aprs.fi iPhone/iPad app update: v1.6.2

Version 1.6.2 of the aprs.fi iPhone/iPad app went out yesterday evening. I've been adding a few features and fixes here and there on the weekends, but most of the larger changes in the code are actually under the hood and not yet visible for the users. I've also spent a good amount of time upgrading the aprs.fi web site backend and fixing a few bugs here and there.

Here are the visible changes in 1.6.2, all of them were recently requested by users of the app:

• Tapping a station on the map multiple times switches the track line colour for that station.
• Track line width can be adjusted in Settings. The default size is slightly thicker than the previous default.
• The maximum tracked station tail/track length is now 6 hours.
• Previously selected stations and addresses can be deleted by swiping the respective table row to the left.
• Previously selected address search results are retained even if the application is killed manually by the user.
• Some small visual adjustments (more space between "Beacon now!" and "Delete station" buttons, etc).

Some folks are also asking for a feature to track multiple stations at the same time, but that can already be done, since version 1.0 – just tap the '+' button on the additional stations info view to add them in tracking. This video demonstrates tracking many stations in the iOS app.

Here are some of the new features added in previous versions this summer:

• Setting to hide/show station callsign labels on the map
• Setting to disable (accidental) map pinch rotation
• Latest packets of an APRS station can be viewed by clicking a new button in the station information view. Tap a packet to decode it using the aprs.fi packet decoder.
• Filtering feature to control what is shown on the map, for hiding weather and AIS stations, for example. Complex custom filtering will be available in the future.
• A feature to display road traffic information (traffic jams). The information can be hidden in Settings.

I'm also currently working on APRS-IS beaconing and messaging features, and arbitrary date/time range selection (with long time ranges), but they're not complete yet. Larger features take more time.

The app is already getting quite happy reviews, but it still needs a few features to really make it complete. The 5-star average rating and these reviews are for version 1.6.1, from users from the USA: