Vector App
 

I must admit I am pretty impressed with this App... round of applause for all those involved in bringing this to life .

Agreed. Nicely done. Lots of room for more but it’s a great start

I played around with it when it was pushed to my iPad this morning. I have a flight tonight so I’ll get to see how it works for flight later today. From what I can tell it seems to have all the info we need with having to hunt around various sites.

A few things for future:
1. Calendar view in addition to the scrolling.
2. Your personal scheduled jumpseats and the flight info in case you have to contact the crew.
3. Question for those who have used it: the Jepp app uses location to plot your own ship on the route. Will the vector app continually try to update after takeoff with “no service”. If I toggle airplane mode on this disables ownship location. I was thinking about battery life.
4. I’d like to be able to copy the phone number provided so I can paste it into Skype/FaceTime or other app. Right now it just allows you to call the number which isn’t useful on an iPad. Maybe I’m missing something


I did chuckle when I read the FCIF stating to turn off WiFi in our own AOC because AXS and Pilot WiFi will not work with vector. However, my hotel and coffee shop networks are fine. But all in all it is a big step forward. Thanks to all who helped create it.

2 legs tonight the Jumpseat info on vector did not match the release. Don't know what the legality is if the info does not match when you sign it on vector.

What info specifically didn’t match?

Jumpseat no shows. Both were no shows but I would assume that it is not going to update a late jumpseat 5mins before show time.

“Vector automatically checks for updated information in the background, so there is no need to "refresh" the app. Under normal circumstances, this update occurs every 10 minutes. Within 6 hours of a scheduled flight, this update rate begins to increase to every 5 minutes, then to every 2 minutes, then to every 60 seconds for flight releases prior to departure.”

It appears that is not happing on the jumpseat side. Everything else on the release page was working.

These iPads have GPS receivers in them. Your own ship will update even in airplane mode.

Used it for three days straight since it loaded.

Average time to initially “load” - about 30 seconds. Average time to get details of flight - about 110 seconds (every time you tap a flight number). Almost 2 minutes watching (another) spinning icon...every time you tap a flight... in the nearly three minutes of just waiting, I can log onto FXCal, look at open time (MD-11), and go to vips home page and review release.

Pro
- everything is there one needs

Cons
- fonts are so big (and I wear readers), very little info on each scroll
- due to above, tons of empty space on screen not used, causing one to scroll up & down
- jokingly slow to update (the data takes maybe 10 seconds, but reformatting and placing into vector format is frustrating).
- release different format than printed (geez, why not just download the actual release & view as original?)
- the program loads to next flight, so have to scroll up to current flight.
- every time program opens, it automatically starts to load (just basics). Compare to fxcal where I can logon but ask for a refresh (why can’t there be a manual “sync” option?)

I love technology, saw the beta version of vector, and was excited to see product. Not real sure this helps me personally though. I can use vips website via safari (release, jumpers, 5 day history), gatesheet on company browser (gates for dept and arrival, mels), JeppFD-Pro pro to load flight, and fxcal all within time that vector loads. (Just talking about loading data, one must review the release and info on either system obviously)

Would have been better to just give raw data (with everything in one place, timesaver) in the vector app vs trying to make neat displays (in a new format). Take fxcal (or BidX) hotel displays or trip setup views, no scrolling required, all info neatly presented efficiently and quick.

Done using it for now. Tried it out for 7 flights over three days, got more frustrated as I used it. Again, my personal view only & hope others find it useful.