Here you can find the preliminary release notes for version 1.3, last updated on December 12th, 2024. Come back regularly and check out the updates!

General

• ONLY PREMIUM: A Messaging Feature (Internal Messenger) was introduced for all users and groups!

• Fixed: Some forms were missing the corresponding error message, if the storage space for documents and files has been exceed or if there is not enough space available. This has now been fixed in the missing forms.

• Fixed: With the setting “System” for the default appearance of the application, there was a problem when setting the session variable and thus flickering of the screen with this setting

• Fixed: When logging out on smartphones sometimes an error page was shown

Contact Form

• The contact form has been expanded. A drop-down menu has been added that allows users to select either Contact the administrator, Contact the person responsible for billing matters or Contact support. By contacting the administrators, it is now also possible to contact the group administrator on various topics, e.g. reservations, logbook, open/unpaid invoices, etc.

• The contact option for support remains available. This allows you to contact us at apron:pilot for software or tool support in the event of errors or if you have ideas for functions or requests.

Reservation Calendar

• Administrators of a group can now also include a special administrator link in their calendar program when subscribing to iCal and then receive a view of all reservations with all entered data, regardless of whether AnonyMode is active or not.

Digital Logbook

• ONLY IF SUBSCRIBED TO INVOICE MODULE: Pilots can now also enter notes and instructions for the invoicing department with a new textbox in the fieldset "Additional invoicing data". This information is shown in the digital invoice and can be used during the invoicing process, e.g. additional invoicing information, contact data etc. It is also useful when a flight was done by a non-user of apron:pilot to give address or contact information.

• Administrators can now deactivate columns in the overview view in order to maintain an overview if there are too many columns. However, all information is still included in the detail pages.

• The block time is now available as an additional counter for the aircraft. When enabled it will be added as a mandatory input for the digital logbook.

• If selected for the aircraft, the cumulative values are now also displayed in the columns for flight time, block time and number of landings. This makes it easier to compare the digital and paper versions for each row and to identify incorrect entries more easily

• The details page now shows the timestamps for the creation and last update of the entry, as well as the creating and updating users. If AnonyMode is active, the user related information might be hidden. Remark: The name of the user is only shown for entries created/updated after the update to version 1.3, not for historical entries before the update!

• The fuel types are now displayed in the list in an order defined by the administrator, whereby the first entry is pre-assigned and is therefore the default

• In the export file, the columns PIC last name, PIC first name, second pilot last name and second pilot first name are now exported as separate columns to make filtering etc. easier

• It is now also possible to filter for flights with refueling or externally paid refueling via two new checkboxes

• Performance improvements have been implemented, which now make loading large logbooks with several thousand flights noticeably faster

Internal Messenger

• ONLY PREMIUM: It is now possible for users to communicate via an integrated messenger with other users, administrators and power users. (Remark: If AnonyMode is activated the recipient list is reduced for regular users to only "visible recipients")

Information - Aircraft

• New status “Not airworthy” has been added, which can now be used for aircraft. This status indicates that an aircraft is not ready to fly, but is not necessarily under maintenance. The aircraft can be used for reservations, logbook entries, etc.

• The possible fuel types are listed as before, but in the order or priority defined by the administrator

My profile

• In the profile, the left-hand section for power users and administrators now shows which e-mail notifications they are configured for. In addition, the restriction to aircraft or “all” is displayed - if stored

• On the left-hand side of the profile, the assigned groups are now displayed first, followed by the aircraft. The active group is now sorted at the top. If the user is only assigned to one group, the group list is not displayed.

• Minimal styling adjustments implemented

My Statistics

• PREMIUM ONLY: Pilots now have a new menu item “My statistics” and can use it to query various personal pilot statistics on previous flights, reservation time, etc. and analyze them in a graphical and tabular display. This feature can help with various questions about previous flights, flight times or number of landings

My reservations

• Link to the previous, own reservations in the navigation menu has been moved to “MY ACCOUNT”

My flights

• PREMIUM ONLY: A new page has been implemented where you can see and filter your own flights

Invoice Module

• ONLY ADVANCED OR BUSINESS INVOICING MODULE: A process for canceling invoices has been implemented. This makes it possible to cancel invoices that have already been sent and completed and to process them again in a new payment run. When an invoice is canceled, the user optionally receives an e-mail with a message to be entered. The cancellation information is stored in the invoice as a history and can be tracked at a later date.

