Alert: Compatibility Issue with Apple iOS 8.3 and External GPS Receivers
DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR APPLE DEVICE TO iOS 8.3 IF YOU RELY ON AN EXTERNAL GPS RECEIVER.
We are investigating reports that iOS 8.3 (released by Apple earlier this week) is not feeding GPS data from most external GPS receivers into 3rd party apps, such as ForeFlight, WingX, JeppFD, Navionics, and others. We have reproduced this issue in our lab and confirmed that this issue is not unique to Bad Elf GPS receivers, but affects other GPS receivers from Garmin and Dual Electronics as well.
Our newer GPS accessories, including the Bad Elf GPS for Lightning (BE-GPS-1008), Bad Elf GPS Pro+ (BE-GPS-2300), and Bad Elf GNSS Surveyor (BE-GPS-3300) do not seem to be negatively impacted.
We are working with Apple to resolve this issue and will provide status updates as we get more information. In the meantime, we recommend you wait to upgrade your Apple devices to iOS 8.3.
Update (Monday 13-April): We've passed all of the necessary information to Apple Support and got confirmation over the weekend that it has been passed to the correct team. We're optimistic it will be fixed in the next iOS 8.3.x release, and will post updates as we receive them.
Update (Thursday 16-April): We're still awaiting any news from Apple. In the meantime, we’re exploring several possible workarounds. We have confirmed that the beta iOS 8.4 released earlier this week has the same GPS issue. Some customers have reported successfully downgrading their iOS back to iOS 8.2, but we can’t recommend that process to our customers — it’s not supported by Apple and requires a complete wipe of your settings/apps/data. If you are a pilot grounded by this issue, please contact us via email to support@bad-elf.com and we’ll see what we can do to help. Rest assured we are doing everything in our power to get this resolved and will send another email when we have any new information.
For future updates on the iOS 8.3 situation, please view the latest information on our supplemental blog post, available here.
@BROOKS
Same here… going to return it all. :(
I won’t lie, I want to punch Apple as hard as I can square in the jaw right now. I had an original Bad Elf GPS for the iPad 1 but it was stolen a while back. I decided to get a new module for my new ipad mini and THANK YOU VERY MUCH APPLE YOU BUNCH OF TURD EATERS. Sorry… just needed to vent a little… I feel better now… sort of.
Bad Elf this is a serious let down. My BAD ELF GPS PRO is quite possibly the best little device I’ve ever owned and now Apple put the kibosh on it with their update. Please please please would you guys build a full suite of Android apps so I can cut the cord from Apple and move to a more open Ecosystem where downgrades are allowed and we are not stuck in this walled garden that Steve Jobs built. I drive a boat all over the great lakes and now it’s downright dangerous without my Navionics + Bad Elf Combo. The water levels have shifted so much in the past decade, shoals are a serious hazard. Please prevent this from happening again a give us full android support!!
My IFR cross country flight started with a bad surprise this morning. Thanks Apple!
I updated ios to 8.4 beta 3 and still no GPS info being relayed to foreflight frpm Bad Elf Pro.
Hang in there Bad Elf !!
Knowing Apple, this is not a glitch. It is accidentally on purpose. Expect Apple to release or internalise something similar to the Bad Elf in its next version of iPad, iWatch or other iCrack. But of course it won’t be anywhere near as good and twice the price. I feel sorry for Bad Elf here. They make a great product and what does Apple do? They steal their idea, try to destroy the host company’s market then gobble it up with its over priced version. Hang in there Bad Elf !!