My flight recordings are missing pieces or not recording at all
On Android devices some operating systems have aggressive power management techniques that will sometimes kill the Gaggle background recording service in an attempt to save battery power. Gaggle has little control over this process but there are a few things you can do to help:
- Update the location permissions for Gaggle to "Always Allow" in the system settings. This will allow Gaggle to restart the recording service the the operating system kills it.
- Update the battery optimisation settings for Gaggle to tell the operating system that it should not kill the Gaggle recording process. You can find out more about that here: Don’t kill my app! | Hey Android vendors, don’t kill my app! (dontkillmyapp.com)
- Don't use Gaggle in the background. If you are running Gaggle in the foreground with the phone screen on then the operating system won't interfere with the recording process.
- Try and correct GPS problems that can sometimes occur on Android devices. To see how you can resolve these you can follow the instructions here (the instructions are for Samsung but should work for most brands) How To Fix Samsung Galaxy S21 GPS Problems - Technobezz
I get recordings before I take off and sometimes it doesn't record at all
Gaggle has an auto take-off and landing feature built in that works based on ground speed. When your speed exceeds a predefined threshold then Gaggle considers it a takeoff and will start a new flight recording. Once your ground speed is below that threshold again Gaggle will consider it a landing (provided your height above ground is less than 30 meters). This can sometimes cause problems for trikes and one wheels when you start the recorder during your pre-flight and you are still moving around a lot. To work around this you can:
- Start the flight recorder right before take-off or when you know you won't be moving fast again.
- Disable this feature by toggling the "Auto Start Recordings" setting in the Flight Recording Settings.
Gaggle switches off and stops recording between flights
Gaggle as feature built in to automatically shut down a few minutes after a landing was detected. This is a convenience feature that will make sure that recordings of your drive home isn't accidentally recorded. By default Gaggle will listen for another takeoff for about 5-12 minutes based on some internal algorithms. To work around this you can:
- Stop the flight recorder manually and start it again after you landed. Right after you start the flight recorder Gaggle will listen indefinitely for a takeoff event.
- Disabled this feature by toggling the "Auto Shutdown Recorder" setting in the Flight Recording Settings.
My battery is draining quickly while flying
Gaggle uses a lot your built in sensors to provide the functionality you need while flying. Some of these include your GPS, barometer, accelerometer, compass, and a few others. Using these sensors do cause some battery drain and it is unavoidable but they aren't typically the biggest source of battery drain. By far the largest consumer of battery power while flying is your screen. You can greatly optimise your battery consumption by turning off your screen and relying on audio cues instead.
If you do see that the battery consumption is getting to unreasonable levels please let us know and we will investigate it. We aim to never exceed 20-30% of battery use per hour of flight on a phone with a new battery.
If you do see that the battery consumption is getting to unreasonable levels please let us know and we will investigate it. We aim to never exceed 20-30% of battery use per hour of flight on a phone with a new battery.
How do I see someones live location while flying?
Gaggle will automatically show you all nearby flyers (with public location sharing enabled) on the home screen when you open the app. You will also see all active flights from your groups on the home screen. It takes a few seconds before location sharing is enabled on the pilots phone. If you still don't see anything drag down on the home screen until the refresh icon appears. This will force a refresh of the home screen and will fetch all the nearby flights again.
You can also make sure that you have your location services enabled and that Gaggle has permission to use your location to find people flying nearby. This permission is not needed to see people flying in groups.
You can also make sure that you have your location services enabled and that Gaggle has permission to use your location to find people flying nearby. This permission is not needed to see people flying in groups.
I have SafeSky enabled but I don't see other aircraft?
SafeSky works by sending signals received by ADS-B ground stations over the internet to Gaggle. In order for this to work reliably there needs to be a ground station near your location where you are flying (<90km away). Ground stations are fairly inexpensive and you can easily create your own to receive ADS-B signals that will then be sent to SafeSky and Gaggle. If you want to setup your own base station have a look at ADS-B Exchange and ADS-B Hub on how to setup up stations to feed data to their services. Here is a good starting pint for ADS-B Exchange: Share your data - ADS-B Exchange (adsbexchange.com)
How much data does Gaggle use?
There are two types of data usage that we can consider. The first is the data storage on your phone that we need and the second is network data that is needed for Gaggle to operate correctly. Let's address these separately, starting with network usage.
Gaggle uses your internet connection to fetch flight images, broadcast your live location while flying, fetching live air traffic information, and to upload your flight recordings. For a typical flight the network usage will be around 2-3MB per hour of flight. Viewing a flight recording also consumes about 1MB of data. Visualising a flight consumes a lot of information because 3D rendering information for the world needs to be download which can range from 50-100MB so it is only recommended to visualise flights while on an unlimited internet plan.
Gaggle stores satellite/terrain tile information locally on your device as well as the last few flights you viewed. Gaggle and your host operating system will automatically control the storage space used by Gaggle to minimise it when data is no longer needed and you shouldn't need more the 500MB of local storage space for Gaggle to function correctly.
Gaggle uses your internet connection to fetch flight images, broadcast your live location while flying, fetching live air traffic information, and to upload your flight recordings. For a typical flight the network usage will be around 2-3MB per hour of flight. Viewing a flight recording also consumes about 1MB of data. Visualising a flight consumes a lot of information because 3D rendering information for the world needs to be download which can range from 50-100MB so it is only recommended to visualise flights while on an unlimited internet plan.
Gaggle stores satellite/terrain tile information locally on your device as well as the last few flights you viewed. Gaggle and your host operating system will automatically control the storage space used by Gaggle to minimise it when data is no longer needed and you shouldn't need more the 500MB of local storage space for Gaggle to function correctly.
Will Gaggle work offline?
Yes Gaggle will work offline. All flight recordings are stored locally on your device and is only uploaded to our servers once your flight has ended. Flight instruments will also work normally. Satellite/terrain information is stored on your device the moment you view it so you can also make sure that you have this available by viewing the area you intend to fly in the route planner beforehand while you still have an internet connection.
* Features that require an active internet connection like broadcasting your live location and receiving live air traffic does will not work in offline mode.
* Features that require an active internet connection like broadcasting your live location and receiving live air traffic does will not work in offline mode.