• The electronic invoice now shows invoicing remarks from the logbook if given below each flight. This information can be used during the invoicing process, e.g. additional invoicing information, contact data etc. It is also useful when a flight was done by a non-user of apron:pilot to give address or contact information.

• ONLY BUSINESS PLAN: Invoices can now be linked to each other. A link can be added by entering or selecting an invoice number. This allows relationships between invoices to be displayed without users having to search for the invoice number separately.

• ONLY BUSINESS PLAN: A process for reminder fees has been implemented, with which a new invoice with reminder fees can be triggered for an overdue invoice. The reminder fees can be fixed amounts or certain percentages of the invoice amount.

• In the detailed view for a payment run, the total amount of all invoice amounts is now displayed in the bottom line.

• It is now possible to define your own reply e-mail address and a name for invoicing matters in the settings. The reply address and the name are displayed as “Reply-To” or reply contact in mail programs for emails with invoices. This allows users to reply directly to queries. These two parameters can also be used in text blocks via placeholders in the PDF invoice.

• ONLY BUSINESS PLAN: It is possible to configure an automatic invoice reminder for due invoices. An invoice reminder can be sent in intervals of 7, 14, 21 and 30 days (e.g. if an invoice is due for 14 days, a reminder is sent, next after 28 days and so on). Also an optional message - also using placeholders - can be defined that is attached in the reminder mail, same as for the manual reminders.

• ONLY BUSINESS PLAN: The status of the e-mail dispatch is also displayed. For example, you can see whether an e-mail could not be delivered due to an error or an incorrect e-mail address or whether it was delivered successfully. This information is displayed in the dispatch history in the invoice details and also in the status display in the invoice or payment run detail list

• ONLY BUSINESS PLAN: A separate, specific tax rate can now be stored for each user. This is relevant if, for example, the users represent other companies and therefore the tax may not apply.

• For invoice credits it is now possible to change the credit specific price for the aircraft even if the credit is already in use, giving administrators the freedom to adapt the price especially for long time invoice credits being used.

• When resending an invoice manually and the automatic invoice reminder is active (see above), a short note is displayed in the confirmation popup, showing when the next automatic invoice reminder would be sent, e.g. "Note: The automatic reminder will be sent in 6 days!"

• If an invoice contains neither flights nor a manual invoice item, it is no longer possible to release the empty invoice with immediate effect

• Fixed: When creating a payment run or adding flights to an existing one, it was not possible to select all flights across multiple pages. Switch to the next page of flights would lose the selection. This was now fixed. You can now select all flights and also switch pages without losing the selection (with this fix you can now really select all flights independently of the items per page selection in the dropdown)

• Fixed: There was an issue where only the last custom field would be shown in the "flight details" section. Also there was a display issue with RADIO and CHECK additional custom fields for flights, that were shown as comma separated lists with special characters, which was now resolved.

Account

• The VAT ID is now being synced with Stripe during a checkout process when e.g. subscribing to PREMIUM or INVOICING. For pending verifications, issues with the verification or verified VAT IDs a message as well as an icon will be shown

• Saving of data on the account page (e.g. Name, e-mail etc.) is now quicker

Defect management

• Fixed: When sending emails to recipients when defects were newly created or the status was changed, there were sometimes incorrectly translated text passages in the emails

Settings - Reservations

• Administrators can now select the business hours for the calendar in 15-minute intervals, e.g. 06:15 - 18.30

Settings - Maintenance

• PREMIUM ONLY: It is now possible to define the threshold values for the notification and warning message when the next maintenance hours are approaching; the default values are 20 and 5 hours respectively.

