The 3rd version of Sky4Crew's SmartCopilot addon has been announced, bringing with it a much anticipated new connection system, bypassing previous slow-downs by removing the need to exchange IP/port addresses.

SkyServer mode, as the developer calls it, lets users connect to each other anywhere on Earth using a simple Connection ID number. The aim of this feature is to make connecting to a SmartCopilot flight as easy as joining a Skype call.

Version 3 has other fixes too, bringing it up to 2019 standard with UI and other feature improvements.

• New single-window UI – many users don’t want to jump between different windows to set up the plugin.
• Fixed VR compatibility issues.
• Hotkey to hide/show UI.
• Switchable TRANSPONDER section in the configuration files – transponder could be enabled/disabled from UI (very handy for IVAO/VATSIM shared flights)
• Switchable WEATHER section – weather synchronization could be enabled/disabled from UI.
• Only Master’s config file is taken into account – no need to share the files between users before the flight.
• INCLUDE section – a new way to define synchronization for the external plugins like BetterPushback etc. (planned)
• Improved aircraft position synchronization preventing micro jitter on Slave.
• Observer mode for a third pilot (planned).
• Demo mode changed to 30 min of unlimited flight to test all plugin features.
• Many other improvements and fixes.

The developer is still tossing up whether the SkyServer infrastructure will require a price increase, however, he affirms that other direct connections will never require additional running cost from the user.

To download beta 5 of SmartCopilot version 3, see the full post on the Sky4Crew website here.

Big thanks to user Ghostfire for suggesting this news on the Threshold Discord server.