Currently touch mode doesn’t work. You can totally use Duet or Space desk to make your iPad a wireless touch monitor, but the sim won’t respond to your touch input.
Thats a pitty, that would add so much to FS2020, you would think that this would be made (commercially) available, I would buy it right away…
The thing is, touch screens did work in MSFS at launch. It didn’t work well at the time, requiring double taps to register touch vs single touch, but it worked - sort of and awkwardly. Touch hasn’t worked since earlier this year. Or at least after one of the updates in that timeframe.
I wouldn’t expect this to work any time soon. Touch isn’t a feature Xbox needs.
It’s annoying, why wouldn’t they fix that? I hope that a commercial party would come up with a solution sometime soon but I’m not keeping my hopes up.
Not only did they break the touch functionality, but now moving your cursor over a popped out MSFS window of any type (could be VFR man, ATC window, G1000 screen, etc…) with lock out all your other sim controls. You don’t even have to click one of these windows to give it focus.
Try this out for fun - pop out ANY window from MSFS. Move it to another monitor, or even leave it on the same monitor. If it’s the VFR map or ATC, make sure it’s properly undocked and not just visible on the screen.
Now, move your mouse cursor into that window. You don’t have to click it. It just has to be over that window. And try to move your stick / yoke or interact with your plane with ANY type of input, be it peripheral button, keyboard command, external SimConnect event, etc. You’ll discover that your entire plane’s control system is locked out as long as your mouse is over one of these external windows.
So now imagine, for example, that touch DID work, and you had the TBM’s GTC 580 touch screen popped out onto a tablet. Once you start touching that screen to enter data, your cursor is now active in that window. Once you finish entering data, you’d have to move your mouse OUT of that window in order to regain control of your plane.
Nice interaction / user experience, isn’t it?
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I have my MFD on a second monitor, just for reference (MAP + flightplan) and that works ok. Most of my other instruments I control them with an external pannel that I have made with MobiFlight, so that works without having to use the mouse in the main screen. The only thing that I would love to have is the FMS option on an ipad, for typing in my flightplan etc. my mouse needs to be “activated” in the main screen. I’m trying to avoid using the keyboard and mouse. I’m using an old iPad with TouchPortal to switch to other screens, so that is also independent from using a mouse.
Eventually, I will fly the CRJ, I got them including the FMC for the iPad and that works great. I just have to invest some time to learn how to fly that one…
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I loose 10-15fps, so I suggest making a remote-render-app for all the glass-cockpit displays.
In the sim It is all html, It should be possible - including the ability to tuirn off the in-sim doisplay at all, which would give a performance boost in addition.
This, of course, would be the holy grail!
I use a free software for steam gauges and I just click right alt + click on gps to make it a separate window. Then I use fancy zones to automatically position the GPS screens.
What software is that?
This is the link to it.
I have tried air manager but it didn’t work properly on my rig so after a lot of research I found this excelent software. It is limited in terms of quantity of gauge instruments but it works flawless.
Thanks for that info. I’m happy with AM, but I often get asked on my YouTube channel if there’s a free alternative. I wasn’t aware that this one existed, so at least it’s something for folks who don’t want to pay for AM or like you, have issues with it.
I do pop out the GPS but if flying visually I only “throw” the 2D cockpit into the tablet and the main monitor to the outside view. I fly with a self made panel. Pictures to illustrate:
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I finally found a setup to work with my motion sim rig. I am using Simionic bezel and app (google it) that provides in my opinion the best option to have a G1000 external monitor without that cost of FPS like other G1000 system do (Virtual Fly or Real Sim Gear). Here is a quick video that I shot showing my setup (in the description you can find all my PC spec).
What I am still working on (missing $) is a second Simionic Bezel and some switch board.
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How has this functionality not been fixed?! I haven’t booted up MSFS for a year and when I did, I started looking for a way to have external touchscreen panels/tablets as a FMC and PFD/MFD and came to find that somehow many years after MSFS release we still can’t easily add flight controls? And don’t get me started on the Honeycomb flight controls that must be manually configured to function.
How am I supposed to use this as an actual flight simulator if I have to use a keyboard and mouse and constantly adjusting view?
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I’m not counting on this being fixed any time soon. Nor seeing proper native touch screen support added. I would be genuinely shocked to even see it even in MSFS 2024. I hope I’m wrong. I really do. But time will tell. If it is, I will gladly publicly eat my words.
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