Simulators and devices
Built-in simulator
Section titled “Built-in simulator”Choose Go flying and then the simulator instead of GPS. It moves an aircraft on the map so you can try planning, alerts and the profile on the ground.
- Web: steer with the keyboard. Arrow left and right turn, arrow up and down change speed, + and − change altitude, and Q jumps 1 NM ahead along your heading. You can also drag the aircraft to a new place. Keys are ignored while you type in a field.
- Native: touch controls. Heading, speed and altitude +/− buttons apply one step per tap, and holding a button repeats at an increasing rate. ADV +1NM jumps ahead.
Simulated flights and the logbook
Section titled “Simulated flights and the logbook”Simulated positions never enter your real logbook. A flight log is only created from simulator or external positions if Log simulated flights is on in Settings, and then it is marked as simulated: it is never synced, and is left out of your totals. On native you can delete all simulated logs from Settings.
X-Plane and MSFS
Section titled “X-Plane and MSFS”You can feed OpenVFR a position from a desktop simulator.
Native (direct): in Settings → Simulator, choose one of:
- UDP auto-detect: tap Listen on UDP 49002. In X-Plane enable Settings → Network → Broadcast to all mapping apps. For MSFS use an add-on that broadcasts the same format. No IP address is needed on the same network.
- WebSocket bridge: run the bridge script on the simulator PC and enter
its address (
ws://<pc-address>:5104). Use it when UDP is blocked or the source only sends TCP NMEA. It accepts the X-Plane format and NMEA ($GPRMCand$GPGGA).
Web: browsers cannot receive UDP, so the web app connects to the
WebSocket bridge only. The bridge script is nmea-ws-bridge.mjs in the
openvfr-app repository (apps/web/scripts).
External simulator flights are not logged unless Log simulated flights is on.
External GPS and receivers
Section titled “External GPS and receivers”Portable ADS-B or FLARM receivers (GDL90 over Wi-Fi, FLARM dongles) are not supported as a position or traffic source yet. Traffic comes from the OpenVFR server. See Air traffic.
Barometer and vario (native)
Section titled “Barometer and vario (native)”By default altitude comes from GPS. Two optional sources can improve it:
- Internal barometer (Settings → Vario): uses the phone’s pressure sensor, off by default. Phone barometers measure the pressure where the phone is (a pocket or a cabin), which can differ from the outside pressure, so a warning explains this before you turn it on. A first-run prompt offers it once, when a sensor is detected. On iOS the system asks for Motion and Fitness permission.
- BlueFly vario over Bluetooth: connects to the external instrument and its reading takes priority. You can set it to reconnect automatically.
The order of priority is: BlueFly vario, then the internal barometer (if enabled), then GPS.
Barometric altitude needs a QNH. In Settings you can choose QNH source and QNH:
- Automatic: QNH worked out from the METARs of nearby aerodromes, with closer stations counting more.
- Field calibration: while parked at a known aerodrome, the phone barometer can calibrate QNH. It is only a fallback, kept for about an hour after takeoff, and a live METAR-derived value always wins.
- Manual: set it yourself. The default is 1013.25 hPa.
Other altitude settings: show height above ground instead of above sea level, show QNH on the pressure altitude gauge, and show local time.