Gaggle comes with a built-in variometer (vario) that can be used to identify lifting and sinking air. The variometer comes with some default settings that should work well for most pilots, but it can be changed to suit your own needs. You can change the following settings for the variometer from the Flight Recorder settings:
Free Flight Enabled: Toggle this on to enable the variometer for free flight aircraft where you need to identify thermals, ridge lift, or other lifting/sinking air. By default, this setting is on.
Powered Flight Enabled: Toggle this on if you want to enable the variometer for your powered flights. By default, this is setting of off.
*Play In Background: If you only want to the variometer to make a sound when Gaggle is running in the foreground then you can toggle this setting off.
Only In Flight: By default Gaggle will only turn on the variometer sound when are in flight, and it will switch it off while you are on the ground. You turn this off if you want the variometer to be enabled while on the ground as well.
Use With External Vario: If you have an external variometer connected through bluetooth then Gaggle will not use the built-in variometer. You can disable this setting if you want the Gaggle variometer to make a sound even when another variometer is connected through bluetooth.
Volume: You can change the volume of the variometer. The variometer is dependent on your phones volume, so if your phone is at 50% volume then the variometer can only go up to a maximum of 50%.
Thresholds: You can change the thresholds for when Gaggle starts making sound with the variometer. If you want to be notified of weak lift you can set the climb rate threshold to 0. Thresholds can be configured for climb rate and sink rate.
Responsiveness: Everyone has different needs from their variometer. New pilots might want a very responsive variometer that sounds the moment lift is encountered and more seasoned pilots might want a calmer variometer that only indicates average lift over a longer period of time. On Gaggle, you can configure the responsiveness of your variometer through the responsiveness slide. The more the slider is moved towards the right the more rapidly Gaggle will indicate vertical movement.
Accelerometer: It’s possible to use the built-in variometer without a barometer in your phone. When no barometer is available Gaggle will use your GPS altitude as the baseline measurement for lift and use the accelerometer for increases responsiveness and accuracy. This also works when you do have barometer built in, but it may not be needed depending on your specific device hardware.