Hi fellas!
First topic here 
! And i do not know if i am where i have to be (this categorie) to ask questions that i have…
I bought a Series X for my dad and I want to him the most realistic experience playing MSFS. I would like to know all apps or things that will be recommended to simulate a real flight (route maps, etc..) and watch him enjoying this game that you love too!
Thanks 4 all!
If he’s using an Xbox, you can’t use any 3rd party apps and things (other than those sceneries/ aircraft in the marketplace store) so you’re going to be a little limited.
Navigraph and this kind of apps neither too?
Correct. Navigraph requires access to a Community Folder, which is unavailable on XBox.
Unfortunately as others have said it’s very limited in terms of 3rd party mods / addons (software wise) and somewhat limited hardware wise.
As of now, the only things you can get are what is in the in-sim marketplace.
For hardware you can get some periphrials from Thustmaster and TurtleBeach. could also wait for Honeycomb to release theirs.
The other 3rd party stuff you can use on Xbox is what’s available in the in-sim marketplace. That’s limited to scenery, planes and now a few liveries. And of course, the G1000 NXi. Nothing else.
In the mean time the XB s X, a 600 dollar console, has a better overal performance experience than most +3000 dollar pc’s.
Can u recommend me something interesting of the Marketplace? I am new to this game, my father, the last time that he played MSFS was like 10 years ago…
All that you will find on the Marketplace is scenery (Airports) and Planes.
The G1000NXI (Garmin GPS) is free so you can grab that, it just replaces the stock one with a better option.
There’s a few other small addons like Bijan seasons to hav ehte seasons change but you’re pretty limited.
I don’t know what’s available for Xbox as I’m on PC. BUt I know there’s not a lot available. Xbox is a locked down platform. There’s really not a lot you can do with it in terms of expanding your base sim.
PC, however, is a completely different animal.
People used to fly airplanes even before computers existed. You can totally have a great experience without having all kinds of propgrams connected to MSFS like some people do on PC.
There is a middle ground. What you can do is use some apps/sites that do not connect to the Xbox but are useful anyways.
(on a side note, I know MSFS Pilots on PC that use paper maps and a lot of printed materials…)
Does your dad have a Tablet ?
What I use alongside flying when I am using the XBox is
https://www.meteoblue.com/ - this company provides the Live Weather data for MSFS. They have this website and also apps for Android and iOS. I prefer the website as I think it has more data important for aircraft.
You can use PDF checklists for airplanes on your tablet, a lot can be found here for download https://de.flightsim.to/c/user-content/checklists/ (this category also includes ingame checklists for PC, ignore those, only the PDF ones can be interesting)
You can also google the net for PDF POH (Pilot Operating Handbooks) of various aircraft used in MSFS.
A lot of App that pilots can use can be used in MSFS as well. Like a Descent Calculator App or such. If your dad has experience flight flights simulation, he will know what he needs. Just tell him to look at the Appstore of his Phone/Tablet.
www.fsxmap.com is a website that has all airports that are in MSFS. It is very useful during an Xbox flight, if you want to look at data from airports around you. You can use it on a tablet’s browser or even the Edge Browser on the Xbox (not during flight of course).
This Map App is specifically dealing with height profile of terrain. Very useful for a flight. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.mbit.topo.world
A fellow Xbox pilot uses Airmate for flight planning. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aero.airmate.airmate
Regarding peripherals : What is he using ? Yoke and Joyticks choices for Xbox are limited. But if you have a keyboard/Mouse with an extra USB bluetooth dongle, those work on an Xbox. (Or if they have a cable)
I also use a wireless Numpad via USB bluetooth dongle as autopilot
Does your dad have a Laptop or something like that ? He can use flight planning software on there, he just cannot transfer the flightplan to Xbox.
regarding addons from the MSFS marketplace (mostly additional aircraft and airports and such) He will know what he needs…just set up his Microsoft Account properly and show him how payment works and so on.
And tell him to get to this forum. He can use the Edge Browser on his Xbox for that if he has no other device…
cheers !
These are two very senior citizen friendly Youtube channels dedicated to MSFS
You can still get a suscription to Navigraph on your PC and still have access to airport charts etc. That’s what I do, I have my laptop next to me with Navigraph charts open while flying on Xbox.
Thank you so much Buddy!
Yup my father had the light aircraft license but we do not have money to renovate his license, so… he had an iPad so he can search for apps and a laptop. Can u explain me about the keyboard and a mouse utility? I bought him a Hotas? I do not know which brand is It now.
Ill check all that u post, i am very appreciate your help, i do not understand nothing about this world, so is very helpful, thank u again man.
Cheers!!
Your dad’s gonna be just fine.
He has a Pilot license, has used a simulator in the past, and having an iPad and a laptop means he is aquainted with modern technology.
He’ll find his way around MSFS in no time.
