrain".
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 Chart Supplement book in an image format. Note that Avare's text Chart Supplement is contained in the main Avare Database and does not require downloading the graphical Chart Supplements 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 the FAA's
Digital Products website while you are online. Links to materials such as the
VFR Charts, IFR Charts and other materials used in Avare, may also be
found listed in the left margin column there.
Note: Under the VFR chart type tabs on this FAA website, select the chart type for which you'd like to see a map legend Chart Index map. For example, to see a map showing the area covered by each of the online FAA Sectional charts, click on the " Sectional Chart Index" link.