FlightMap and FlightGauge Removed from Sale
I can hardly believe it’s been 8 years since FlightMap was released to the play store. I want to thank everyone who has supported the apps over the years. I can’t tell you how much I learned and how much fun I had building these apps. Unfortunately, I have very little choice but to remove the apps from sale. I do not have the resources to continue feature development any longer along with other issues.
What does this mean for the users?
- If you have purchased the apps they will remain in your google play library and you can continue to use them however you like. I am not taking the apps off the store I am only removing them from sale.
- If you are looking to purchase the apps there is no way to do so now.
- I can still push releases if there is a bug or issue is found. I am not stopping support for the app at this time. If you have any issues please continue to use the contact form
So what about the future…
I am contemplating what to do and there is a very real possibility I open source everything. Before doing that I have some research to do with regards to the google maps api licensing and other issues. You may see FlightGauge open sourced first as it doesn’t have any external resources.
I want to thank everyone again for all of the support over the years. Stay tuned as I figure out what to do with the apps going forward.
VINE RIPE SOFTWARE™ 
August 31, 2018 at 11:14 am
Hi Eric,
have you made any progress towards open sourcing the flightguage code ? I am looking for a code base from which to create a full size Spitfire Instrument Panel (for personal use, not profit) for use with XPlane rather than FSX. X Plane already uses UDP comms. I will probably end up using 3 panels for the dial gauges, and a mix of Arduino/Pi’s for the switches and lights.
I had been looking at Vranki’s ExtPlane code but your flightgauge package looks like a superb piece of GUI engineering and a much better start that could save me a lot of coding !
regards
Bob
September 4, 2018 at 2:38 pm
FlightConnect has been made open source and it’s on my github. You could look at adding xplane support to that. As long as the network interface for FlightGauge and FlightMap stays the same then you would be able to provide whatever data you want to them. There is a data collector thread that runs and fills a data object with the current parameters. Then a poller runs separately pulling the data from that data set and sending it off to whatever clients are connected. I just never got around to adding xplane support because I don’t own it and demand was low.
I’m looking at my options for the other apps. I have not made up my mind yet on what to do.
October 1, 2018 at 2:45 pm
Thanks Eric,
it was the gauge drawing code that I was looking for as I want to draw the instruments in the right place on a large LCD behind an aluminium cockpit panel with cutouts. So whilst you think about your options I will probably start elsewhere for a proof of concept. This is a long term project. Thank you for replying. Bob
March 8, 2020 at 12:12 pm
Hey Eric,
We used to be in touch back in the day when for a short period I was one of your beta testers for FlightConnect/FlightMap. This was what, 2014-2015? Time flies…I hope the last few years have been kind to you.
Right, I shall get to the point! When you released FlightMap onto the Play Store I purchased it straight away and used it until I had a break from FSX-SE for a couple years as I moved overseas. Now, in the present, I went to re-download FlightMap and although the entry is still in the list of purchased apps in my Play Store account FlightMap is no longer able to be downloaded, the apk has disappeared.
I still have FlightConnectSetup.msi (ver. 2.8.3) and another file mysteriously named ‘setup.exe’ and although I’m not sure what it is I am sure it’s important as it’s in the same folder as FlightConnectSetup.msi. Sadly, I didn’t back up the FlightMap apk as I didn’t think I’d need to, which now turns out to be an unwise decision. I’ve looked through a few repositories online and can’t find the apk either.
Can you please be so kind and consider helping point me in the direction of a solution as I really, really found FlightMap/FlightConnect to be invaluable in my enjoyment of FSX.
Yup, I’ve come back to FSX in preparation for MSFS 2020. I’ve even gone and bought myself a yoke, quadrant and pedals. lol
Anyhow, if you don’t feel you can or want to help that’s cool too – thanks for your time, it was at the least nice saying hello.
Take care and kindest regards,
Richard
March 8, 2020 at 7:22 pm
While I have removed them from sale they should still show up in the play store on your tablet. As long as you are logged in as the user that bought the apps you can find them in the all apps section
“On your Android phone, open the Google Play store app and tap the menu button (three lines). In the menu, tap My apps & games to see a list of apps currently installed on your device. Tap All to see a list of all apps you’ve downloaded on any device using your Google account”
I sorted by alphabetical and they were there on my tablet.
