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.
Figured out a workaround; turn tethering on in the iPhone, connect the iPad to the iPhone via wifi tethering, and now I can use Forflight again on the iPad. Of course I am using the iPhones gps and not the xgps150, but at least it’s better than just using the iPhone. I will see how it works on my upcoming flight to the San Juans…
Very disappointing. It looks that not only is nothing happening, it’s not even happening fast. With no apparent solution arriving before the first half of June two months after this started and no assurance that it will be corrected or that it won’t happen again is troubling. When choosing between an aviation specific and purposed device such as a Garmin aera and something with the appeal of broader use but more components such as the iPad requiring an app and a receiver, it is now clear that the latter option cannot do any one thing as reliably as that designed for a single purpose. My ForeFlight subscription runs out in a few days and I will allow it lapse. The iPad still has its uses around the house and I don’t know whether the Bad Elf Pro will be worth anything to anyone else. I’ve been getting by just fine with paper charts and, ironically, the old standby King radios (VOR’s) and my nearly 20 year old Lowrance Airmap GPS. The suite revolving around the iPad was a tremendous tool and convenience but has been rendered nearly useless without the outlay of more cash in less than a year. I don’t fly for a living anymore so this frequency of obsolescence is simply not worth it.
My Bad Elf Pro was only purchased a few months ago. Since I updated to iOS 8.3 and Bad Elf does not advise downgrading to iOS 8.2, would Bad Elf consider an exchange allowing people to trade their Bad Elf pro for a Bad Elf Pro+?. If not, what is the timeframe for Bad Elf developing a firmware update to allow the Bad Elf Pro to work with the iPad mini? Thanks for keeping everyone apprised of the situation.
According to 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman, the iOS 8.4 release date won’t be coming in May. Nor will it be coming in early June. Instead, it looks like the iOS 8.4 release date for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch will arrive sometime after the start of WWDC on June 8.
Throttled back and leaned for max endurance. Looking like we’re not getting out of this holding pattern for a while.
So, is there an update to get our gps receivers working yet with the Apple update? Help! I am tired of using my iPhone while flying…would be nice to use my iPad again or is my xgps150 garbage now?