EYEVIONICS Early Access has now been released for almost a week – a good time to take stock of what happened so far and what’s to come.
The release itself went smoothly, initial customers were onboarded and EYEVIONICS is now available for download and purchase in multiple places. The EYEVIONICS app can be downloaded from eyevionics.com for Android or the Apple App Store for iPad. Besides the EYEVIONICS Website, EYEVIONICS Link for Microsoft Flight Simulator is now also available on simmarket.com.
Performance Issues & Fixes
On Thursday, September 12, performance issues were reported, specifically for users of the EYEVIONICS Aviator subscription. All other EYEVIONICS customers were informed of the potential issues around 15:15 UTC the same day, while the issues were being investigated.
Customer satisfaction is a top priority for EYEVIONICS, therefore, the option to receive a refund was offered to any customer who experienced performance issues that significantly disrupted their experience, provided their device meets the minimum system requirements published on the eyevionics.com website. Specifically during Early Access, unknown issues can arise. However, EYEVIONICS takes appropriate actions when customer satisfaction is in doubt.
For all customers affected by performance issues, or any other issue, EYEVIONICS support is here to help you. Please log in to your EYEVIONICS account at account.eyevionics.com and click on Support.
Findings
The following performance issues were identified on Thursday, September 12:
- A combination of a specific data caching mode used by EYEVIONICS to reduce internet data consumption, and rendering of specific items on 3D Terrain was found to impact performance negatively in some situations.
The stream of increasing level-of-detail terrain data led to simulator stutters while it was being committed to the cache. The lag introduced by the caching mode made it necessary to recalculate the elevations of high-detail polygons placed on the surface of the 3D Terrain many times over. The effect of this performance bottleneck may be amplified by intermittently slow internet connections. - Dynamic text label rendering for navigation data on the 3D MFD and PFD was found to cause problems for some devices, especially those with low available RAM due to hardware or software restrictions.
App Update (1.0.27)
Following the investigation, a new app version (1.0.27) was prepared on Thursday evening to address the findings mentioned above. The version was rolled out on Friday, September 14 2024, and should be available globally by Saturday, September 14 2024 for both Android and iOS.
Key changes in EYEVIONICS 1.0.27
- More control over app graphics with a new “Object Detail” setting
- From 1.0.27, labels will only be shown if Object Detail is set to Ultra.
This is likely to be improved in the future, though. - From 1.0.27, the default detail setting of some objects in the 3D MFD, 3D PFD and PFD Inset Map has been reduced.
- From 1.0.27, labels will only be shown if Object Detail is set to Ultra.
- Choice between two data caching modes:
-
Local: Data is individually cached on every tablet running EYEVIONICS.
Lower probability of sim stutters than Distributed cache mode, but higher internet data consumption when using multiple EYEVIONICS devices. This cache mode is likely to perform better overall, but at the cost of some increased network usage. -
Distributed: Data cache is distributed across multiple devices.
Lower internet data consumption than Local cache mode, but probability of sim stutters and therefore lag of the EYEVIONICS user interface. This cache mode may perform better for some setups, especially those with multiple tablets running EYEVIONICS.
-
Local: Data is individually cached on every tablet running EYEVIONICS.
- High volume map features (obstacles and RNAV points) have been disabled until EYEVIONICS is confident these don’t impact performance negatively. These map features will likely be re-introduced in the future.
- Increased Topographic Imagery cache size.
What’s Next
During the Early Access phase, performance and reliability are the top development priority. Going forward, the EYEVIONICS app, EYEVIONICS Link for MSFS, and the EYEVIONICS server infrastructure will see more updates regarding performance. As mentioned above, improved 3D rendering for both iOS and Android are being worked on, as well as an increase of the server infrastructure in quality and quantity to lower network lag for customers all over the globe.
Rest assured EYEVIONICS will continue getting better – lots of features and improvements are planned for the short and long term.
In terms of offers, EYEVIONICS can be expected to appear in new storefronts. Exciting partnerships are being worked on and I can’t wait to share them with you all and the entire flight simulation community.
Happy landings from ELLX,
Fabian Lauer
FOUNDER & DEVELOPER
Join the EYEVIONICS Discord and follow EYEVIONICS on YouTube & Facebook.