Orbx’s popular flight tracker app Volanta is getting a mobile companion app after Orbx administrators confirmed on their forums that the most requested feature from the community has now been created.
The app, which is not yet available but ‘coming soon’, will allow users to conduct the same monitoring and tracking functions available in the desktop app. A remote pause option has also been added, which will allow users to freeze their simulator remotely in the event that their aircraft deviates from course or encounters some sort of anomaly.
The app will feature the same smoothness and highly detailed map that users have come to enjoy on desktop, with overlays for VATSIM and IVAO traffic, airfields and sectors with a VATSIM controller already logged on, weather and terrain.
Although it is yet to be seen exactly how flight simmers will use the new app, Orbx suggests in their forum posts that simmers who enjoy long-haul flights will now be able to leave their home while the flight is in cruise, and monitor it’s progress throughout the flight remotely. Another suggested use is for simmers to be able to quickly check with airports and sectors are staffed on VATSIM before planning their flight and launching the simulator, which is a feature I will be using before leaving the office in the evenings!
Orbx says that the first version of Volanta Mobile will lay the groundwork for more features to come, and are encouraging the you to let them know what you would like to see in the app. You can send Orbx your comments here.
Alongside the mobile app comes a general update to Volanta, which will now run as version 1.4. One of the big new features is a stream overlay, which Orbx believes will be of great help to anybody looking to get started with livestreaming their flights on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. The app already imports live data from the simulator to create a flight track, and now this data can be used to build a stream overlay. Volanta v1.4 will come with a stream overlay editor where users can customise their overlay’s font, colour scheme, and general layout to match their content branding.
The built-in roster system introduced in Volanta v1.2 is also being expanded, which will allow scheduling your flights outside of the real-world schedule system. This will mean that users can plan out an entire day’s flight schedule in only a few clicks.
Improvements have also been made to the Discord integration, which will now show the simulator being flown, as well as additional information such as current position and aircraft type.
Finally, Orbx announced that the real-world schedules feature is now going to be powered by industry leader in the flight tracking space, FlightAware. This should bring higher quality data to more airports around the world, enhancing the accuracy of schedules and also allowing simmers to see the aircraft type being used on specific legs.
A release date for Volanta v1.4 and Mobile has yet to be released, although Orbx says it is ‘coming soon’. FSElite will be the first to let you know when it drops!
