myPAL Player App: Philippine Airline’s New InFlight Entertainment

Recently, I had a long-haul flight from Kuwait to Manila Philippines with a stop at Dubai via Philippine Airlines. I decided to flyPAL for this 10-hour flight instead of the other airline since I know they have in-flight entertainment on board. It was a no-brainer since the flight cost was almost the same. When I boarded the flight I was delighted that they gave me a choice seat with better leg room. Though I was wondering why the plane, an Airbus 330–300, doesn’t have LCD panels. Browsing through Mabuhay Magazine, I found out that I had to download the myPAL Player App now to enjoy the InFlight Entertainment. I confirmed this with one of the flight attendant so I quickly downloaded the app on my Asus Zenfone Max phone before the cabin doors were closed and our plane took off. I also wanted to install the app on my iPad Mini but was short of time.

App home interface and menu
App home interface and menu

MyPal Player App

The myPAL Player App is available on both Android and IOS platforms. The one I downloaded for Android is version 2.0.14 and has a file size of 21MB. The IOS version has a size of 54.3MB. A connection to the PAL Wifi on board is a requirement to run the app. I had to wait for the plane to take off and reach a stable altitude for it to run properly. Once connected I was able to access the interface.

Flight status on the Map
Flight status on the Map

UI Experience

I like that the myPAL Player App is easy to navigate with direct buttons to the InFlight Entertainment services like Flight Status Map, Movies, TV Shows, PAL Videos, Audio and PDF Magazines.

The Map is a real-time status on the current location of the plane, flight path and estimated time remaining before arrival. Other information such as current altitude, speed, remaining distance and time from airports of departure and arrival are available.

Of course I was looking forward for the Movies and I wasn’t disappointed. There were some newly added movies and some classics. Since content would be streamed from on-board servers I wanted to see if it would be a smooth experience watching movies. I was able to watch two movies “Perfect Day” and “Pawn Sacrifice”. Quality was very good. Throughout the first movie, I only experienced a minimal stutter on the video twice but the second movie had no problem. Of course if there are in-flight “Announcements”, the movie would be paused with a message, just like those in LCD panels at the back of the chairs.

I also checked out the TV Shows available and also the PAL videos . For the Magazines, you have to wait for it to fully download on your device before opening it on your default PDF Reader.

Movies and TV Shows page
Movies and TV Shows page

WiFi Credits

Philippine Airlines now offer inFlight wifi and the app has a link to page on availing credits. There’s a 15MB complimentary for all. Once expired, there’s a 35MB available for US$10. Internet is relatively good but understand this is only good for emails and checking on social media sites. Price is hefty but it is good to know it is available if the need arises.

Free Wifi and Wifi credits
Free Wifi and Wifi credits

Impression

If you are flying Philippine Airlines and on a long-haul flight make sure to download the myPAL Player App App and bring good headset if you plan to enjoy the InFlight Entertainment offered. Remember that the free wifi only offers 15MB, not enough to download the app which I think PAL should address as not everyone is aware of this just yet. Enabling customers to download the app inside the plane would be a plus.

There are pros and cons in this system of InFlight entertainment. The quality and experience is dependent on the type of device you have. So the better device the richer the viewing and listening experience will be. The downside I see is the battery life of the device. It’s good that I have extended power on my Asus MAX but other devices can drain easily. So keep those power banks close by.

Download the myPAL Player App for Android and IOS.

Audio and Magazine page
Audio and Magazine page
Watching one of the PAL Videos
Watching one of the PAL Videos

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