RC Mobile App, ideas?

JasonEricAnderson

Senior Member
I know someone who's looking for some inspiration for creating a new iPhone app. I suggested they look at making a RC aircraft focused app, something that would be a great addition to any RC pilot's toolbox. That got us talking about what kind of features would be most handy for RC Pilots both new and experienced.

Some of our brainstorming:

  • Various calculator tools for electronics (KV, voltage, etc.) (+1 xuzme720 )
  • Battery logging. Track the age and condition of your batteries
  • Hanger: Keep records of your planes (component list, parts sources, links, photos, notes, trim settings etc..) (+1 xuzme720 )
  • Flight log (Model flown, date, weather, location, flight time, notes, photos)
  • RSS feeds from various hobby sites
  • Event calendar (what shows, fly-ins, etc. are happening)
  • Social media support (Tweet, Facebook post info from your flight log)
  • Basics library (Glossary of terms, basics of flight, tips)
  • Recommended YouTube channels ( ;) )
User added
  • Dopler speed (themajik1)
  • Direct weather import in flight log (themajik1)




We're thinking, what would make this a key app that you take with you with each flight?

What would you love to have in an RC pilot's App?
 
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xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
I think the hangar function and calculator would be the most used. Glossary can be static so it is almost a given.
 

themajik1

Monkey/Bear Poker
Mentor
If we are looking for a wish list of all things that are wants and not needs, how about a Doppler function for speed readings?
Direct import of the weather conditions in the flight log... (if possible)
All the rest from above look great!
 

JasonEricAnderson

Senior Member
I think the hangar function and calculator would be the most used. Glossary can be static so it is almost a given.
Aweseome +1'd in the list

If we are looking for a wish list of all things that are wants and not needs, how about a Doppler function for speed readings?
Direct import of the weather conditions in the flight log... (if possible)
All the rest from above look great!
Ohhh that's a cool idea. I wonder if you'd have to hold it a specific way if it was windy?? Added these to the list.
 

DDSFlyer

Senior Member
What about Flight location database, with drop pin areas for those undisclosed/secret sites only you use, and being able to save them as favorites with real time weather readings
 

bitogre

Member
I am new to the hobby and have looked at the various apps that already exist for android. For the most part, the only feature I find useful of the existing android apps is battery logging and even at that it leaves much to be desired. To me, it seems like the writers of these apps are writing it for themselves and not a total noob who may need step-by-step help (this is especially true for the apps that calculate prop, motor, and ESC sizes).

So, with that in mind, here are my thoughts on the features mentioned above:

Various calculator tools for electronics (KV, voltage, etc.)
YES Please. But be sure to go step-by-step. Right now, I am thinking if I ever need such a tool, I will use MotoCalc as it seems the most helpful and easy to use. I would consider using a mobile phone app for this as well if it used a wizard similar to the one described in MotoCalc's Tutorial.

Battery logging. Track the age and condition of your batteries
The apps I see for this have the bare minimum of functionality (I currently use RC Battery Watcher). Ideally, I like it to also include a way to enter in how much charge I put into the batteries so that it can recommend what my future flight time should be. It would also be nice it it could track internal resistance measurements (assuming you have something to take that measurement).

Hanger Keep records of your planes (component list, parts sources, links, photos, notes, trim settings etc..)
I am not sure how useful this would be (but that may be because I currently only have 1 plane). But I can see it being helpful if it was tied to the electronics tool calculator, specifically, take the output of the calculator to generate a parts list of what to buy for a new plane and automatically add it to the hanger.

Flight log (Model flown, date, weather, location, flight time, notes, photos)
I see this as more of an additional feature of the battery logging. And, as stated above, add mAh that was put back into the battery after the flight and other battery relevant data for figuring out optimal flight times (like the style of flying and average throttle position).

Direct weather import in flight log
If you have easy access to the data, why not but that may be a lot more difficult to get the data than you might think.

Flight location database and weather
It would be nice to have the ability to get weather of the flight field before you leave to head there. Really, this is kind of a prerequisite of "Direct weather import in flight log". Without this, you do not have anything to import into the flight log so might as well make it possible to look at it from home so that users can know if it is even worth going to the field to fly.

Event calendar (what shows, fly-ins, etc. are happening)
This should be GPS based so I know what events are close to me and can filter out those that are farther than I am willing to travel.

Basics library (Glossary of terms, basics of flight, tips)
YES Please. Make it where I can access it directly was well as putting links in other parts of the app to get at the library to better understand what that part of the app s asking for or what the term the app is using means. Also have likes to YouTube videos that might help better understand terms.

RSS feeds from various hobby sites and Recommended YouTube channels
I am not sure if full RSS functionality would be useful. I like the idea of it recommending RSS feeds but I would want to use a RSS reader I already have for other things. But do make copy & paste into my reader of choice as easy as possible. Same thing applies to YouTube.

Social media support (Tweet, Facebook post info from your flight log)
Not sure how useful this will be but if the platform already supports something like this without writing your own Twitter reader (or other social media of choice), it could be nice. But I would not speed too much time on this feature. I'd even go so far as to say this can be a V1.1 feature.

Dopler speed
How accurate is this type of feature? I think this is more of a gimmick than something that would actually be useful to users but I'm a noob and can be wrong.

I hope my additional details help. Also, I know this is for an iPhone app but I would like to have it for Android. I would be willing to help with development to make it easier to port to Android.
 

eagle4

Member
i think there are some great suggestions so far, my thoughts would be it'd be awesome to have a parts wish list section. lets say you're in the field and think you need to get a bigger prop, or a new tranimitter bag, or some other part that you saw someone else have at the field. You could punch it into your phone then when you're back at your computer or local hobby shop you can make sure you dont forget anything. kind of like a shopping list.
 

DDSFlyer

Senior Member
Ooohhhh that's dangerous...my list could get kind of long. Or it would get crossed off way too quickly
 

vk2dxn

Senior Member
Jason I have not read all reply's so I don't know if this has already been mentioned but it would be nice to have an app associated with say google maps that you could zoom in and touch an area "flight site" and press on the area to bring up wind gust/temp/forecast ect derived from the bureau of meteorology or local weather info service
 

Tactical Ex

Senior Member
Jason I have not read all reply's so I don't know if this has already been mentioned but it would be nice to have an app associated with say google maps that you could zoom in and touch an area "flight site" and press on the area to bring up wind gust/temp/forecast ect derived from the bureau of meteorology or local weather info service

You should listen to Podcast 14. They share with us a mobile app that does just that!

Here is the link: http://windsock-app.com/