Also he’s likely just the right age for Flight Simulators. (I don’t know his age obviously). You’ll find a lot of people in this genre who are at it for decades… In one forum I partake in, we have an MSFS pilot in his Nineties and many pensioneers…
MSFS is actually pretty complete package, so my advice would be to keep it simple.
MSFS has the whole world, 35.000 airports, 40 aircraft, a weather system, AI Air Traffic Operators, a basic flight planner and can be used solely with a Xbox controller.
The Xbox version has two significant advantages: MSFS updates on it’s own and you cannot mess up the program, like you can as a PC user 
Whether your dad even wants to use external apps, websites or additional content in his first months of flying in MSFS is not set in stone.
A couple of bookmarks to useful websites and web-applications is the most he might want in the beginning.
Seriously.
Subscribing to some useful Youtube channels is also good and reading this forum.
Three aspects however come to mind.
MSFS has bugs. Some are minor nuisances, some more annoying. Your dad will encounter bugs with the program.
Good thing is, Microsoft is constantly working on MSFS, upgrading things and what not.
So patience is key here as a user when something in the program is simply not working 100% as expected, until they get around to fixing things for us.
Once you are inside MSFS, your dad will want to install the free extra content he can find in the Marketplace. Mainly the G1000NXi Avionic system and all of the free World Updates.
Then he will want to look at the Assistance Options and since he knows how to fly a plane, turn off most of them
Most of them are not meant for somebody with a Pilot’s license, that’s for sure.
(Current bug : they get reset to EASY on their own, so check before each flight…)
Peripherals
A Joystick or Yoke will have to be Xbox compatible. Not many choices, this is the complete list :
I only know the Thrustmaster Hotas One Xbox version and the Turtle Beach Velocity One. There’s propably more, but i use an simple Xbox controller to fly, so not much advice to give.
Current bug: sensitivity settings of Joystick or Yoke are not saved. So either use default or set them every time a new.
Microsoft knows and is hopefully fixing it in an update.
You dad’s propably gonna have a use for the Xbox controller that comes with the console.
For the drone camera or navigating the cockpit if the mouse fails (ahem, another bug that sometimes happens)
This is very useful if you don’t wanna constantly change AA batteries for the controller :
Keyboard and Mouse
You definitely want a Keyboard and while your at it a mouse.
You have to enter stuff when planning a flight and you can use the buttons on the keyboard to trigger all kind of buttons in the cockpit.
Any regular Windows or PC compatible keyboard/mouse is fine. They can be very cheap, like from 20 bucks or so on Amazon as a set.
If it’s with a cable, then of course it depends how far the distance is to the Xbox.
If it’s wireless, it needs to have a little USB Stick with it for the Bluetooth transmission. And it means you gonna have to recharge them every now and then or change batteries.
Current: Bug: Sometines the Mouse movement just stops in MSFS until the program is restarted.
Microsoft knows this and is hopefully fixing it eventually.
Another advice: forget all those flight school tutorials and bush trips and so on, just start flying. The tutorials tend to be buggy and your dad knows how to fly already.
here’s a flight planning tutorial to get him started on how to set up a flight in MSFS. (Simhanger has a number of great tutorials)
you can use navigraph and simbrief to build a flight plan and download maps and charts to view on a pc or tablet but they cant be imported into xbox although that feature is rumoured to come. apart from getting him a turtle beach or the thrustmaster yoke and throttles which are xbox compatible (pricey) you can still use online resources on pc to learn about flying the things and youtube videos, and free airport charts and vast number of other resources l
Man, like i said yesterday thanks you so much!!! I do not know what to say only that i am very thankful with this!
also here is a tip. if he buys anything in the fs2020 xbox marketplace they will be Free to install on the PC version of Fs2020 ( the Microsoft store Version not the steam store version. I have xbox X and premium deluxe and also Fs2020 running on my gaming laptop. Remember though you cant play both at the same time because they are tied to the same account. I use the xbox version for casual flying and my PC version for mods and the thousands of downloadable sceneries. Example if I buy an addon I always check to see if the pc and xbox icons are listed under the scenery or aircraft . that way if I buy on one platform is shows up in my other platform as owned and free to download. A good example is The Fly Tampa Vegas addon.
so i have it on xbox series x but it is very limited & i will be getting a pc when the sim is more stable because you cant even save or download flt or pln files so you can only do the bush trips in the default aircraft & considering it only lets xbox users use payware & access zero freeware i find it a bitter pill to swallow, however thats not answeirng your question , if your dad loves the airliners then consider buying concorde…cant go wrong with concorde. if your dad likes the general aviation planes for bush trips there are lots of really nice aircraft , the gruman goose or the widgeon can land on water or land, i love the vintage warbird planes like the spitfire but it is a taildragger & that takes some practise & getting used to when landing. the honda jet lets you use navigraphs on xbox & that gives me hope for being able to do more on xbox in the future fingers crossed