Flight Planner /EFB App comparisons

Which Flight Planning /EFB App do you use?

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AdamZ

AdamZ

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Adam Zucker
Ok folks the purpose of this thread is to compare and contrast the various Flight Planning Apps out there ie Foreflight, WingX, FlyQ etc. I am also including a poll. ( If I've missed an app) please pm me and I'll try to edit the poll.

The format I'd like to use is to first state the app in bold, The list the price for the subscription and various options then give the pro's and cons and if you know what it does that others don't or visa versa if you know what it does not do that other's can.

ie

Sky Flyer $75 per year, Wx option add'd $20 per year
Pros, Split screen with app plate and overlaid lowalt enroute charte.
Con, Does not work with or have an ADS-B option such as does the "Cloudbuster" app


Votes are public and I've allowed you to chose more than one as I understand some folks use more than one, if you do please state in your post why and which you prefer.
 
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Well. The local airport I fly at has iPad minis that come with the plane you rent that have all three apps installed. My personal favorite is the ForeFlight App. Reason being is that that is the App my instructor used and it kinda rubbed off on me during training.
 
I've been along time forflight user however for my latest longer trip to unfamiliar areas and some adhoc short flights I started using wingx. I found the screen split screen and having the COM and runway extensions with pattern indicators available for the unfamiliar airports when doing weather diversions a plus. I also found I was using the crosshairs with distance and bearing useful for locating items on the chart.The terrain function was useful when diverting as well.
All that being said foreflight has it's strengths as well and I like the preplanned pattern entry presentation to pick out landmarks in pre flight.
The really great thing is for the price having both is not out of the question
 
I use my G1000. IR certified, and file with DUAT usually or via telephone via FSS on occasion. Check weather via DUAT, and occasionally via FSS.
 
I gave WingX and Foreflight a try in 2011. After a month I found Foreflight more to my liking and have stuck with it since. I just got a Stratus 2 when they were released, so I'm kinda stuck with Foreflight if I want to use that. I like what they have and how well it works. I doesn't feel like I'm a beta tester and is really intuitive.
 
I use both WingX and Foreflight, and I'm a VFR pilot.

I like ForeFlight's flight planning / briefing / filing better, but I prefer WingX in-flight.
 
I've been using Naviator on my droid tablet for about 2 years and really like it.
 
I went with Garmin pilot this year to try it out. It's OK, but I have concerns that If I buy a GD39 antenna for ADS-B data (instead of a Stratus), and I later decide to change back to foreflight or something else, that the GD39 it may not be compatible.
 
kontiki said:
I have concerns that If I buy a GD39 antenna for ADS-B data (instead of a Stratus), and I later decide to change back to foreflight or something else, that the GD39 it may not be compatible.
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My understanding is that: Garmin _only_ works with Garmin Pilot (and Garmin Pilot only works with Garmin). Stratus _only_ works with ForeFlight (and FF only works with Stratus). Most everything else works with WingX.
 
I've used WingX...I like it, especially for VFR flying. I've used Foreflight...it's ok. I've used Garmin Pilot...I love it! Hands down , this is the winner for me for IFR and VFR flying. I especially like the IFR and VFR Maps. Why FF doesn't do this is beyond me.
 
Tried FF and WingX, kept WingX on a 3 yr subscription and am using it with SkyRadar ads-b in.
Tie breakers for me were geo ref airport diagrams included in basic suscription, and the multiple ads-b compatibility. FF is compatible with only Stratus.
Both are great apps.

BTW, Im pretty sure FF does have low altitude enroute charts contrary to the previous post.
Tim
 
Tim, Thats the stuff that is interesting, the information that stratus is the only ADS-B option for foreflight. Foreflight seems to be the kind of the hill now and is lauded my many pilots, I've never use it or any EFB App so I can't say but I wonder how the others, including Wingman from Bendix King that I forgot to list compare in the ADS-B world.
 
I use FF and I'm VFR (for now). No Stratus.

I use FF becuase it just makes sense to me. With the planning features and the enroute features I can get the info I want quickly and easily. I've tried Garmin Pilot for the iPad and hated it. I've also tryed FlyQ and it was ok. I don't see much of a need for the split screen that everyone seems to love.
 
numl0ck said:
I use FF and I'm VFR (for now). No Stratus.

I use FF becuase it just makes sense to me. With the planning features and the enroute features I can get the info I want quickly and easily. I've tried Garmin Pilot for the iPad and hated it. I've also tryed FlyQ and it was ok. I don't see much of a need for the split screen that everyone seems to love.
Click to expand...

Steve, why or what features did you hate with Garmin Pilot?
 
Adam -- thanks for trying to drive clarity to this madness! I think what you will find is that the GUI influences whether someone likes a particular app more than the sum of the features alone. None of these apps "have it all". I have been using Garmin Pilot for a year, FF for a couple and am in the middle of my 30 day WingX trial.

