Emergency Response Wildfire Aviation User, Issues with the latest version (ipad) This APP may be a SAFETY HAZARD
Background: I work on a wildfire response helicopter for the USFS.
I use an iPad mini gen 5 (1 below current) attached to my kneeboard when responding to incidents. Gaia was hands down the best app for nearly all my wildfire aviation activities...for the last 2 years. Now I may be forced to use others.
Issues with the latest version.
1. General Performance. I am now getting lockups, and occasional freezes long enough to force me to kill the app and reopen. These occur when selecting new waypoints and then selecting guide me.
2. Selecting "guide me" now ques a pop of "Start recording track?" I don't need or want this as I never want to record the track. It's just wasted time when I have to quickly shift between different waypoints for navigation and a massive pain. I need the ability to completely disable the pop up.
3. I have selected the option in settings to not allow map rotation, and yet when choosing to navigate to a waypoint the map auto rotates. This needs to be fixed. I am constantly referencing Gaia to fire incident maps and any map rotation is unwanted.
4. I have my units set to Nautical miles (as is generally used in aviation) and yet when I navigate to a new waypoint the distance is shown in standard (miles). Obviously a massive issue when you are communicating with other aircraft about your relative location.
I cant overstate how much this app has been an amazing tool over the last few fire seasons, but as it stands...I don't think it can be trusted by anyone in emergency response situations.
It's my understanding the USFS is looking at a contract with Gaia to provide the pro version to wildland firefighters. The current state of the app is unacceptable, and possibly a safety hazard to individuals in the field.
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Additionally.
Why add the box "pop in" with bearing and distance to waypoint, when you could just have those as options in the selectable fields along the top, freeing up more map space.
This app could be for casuals and pros or just casuals. It used to be for both, at the moment, this is a GPS app for casual hikers only...even recreationally (personaly) I wouldn't count on it.
-Thanks
/S/ Extremely Frustrated Helitack User
PS. Is there any method to reset the app to last years version which was actually functional?
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I have some similar frustrations using the for Search and Rescue work. This was always the go to app for working missions, but with recent “developments” and instabilities it is becoming unreliable.
In particular the app when being reopened keeps snapping back to a point where I pressed on the map to see information of the layers at that point. This occurs even if I press on a different point later or back out of the details all together. This can be frustrating when I need to re pan the map back to the area I was investigating every time I open the map.
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In general many app developers use the rapid release scheme where features are quickly developed and released without significant testing. The idea is that the users will find bugs and report them and then they will be fixed. This methodology is inherently flawed for emergency management activities where the tool must be reliable when put into use. Fixed versions need to be tested by end users to ensure required functionality is present and bug free.
I’m not sure what the development strategy is at Gaia, but based on the recent releases I feel that are focused more on getting out feature to recreational users rather than anyone else. I wonder which community is providing the most significant part of their income. I suspect that the Emergency community is just not significant enough to drive the focus of development. I do appreciate having this forum to voice opinions though as it permits some feedback.
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