Start me up

Immediately after install

We’ll assume you followed the instructions and managed to download to add onto your preferred device/s Now lets reveal hidden wonders.

after a first install on mobile devices the app will ask permission to Access your contacts. This is because ‘people’ are a major component of your declaration and carry confidentiality issues. Presumably you take care over the privacy of your contacts list, therefore your ‘people’ data is stored there. The app does not have access to contacts for any other purpose and can only use your private data to assemble the contents of a declaration.

Setting up a cloud service

On first install after the prompt to allow use of contacts, another alert will appear suggesting you set up a cloud service. Now this is not absolutely necessary in order to use the app. The app can be used on any device singularly and without reference to another install. In other words, if you are happy to use the app on one device only and not require to see any declaration data on another device then you do not need to set up a cloud service. To be technical – this system unlike OnlineGAR is NOT a ‘client server’ where all your data is stored in a central place (OnlineGar.com) Your data is stored locally on the device on which the app is installed. If you want to see that data on another device on which you may install another copy of the app then you must set up a synchronisation using your own personal cloud service. iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive are currently supported

You can use the app to create declarations without needing to do any more set up. However if you wish to submit to UKBF for a UK flight you must enter the user name and password you created when you registered for membership at MyGar.net. Go to the settings page and enter that username and password in first two fields

On the settings/account page you may also select your cloud service. Click on a radio button – the ‘reset’ button is in case the link to your cloud service breaks at any point. Note the other options: you may enter u/n and pwd for autorouter – this allows the automatic import of autorouter flights. The email smtp server fields are for advanced users who wish to send pdf declarations independently of the devices email system and for most users can be ignored . The upload down load buttons are only used to force a synchronisation

From the setting/account page click the back button (top left) and return to the main page

If you have set up a cloud service and have previously recorded passengers/crew , saved aircraft or previous declarations then you will see in the second box how many of these are synched in the cloud. To begin with this will be zero. Not also at the bottom of the screen there is a button to change the language. Most but not all key messages are available in French, German,Dutch, Spanish, Italian and Swedish. Please note – saved declarations from OnlineGar unfortunately cannot be transported/imported. all entries must be afresh
Clicking on ‘Manage aircraft lists’ on front page will bring up a list of your saved aircraft. Clearly if this is a first install there will be none so click on the Add button at top right
This is the page to enter details required by declarations about the aircraft used on the journey. The key information is the type and registration number, plus either the owner or operator of the aircraft. Note there are two tabs/buttons to switch between entering the owner or the operator. If only the owner is entered then the operator will be assumed to be the owner and submitted as the ‘repsonsible person’ for contact . Some fields are mandatory for a GAR submission but you may here enter partial detail. If you try to submit a GAR or gendec with missing contact/aircraft detail then a warning fault will be alerted
from the primary menu clicking on ‘manage crew lists’ will bring up a list of people from your contacts who have key GAR info in their notes field or from previously sent GARs. On first use this list will be empty. Click on ‘Add’ in top right corner
on clicking Add from the saved crew list you will see an edit form. As there is little point saving a persons details which dont have the key information such as passport number you will only be able to save if all mandatory data is entered. – gender is available as M, F or X undeclared, Passports can take in identity cards, diplomatic or other permits to travel. If you enter the long passport number (bottom line of passport) it will interpret this and fill in passport expiry, DoB gender. nationality and issuing state. You will be alerted if the date of birth is for a child (a common error of allowing current year to default) and if the expiry date of passport is within 3 months. You must click to save
the edit passenger/crew screen allow you to import details from contacts, to receive or request a business (vcf) card or to scan an image of a passport page (note import from contacts is only available on phones or tablets – windows uses a different contacts database)
clicking on vcf gives a menue whereby you can send a message via sms or whats app to request a passenger to send their details to you by vcf – full instructions to the passenger are sent – on receipt you open the vcf file using same menu
selecting scan on a desktop app assumes you have a photo file of the passport page of the person you are importing. On phones or ipads you may branch to the camera and take a photo. On having a photo select the file (use .png or .jpg ensure the image is cropped as closely as possible to just the phot page of the passport without cropping any characters. make sure there are NO reflections. ) Now the app will automatically attempt to optically recognise
the results of the scan will be shown in a popup box. click OK and the best attempt will be entered in the edit pax screen. You will of course sheck it and amend any errors
Now back to the list of saved crew/pax – if any passports are expired or nearing expiration the entry in this list will be orange or red