A new software upgrade for iPads caused some problems last month for pilots who depend on the tablets for navigation, but Apple now says a fix is in the works, NBAA said on Tuesday. The iOS 5.0.1 software update will correct a file-management feature that was causing some files to be automatically deleted from chart databases. Apple has said the new version of the software should be released within the next two or three weeks, according to several technology websites.
Hilton Goldstein, developer of WingX Pro software for pilots, told NBAA that Apple hadn’t informed developers that iOS 5 would contain the “clean-up” feature that deleted files in the background. For the new fix to work, he added, app developers will have to modify their code to mark files that shouldn’t be deleted. One operator whose crews depend on iPads, CitationAir, told NBAA they have changed their procedures to ensure that in the future, any new operating systems must be thoroughly tested and approved before pilots can download them to their iPads.
