Philippine Airlines’s MyPal Player
This year, Philippine Airlines released a number of mobile apps in order to improve their customer’s flying experience, one of which is the MyPal Player. This app allows you to use your mobile devices as a personal, in-flight entertainment system.
Just before my flight from Manila to Singapore, it was announced that the plane I’ll be flying on was compatible with MyPAL. Curious as to what it is, I checked the app on the Play Store and found out that I could use it to track my flight, watch movies and TV shows, and even read magazines – all for free! I thought that this would be a great way to pass the time since the flight would be around 3 hours.
So here’s how to get you started. Before your flight, you must have downloaded the MyPAL Player from iTunes or on Google Play. After installation, you don’t need any additional set-up, such as registering for an account. Once you’re mid-flight, simply turn on your WiFi, connect to MyPAL, start the app, and enjoy the rest of your flight!
The first functionality available in the app is the Map. This shows your ETA as well as your flight’s current location with respect to the route taken. I find it quite accurate when I used it during my flight to and from Singapore.
Next up is the Movies and TV Shows. MyPAL has quite a selection, some of which are very up-to-date. During my flight to Singapore, I watched “The Last Witch Hunter” and on my return flight, I watched “X-Men United”. Streaming was really smooth and I didn’t experience any buffer times throughout its use. One caveat though, is that the app pauses the streaming whenever the captain needs to make an announcement. This allows the app to “force” the user to listen for any important updates.
Aside from movies, you can also stream popular TV series through the app. As you can see from the number of episodes above, they’re not exactly complete but I’m not complaining! Anything to do mid-flight is more than welcome.
Likewise, you can also read magazines using the app. The app has to download the magazine first before you can read it in full; nevertheless, this only takes a few seconds at most. As for the other options, PAL Videos are basically videos about PAL such as their latest commercials or video promotions. I wasn’t able to check out Audio since it doesn’t really interest me.
Overall, I’m really happy with how airlines are providing better service with their flights. You can check this page for more information on the app and how to use it, in case anything isn’t clear.
