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.
Though I do not have a Bad Elf, I have a receiver that is also affected by this issue. I contacted Apple support directly and pushed the issue from a pilot’s perspective. This has the potential for serious consequences if anyone is relying on this as their sole source of navigation (which should never be the case, but nonetheless it is happening) and must be addressed from a safety standpoint. The senior advisor I worked with has acknowledged that anything that affects safety is a concern for them and they will be contacting engineering to get an update on this. They intend to get back to me via email with more information asap. Hopefully this places additional urgency on the matter for the sake of these device manufacturers and, more importantly, human safety.
-Bill
It has been a couple of weeks since the last status update from Brett @ Bad Elf. What is going on now?
I am very pleased to see your commitment to updating the GPS Pro firmware to align with the Pro+. I trust that you will continue to make that release. All too often firms selling hardware fail to provide ongoing firmware support when a new product comes out – by adopting a “Sell and Forget” policy. The GPS Pro will last for several years and I would like to replace it when I wish to, not through ‘enforced obsolescence’. My decision to buy and recommend future Bad Elf products is entirely dependent on being happy with the level of support provided throughout its life (something some firms choose to overlook). So far I have been delighted and greatly appreciated the timely alert not to update to IOS8.3 and the subsequent Blog updates. Well worth being registered on your emailing list. Keep up the excellent work!
Good news.
According to https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/releasenotes/General/RN-iOSSDK-8.4/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40015246-CH1-SW3
The Bluetooth GPS issue is fixed in the 8.4 beta 2 update.
Now, the question is… When will it be released.
Done Did !! Downgraded to IOS8.2 I’m not computer savvy at that level so if I can do…. it can be done by any ordinary type guy/gal. I drove down the black with my Bad Elf Pro and Foreflight. It’ Working !! Yay !!