March 8, 2020 at 7:28 pm
I’ve gone in and made some changes to the play store listing. It may have been hiding it in some countries from the downloads. Try it again and see if it is fixed
March 9, 2020 at 5:28 pm
And now I was able to download FlightMap – thanks Eric!
I take it FlightConnectSetup.msi ver.2.8.3 is the latest version? I see it’s no longer able to be downloaded from the FlightConnect page on your site and GitHub has 2.8.3 as the latest text but it’ll save me learning how to compile the code on GitHub to find out for sure.
Many thanks for making FlightMap available to download from the PlayStore again Eric. I’m in the UK, just as an FYI and I have no idea why I wasn’t able to download it yesterday.
Richard
P.S. Do you also have any idea what this executable called ‘setup.exe’ would’ve been for that is in the same folder, which I named ‘FlightConnectFSX_2.8.3’, along with the executable ‘FlightConnectSetup.msi’? It must have something to do with it or I wouldn’t have put it in there with FlightConnect. I’ll probably run it in a VM just to find out what happens. lol
March 9, 2020 at 6:40 pm
Yeah, 2.8.3 should be the latest. I forgot when that domain went down that so did those downloads. I’ll put builds up on the git repo of the latest. The EXE is just a boot strap around the msi. It makes sure the system has the ability to install msi. Basically for windows systems older than windows 10. It’s safe to just run the msi.
I’m not sure why it wasn’t downloadable either. There were a few errors in the play store listing due to changes since the app went dormant. I cleared the errors and I guess that fixed it.
Edit: Builds are now up. P3D is 2.8.6 as there were some changes for a newer version of P3D. No idea if it will still work or not since I’m no longer a developer and don’t have access.
https://github.com/CountDeMonet/FlightConnect/tree/master/Builds
March 10, 2020 at 10:46 am
Brilliant! I’ve downloaded both the FSX and P3D zips from the repo – thanks for instating them – and thanks for the explanation, re. the EXE.
I’ve read a bit about your old hardware woes -sad really, since it’s all still very usable. I’ve got a few old bits of equipment but other than some driver woes, I haven’t really had much trouble regarding USB 3.x other than when I had a certain AsMedia chipset on an X99 board. Since changing to X570 and AMD chipset, all my old issues seem to have disappeared.
Are you looking forward to Flight Simulator 2020, are you buying into the hype? I’m reigning in my expectations until it arrives.
March 10, 2020 at 11:30 am
Yeah I’ve had nothing but issues since I upgraded my computer and it has usb3 only ports. My flight stick doesn’t work and the saitek panels only work with 3d party software. The switch panel was completely dead but I was able to resurrect it by replacing the controller and writing my own code for it. I was playing the latest IL2 for a while but have pretty much given up all flight simulation for the last few years. I didn’t feel like spending the money to get things working again. I may give the new simulator a try but I’ve not been following it too much.
March 11, 2020 at 3:40 pm
That’s a real shame that you’ve all but given up because of pigging hardware (lack of) support. Just don’t chuck any of your gear just in case your next PC upgrade (i.e. new chipset, different USB 3.x controller) makes it work again.
As far as you not following the new sim too much, please, let me whet your whistle…
The latest development update video:
And screenshots on the officlal site by alpha/beta testers:
https://www.flightsimulator.com/
I’m sure you’ll be suitably impressed…
March 11, 2020 at 3:46 pm
Here’s a bit more content, all video direct from Microsoft, but commentated by AUS Simmer. This puts a bit more meat on the bone:
(I added the wrong video in my previous post, I meant to post the one without commentary but it doen’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.)
March 8, 2020 at 12:33 pm
Eric,
I’ve managed to find an apk named: com.vrs.flightmap.trial_2017-03-14.apk.
Would this work or is this the 5-minute time limited version? I can’t remember whether this version was unlocked on purchase or whether there was a standalone full version.
Richard
March 9, 2020 at 6:46 pm
That is the trial version and is code locked to 5 minutes.
October 17, 2020 at 5:08 pm
Hi,
possible in any way to get the serversoftware running on msfs2020?
October 17, 2020 at 9:25 pm
I have not tried the new simulator version yet. The code for the server is on GitHub so if anyone wants to update it before I get a chance to that is possible. I have not seen what changes were made or even if it is possible to update yet.