I think the misunderstanding between you and @FolkishZeus315 might be I think they mean when ATC gives a reply to you the squawk code is changed automatically and there is no setting to stop it, similarly when replying to a hand-off from an ATC controller the frequency gets changed. This happen in the C152, PMDG 737 etc, as it sets SIMVARs. You are completely correct you can manually set these things yourself at any time, so it’s more this auto ‘helper’ of the ATC replies doing things that they would prefer an option to be able to turn off I think?
That’s what I do. When they give you your squawk code, if you press 1 it will be set for you. However, if you set it by hand, then the ATC window advances automatically.
At least it did for all aircraft except one IIRC. I think it was the Piaggio. I haven’t flown it IFR for a while, but it did some curious, unique things when it came to radios, and ATC interaction.
That’s good to know - thanks.
For me in the 172 G1000, setting the squawk code myself causes ATC to stop for the rest of my flight. (I haven’t tested other aircraft.) I have been meaning to search for/log a bug report on this, but I haven’t had the time yet. Too much moderator stuff to do…
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Thanks. Just a heads up that only recent Q&As developer streams are transcribed, and when it’s not done by me, it’s a loose summary and possibly not as searchable. When I do it, it’s verbatim to ensure that nothing is lost and that no meaning is misinterpreted. But, I’m the only nutjob that does it that way. 
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That’s it? Some things in passing from October 2020 and no mention of AIRAC or FMS updates? I want my money back on that free coupon I think. . Seriously, thanks for searching about on this, as it is good context info. You were the one making statements from this info, and I’m just trying to source it.
The most recent one seems to be this (you can hit 75% scale on the preview pane to make them a bit more readable)
It sounds like Matt and WT are really struggling with this. I wonder what requirements they are working under, as I think a lot of people who want some better ATC just want some of the simpler things fixed, and I don’t think all of them are world changing complexity?
Anyway, all this would be sorted out with a Feedback Snapshot and Dev Roadmap that actually reflected what was being talked about above. Spelunking Discord search makes it hard to talk about things with all the info and get an idea of what’s going on.
If you don’t recognize the leg types as AIRAC, I can’t help you.
As I said, feel free to do your own digging, but these are public comments. If you have a better solution, feel free to submit via Zendesk, or your own personal contacts, which I’m sure you have.
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Thanks, yep - I’ll keep digging. Lots to do here and an interesting area.
EDIT: Just noticed this, so should reply to this bit I guess as I detect you’re getting upset now and don’t want that. I recognize that in April 2022 Matt was talking about proc turns and holds to help out with how a future ATC / Traffic update could work. That sounds pretty ambitious for sure. I don’t think I’d personally use ‘AIRAC’ for that term, but I get what you mean more now. It looks like you are saying the stock aircraft all need to understand more complex procedures, as that is what the ATC planner uses. I don’t quite see how that leads to rewriting all the FMS’s and only then updating ATC / traffic bugs but I guess you know that already. 
I have a pilots license from about 15 years ago, but haven’t updated the med cert in the last few. Do you fly in real life @CasualClick?
As a long time follower of the WT team, I frequently interact with Matt and the team members, I will caution those that lack patience.
WT rarely communicate what they are working on and as a matter of policy, never discuss progress.
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Correct, which I have explained the two basic options that would be causing the auto tuning. I’ll do a double check but as long as those options are all disabled, both ATC and AI pilot, the squawk and freqs won’t change unless you change them. If you have those enabled then whatever ATC instructs you will automatically be switched. I’ll walk through it later and post back.
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Eek. I hope nothing bad happens
Yep, could be wrong here so keen to confirm. I thought I had everything ‘helpery’ turned off in settings and still got the squawk set when hitting reply to the ATC clearance msg. It’s not a big deal, as I do it manually on VATSIM etc of course, and just one of those ‘helper’ ATC things in MSFS that I thought (perhaps wrongly) that wasn’t under a setting.
Booting up now. Get back to you in a few.
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Lol. Not a threat. Just trying to alleve those with anxiety issues.
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Sorry, was just kidding. Out of everyone working on MSFS, I think Matt and WT team are the most qualified to make good on ATC and Traffic. I’m just poking around trying to find what is going on, and like you said, wisely they don’t pre-announce that much; that is pretty much tempting the software planning gods to punish you if you do, something I’ve got lots of experience with in games.
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So here’s what I found:
This is my default settings, 124.000 with 1200 for squawk.
I switched on assist for ATC and it switched to 121.900 and started picking up the clearance.
I switched the assist off during the clearance to see if it would or wouldn’t auto tune the squawk, it did anyways. So…the squawk will be auto set but the frequencies you can either control yourself or have it controlled for you.
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I’ve never used AI to control ATC. Neither do I use the copilot function.
Let’s say you’re picking up a clearance from ATC on the ground. They give it to you, but as soon as you click the reply button in the ATC window, the squawk code gets set automatically. Same thing if you are given a squawk code in the air. You could always set it before answering the ATC call, but that’s not how it’s supposed to be. Anyways, ATC will start prompting you if you don’t reply within a few seconds. In real life you reply to the ATC call first, THEN you set the squawk code. That’s how it should be in the sim too.
Unless I’m seriously missing something, I think we might be talking past each other.
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If you set the squawk code without answering ATC, ATC will still respond to say they have radar contact. It’s definitely not realistic.
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The squawk code gets set after you reply to ATC. With or without assists on. You could set it first then reply but that wouldn’t matter because it would be the same. Seems to be an auto function built in. Smart but some may not like it.
Yes, but my whole point is to be able to answer the ATC call first, then set the squawk code manually. Not having the simulator do it for me, which is completely unrealistic (at least make it an option). You CAN however set the squawk code manually before answering the ATC call, but that’s not realistic and the ATC will start prompting you for a reply before you have the time to set the code in the box.
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