Settings - Invoicing

• The "Invoicing" tab has been divided into two tabs. The "Invoicing - General" tab contains all general settings, e.g. number format, tax rate, user-defined invoice items, bank data. The second, new tab "Invoicing - PDF" contains all settings relating to the electronically generated PDF, e.g. invoice logo, various text passages, footer text, introduction and closing text etc. Both can be saved separately from each other.

• It is now possible to define your own reply e-mail address and a name for invoicing matters in the settings. The reply address and the name are displayed as “Reply-To” or reply contact in mail programs for emails with invoices. This allows users to reply directly to queries. These two parameters can also be used in text blocks via placeholders in the PDF invoice.

• ONLY BUSINESS PLAN: An automatic invoice reminder for due invoices can be configured. An invoice reminder can be sent in intervals of 7, 14, 21 and 30 days (e.g. if an invoice is due for 14 days, a reminder is sent, next after 28 days and so on). Also an optional message - also using placeholders - can be defined that is attached in the reminder mail, same as for the manual reminders.

• Fixed: When creating a payment run or adding flights to an existing one, it was not possible to select all flights across multiple pages. Switch to the next page of flights would lose the selection. This was now fixed. You can now select all flights and also switch pages without losing the selection (with this fix you can now really select all flights independently of the items per page selection in the dropdown)

• When enabled for an aircraft, the new block time counter can also be used for invoicing.

Settings - Invoicing / Reminder charges

• ONLY BUSINESS PLAN: In a new tab, rules for reminder fees can be configured by specifying the overdue date (in days) and the amount (fixed amount or as a percentage based on the invoice amount). If nothing is entered here, reminder fees of 0 are used.

Administration - Aircraft

• ONLY PREMIUM: Aircraft statistics have been implemented, with which evaluations of flight hours, reservation time and much more can be made using predefined filters. In addition, various display formats (e.g. bar chart, table, etc.) can be selected, and the date range and other criteria can be used for filtering. Important key performance indicators (KPIs) are also generated. The created evaluations can be exported as a table or PDF.

• The assignment of pilots has been extended so that not only can an assignment be made or removed for all pilots in the aircraft details, but the assignments can also be made individually in this view. In addition, the list shows whether pilots are blocked and which validity date is stored for the internal check flight (if activated)

• New status “Not airworthy” has been added, which can now be used for aircraft. This status can be used to indicate that an aircraft is not ready to fly, but not necessarily under maintenance. The aircraft is displayed to all pilots (against "Locked") and can also be used for reservations, logbook entries, etc.

• In the tab "Logbook" it is now possible to define the "persons on board" entry in digital logbook entries to be a mandatory field that pilots must fill in (default: optional)

• The block time is now available as an additional counter for the aircraft. When enabled it will be added as a mandatory input for the digital logbook and can also be used for invoicing.

• It is now possible for administrators to hide certain columns on the logbook overview page (e.g. Hobbs counter, pilot names, etc.) for each aircraft, so that the overview is not lost due to too many columns.

• PREMIUM ONLY: It is possible to individually change the threshold values for the notification and warning message when the next maintenance hours are soon to be reached for each aircraft, deviating from the settings. For example, aircraft A can be notified earlier/later than aircraft B.

• In the selection of columns to be displayed, the cumulative values per line can now also be activated for flight and block time and number of landings, so that these are displayed in the logbook. This is even closer to the paper version and makes it possible to easily compare the paper and digital versions line by line

• The possible fuel types have been revised so that a sequence can now be defined using drag & drop. The first entry is the standard fuel, which is the first to be preassigned in the screens in the logbook. This is particularly helpful if an aircraft can be refueled with SUPER or AVGAS, for example, but SUPER should be the default.

• The defect list can now be filtered according to the status of the defects, as is already possible in the defect overview

• The “Defects overview” button has been moved from the “Options” dropdown to the main view

• Fixed: Styling adjustments especially for the mobile view of the overview page

Administration - Users

• The options for receiving a notification for new/updated reservations or reservation requests are now grayed out if no aircraft has activated these functionalities

• Notifications for new/changed reservations, new defect entries or reservation requests can now also be restricted per user for certain aircraft. For example, user 1 can be notified for reservation requests for aircraft A, but not for aircraft B and C.