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OK, 3D maps have been a "contentious" issue here, to say the least, but on my last flight I had a play around with the system and discovered a lot of things that some of us had thought about the app were actually not true. While I have no special interest in these 3D maps (featured in 77WN, 77WR & A350 touchscreen Krisworld for those of you not aware), and certainly don't share the "passion" that some in the past have had for them, I've been a bit dismissive of them which isn't deserved, once I gave them a go and took some pictures for everyone to see. So credit, where credit is due...
The first myth I will bust is that the system insists on showing you a constantly rotating, confusing system of views and won't let you pick one. Not so!
Here is the menu:
You can leave the app on Autoplay, or you can select a specific view. In the case of the image above, I have Flight Preview selected which plays a little animation of how your flight will progress.
Working down the menu, here is Total Route (not an interesting one to leave it on for 12 hour flights):
Mid Flight rotates slowly around as you watch the plane from different angles in a 3D animation:
Overhead is as it suggests, but the perspective is still spherical with a 3D plane model:
With Window Seat, I can bust another myth. Yes, you can actually tap on the little window icons and select which window you'd like to view through and it will stay in that direction. Cockpit and passenger as follows (note the highlight on the window icon in the second picture):
The system also allows you to control as much or as little of what you want to see with the centre menu:
And the right-hand menu allows you to control settings such that you can always view distances in km (or in miles for those who still fear the metric system
):
Also, the Search icon gives you a list of locations around the globe that you can look up, independent of your flight. Incidentally you can also zoom in or out and rotate as well:
Finally, the last myth I want to bust is a significant one. You can use this app as a 3D Map viewer, OR you can turn it into a 2D map viewer instead!
I've taken two photos just seconds apart, selecting a button in the app in between. Here is the app in 3D view:
And now, note in the following image that the instead of the little world globe icon being highlighted, the plane icon to its left is highlighted:
Suddenly you're in 2D Map Mode and all the rotating, spinning and curving is gone.
I never though I'd be the one to start a 3D map thread, but in the pursuit of fairness and impartiality, here it is!
The first myth I will bust is that the system insists on showing you a constantly rotating, confusing system of views and won't let you pick one. Not so!
Here is the menu:
You can leave the app on Autoplay, or you can select a specific view. In the case of the image above, I have Flight Preview selected which plays a little animation of how your flight will progress.
Working down the menu, here is Total Route (not an interesting one to leave it on for 12 hour flights):
Mid Flight rotates slowly around as you watch the plane from different angles in a 3D animation:
Overhead is as it suggests, but the perspective is still spherical with a 3D plane model:
With Window Seat, I can bust another myth. Yes, you can actually tap on the little window icons and select which window you'd like to view through and it will stay in that direction. Cockpit and passenger as follows (note the highlight on the window icon in the second picture):
The system also allows you to control as much or as little of what you want to see with the centre menu:
And the right-hand menu allows you to control settings such that you can always view distances in km (or in miles for those who still fear the metric system
):Also, the Search icon gives you a list of locations around the globe that you can look up, independent of your flight. Incidentally you can also zoom in or out and rotate as well:
Finally, the last myth I want to bust is a significant one. You can use this app as a 3D Map viewer, OR you can turn it into a 2D map viewer instead!
I've taken two photos just seconds apart, selecting a button in the app in between. Here is the app in 3D view:
And now, note in the following image that the instead of the little world globe icon being highlighted, the plane icon to its left is highlighted:
Suddenly you're in 2D Map Mode and all the rotating, spinning and curving is gone.
I never though I'd be the one to start a 3D map thread, but in the pursuit of fairness and impartiality, here it is!
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