Live and after the flight

23Live tracking and buddies

Publishing your position while you fly, following other pilots, level messages, pilot status and the post flight retrieve request.

Needs internet

What live tracking does#

Live tracking sends your position to the SkyTrackPro servers while you fly, so that other people can see where you are on a map in real time: friends, your club, a retrieve driver, or competition organizers.

Caution

It is completely separate from recording. Your flight is recorded either way. Live tracking only decides whether anyone else can watch it happen, and the app is explicit that Live tracking requires additional battery, data, and server resources.

Where Settings › Tracking › Live tracking

Turning it on#

Enable live tracking
On or off Default: Off
Publishes your position during a recorded flight. Turn it on for competitions, for any flight where someone is retrieving you, and for long committing flights where being findable matters.
Always active live tracking
On or off Default: Off
Keeps sending your position even when you are not flying, in the foreground and the background. It needs the always option for the location permission. Useful for retrieve drivers and for hike and fly, where the walk in is part of what people want to follow. It costs noticeably more battery.

Note

When always active tracking is running, a green dot appears on the Settings tab so you cannot forget it is on.

Fig. 23.1Live tracking settings, with the buddies section below.

What happens when the signal drops#

Coverage in the mountains is not continuous, so the app buffers positions it could not send and flushes them when the connection returns. Your followers see a gap, then the gap fills in.

Caution

The buffer is held in memory and is capped. A very long stretch with no coverage loses the oldest points, and force closing the app before coverage returns loses the whole backlog. Your recorded track is never affected by any of this.

Tip

If someone is relying on your live track for retrieve, tell them in advance that gaps are normal and that the last visible point is where you last had signal, not necessarily where you are.

PureTrack#

Your position can be published to PureTrack at the same time, described as Publish your live position to PureTrack in parallel with SkyTrackPro tracking. Requires live tracking to be on.

  1. Turn on Also send to PureTrack.
  2. Read Your PureTrack device code. Tap it to copy, confirmed with Code copied.
  3. Enter that code on PureTrack to link it to your aircraft or map marker.

Caution

You can generate a new code, but the app warns that Your current code will stop working. If you already linked it on PureTrack you will need to link the new code. Only do it if you have a reason.

Buddies#

The buddies overlay draws other pilots on your flight map, described as Display pilots you follow (or your selected group) on the flight map.

Show buddies overlay
On or off Default: Off
Draws the pilots you follow on the flight map. Turn it on when flying with a group, or in a competition where seeing the gaggle helps.
Group filter
All follows, or a specific group
Narrows the overlay to one group instead of everyone you follow. Use it in a competition, where following everyone would fill the map.
Manage flight buddies online
Opens the website to create groups, invite pilots and manage members.

Tapping a buddy shows their Status, either Flying or On ground, their Altitude and AGL, and Last update as a time ago. You can also Show trail to see where they came from, and Hide trail to clear it.

Fig. 23.2A buddy popup, with altitude, height above ground and how fresh the position is.

Caution

Always read Last update before acting on a buddy position. A pilot who lost signal ten minutes ago is not where the marker says. Buddies need a connection and are not cached.

Tip

Groups are the thing to set up before an event, not during it. Create the group on the website, invite everyone, then all anyone has to do on the day is switch the overlay on.

Level messages#

Level messages are three coded signals your event agrees in advance, sent with one hold of a button. What L1, L2 and L3 mean is up to the organizer: typically something like all is well, minor problem, and serious problem.

  1. Open the flight menu and find Level messages.
  2. Press and hold a button until it fills. The app shows Hold for L1, then Sending L1…, then L1 sent.

Note

They are deliberately restricted: Level messages are available only during task recording with live tracking enabled. If a condition is missing, the app tells you which one, for example Load a task to send level messages.

Tip

The press and hold is intentional. It makes an accidental send in turbulence essentially impossible.

Emergency and pilot status#

The emergency buttons alert the organizers directly. The app explains them as Press and hold a button until it fills to alert the organizers. They will call you or send help.

Button Meaning
SOS A serious emergency. Send it and expect a response.
Need Help Something is wrong but it is not life threatening.
Landed Safe You are down and fine.

After sending, the app shows Waiting for the organizers to respond... and then, once acknowledged, Help is on the way or Help is on the way, confirmed by <name>.

Important

These buttons are not a rescue service. They alert the competition organizers over the internet, which requires a signal and requires someone to be watching. In a genuine emergency use your phone, your radio and the local emergency number as well.

Note

Like level messages, they are only available during task recording with live tracking on.

After you land#

When a live tracked task flight ends, the app offers to tell the organizers how you are, with Report your status and The flight has ended. Let the organizers know how you are.

If you landed outside goal it asks more directly: Do you need retrieve? with You landed outside goal. Tell the organizers if you need a ride.

  1. Press and hold Need Retrieve or No Retrieve until it fills.
  2. The app confirms with Retrieve requested, and later Retrieve is on the way or Retrieve is on the way, confirmed by <name>.
  3. If you get a lift after all, use Cancel Retrieve, confirmed with Retrieve Canceled.
  4. Or press Skip to dismiss the sheet.

Tip

Send No Retrieve rather than skipping. A pilot who is definitely not waiting is as useful to a retrieve coordinator as one who is.

Caution

This needs a live session for the flight. Without one the app says No live session for this flight, status messages cannot be sent. Sending also needs a signal, so send it when you have one.

Task stop#

Organizers can stop a task, and that decision is pushed to the pilots who are live tracked. Your screen shows Task stopped, with the organizer's message if there is one, and the explanation The organizer stopped the task. Follow the rules for stopped tasks and land safely.

If the task is restarted you see Task reopened by the organizer.

Important

A task is usually stopped because conditions have become dangerous. Treat the banner as a weather warning first and a scoring event second.