After six years of development, the swift client is now available to the public to use. It is a brand new client supported by VATSIM, which is cross-compatible with all major flight simulator platforms including Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Lockheed Martin Prepar3D and X-Plane. FlightGear has also been included in the mix of supported simulators. Further to the compatibility with the modern sims, Windows, Linux and MacOS are also supported.
The swift client has been designed to be a “very powerful client” and easy to use. It will work to bring a cohesive online experience regardless of the platform you’re using or flying on. With the online database storing detailed information about all possible AI and flyable models, liveries, aircraft types and airports, it should mean no more model mismatch. It should mean regardless of what you’re using, others on the network will see you correctly.
The development team have also worked with vPilot to ensure that information regarding aircraft animation is also exchanged. This means you will be able to see landing lights, flaps, gear and more all animate and switch on/off accurately as the user completes the task across any simulator.
To ensure that development will continue, the swift client is fully open source. You can see the source code on the development page. The team are encouraging people with an interest in supporting development, fixing bugs or implement ideas to visit and get involved. The idea is that the swift client will become something really owned by the community.
The public beta phase, which is what this product is currently in, has been tested by Alpha testers who have reported a positive experience. However, there are still some bugs, features missing and also a few user-interface problems which are being worked on. Feedback from the community will help to resolve some of these issues.
If you would like to participate in the Open Beta of swift, you can head to the swift project page, where you can find documentation and download links. Support links can also be found through the same link.
Thank you to FSXLiveries, Delta-Bravo and also siumai-hargow from our Discord for the tip and images.
swift joins the official approved pilot clients for VATSIM.
Approved Pilot Clients
- vPilot for FSX/P3D
- SquawkBox for Microsoft Flight Simulator (you will find the installation guide here)
- FSInn V1.x and FSCopilot V1.x
- SquawkBox747 for PS1, Version 1x
- SquawkBox for Fly!, Versions 3.0, 3.1
- XConnect, Version 0.x
- XSquawkBox, for XPlane
- swift, for XPlane, FSX, P3D