Highlights (and low lights) for me for each app:

ForeFlight:

1) Love the preferred routing recommendation.
2) Do not like that it doesn't do split screen.
3) Hate the way you need to put charts into binders. Should know departure and destination airports from your route and do it for you.
4) The GUI for me is bland. Don't like the routing feature hanging down on the map.
5) Hate that I limited to one hardware provider for ADS-B.
6) Like features like extended runway lines, entry to pattern feature, etc.

Garmin Pilot:

1) Do not like that you need to enter the entire route. In FF it gives you a route that you can modify. You can do the same with Pilot but it is all manual by either typing in an airway or graphically pulling a route waypoint into your plan.
2) Love how on the split screen you can put widgets that can be used to see your weather along the route by dragging the pull bar.
3) If you own a GTN panel, the GUI looks and feels like my GTN. Easy to transition between the two.
4) Don't like that I am limited to one hardware provider for ADS-B.
5) Like the new declutter features that will make it look more like a Garmin portable.

WingX (based on two weeks of using it):

1) Routing feature is clunky. There is a route page but you need to do your editing on the map page. Just weird.
2) Like the split screen, especially if one is set up on terrain.
3) Plenty of options for hardware interfaces.
4) Has many good features but some are still being developed and they look like it.
5) Pay extra for fuel prices, come on now, for real?
6) Not as intuitive to learn as the others and the help section is basically helpless.
7) Nice Hilton made videos, but should have spent more time going through how to use it, not show the features. I have watched them...

There are other apps like BK's myWingMan and Fly-Q. But the "Big 3" are these ones.

Hope this helps.
 
I used ForeFlight for about a year during my training, which means that my CFI would use it in the plane to see our ground speed while I had to use the paper sectional and look outside (understandable). My subscription has expired, but I will be re-upping it when I start IFR training in a month or two.

I used the flight planning on the ground a lot, and found it to be very intuitive.


Right now, I have the FlyQ trial subscription going; I like the split-screen options, but even on a full sized iPad I find it to be cluttered very fast. Maybe on a yoke mount it wouldn't be that bad, I still have to try it in-flight.

I find the flight planning very confusing. You can't choose VFR altitudes (or at least, I haven't figured out how to), and you can't edit items directly, if you tap any item it switches you to the airport tab, and when you click the back button you are still on the airports page, not the planning page you were just on.

I also find the maps to not be sluggish, and it's very easy to accidentally rotate the maps around.

I've also had to disable and re-enable the Radar layer on the map because it gets stuck -- it was showing a nice big spot of red right over where I am, but when I look out the window I see clear blue skies.

I think it's a very good effort with some very nice features, but it still has some way to go.

The other app I use is SkyCharts Pro. It is no where near as featured as FF or SkyQ, but it is good for reviewing charts, though the quality of the maps isn't as good as the others. It doesn't have a lot of features, but it was very inexpensive ($19, I think).
 
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I've tried them all and currently have subs for WX, FF, GP, Naviator, and SC Pro. iPad mini and Nexus 7. Overall, WingX is my favorite, but there is something to like about them all. The wife/navigator likes FF or GP. We've been looking for something that runs across all platforms, but that hasn't happened. Garmin Pilot is quite different on Android and iPad.
With all the features you get for your $$$, WingX is the best value. Utilizing the 3-year subscription just makes it better. The terrain feature adds so much functionality at no extra cost. I find routing intuitive, you can create, modify, reverse, and save routes easily. (GP-not so much). It's the little things that WX implements well ahead of most that make me go back to WingX every time: extended runways with traffic patterns, position reporting, distance measuring, multi-page notepad, passive radar, obstacle alerts, split screen, and many more.
I'm guessing, for many people, you'll always compare EFBs to the first one you used... and for most that's ForeFlight.
 
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AdamZ said:
Steve, why or what features did you hate with Garmin Pilot?
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My feeling is based on the 30 day trial (about 6-9 months ago) and "hate" was probably the wrong word to use.

The user interface was just wasn't for my liking - I didn't like using the big buttons to navigate. Flight planning just seemed strange. Entering, changing, saving and deleting/modifying a route in FF was simple and straight forward. I kept struggling with doing the same tasks in GP. I like how FF integrates altitude & winds and updates your ETA/ETE - I couldn't get Garmin to do that. I would try to change the destination and when I would flip back to the Map it wouldn't update the route, it was whatever was flight previously planned...(did I explain that well?). I also haven't found a good use for the split screen functionality that some people are in love with. Maybe that will change when I start IFR. :dunno:

I can navigate around FF and get the information I need very quickly and at a glance - this comes with practice and I'm sure GP users would say the same thing.

I did like the tap & hold feature, and select the info you wanted (airspace, PIREPs, NAVAID info etc...), and FF has similar, but GP seemed easier. GP also had better PIREP data, I've always felt FF lacks this. GP has stadium TFRs, FF (apparently now) has that data - I haven't verified or used it in a while.

I'd probably like Garmin Pilot better if I had a Garmin in the plane and was familiar with the interface. But coming from FF, the Garmin interface seems cumbersome.
 
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FWIW... Aviation Consumer magazine just awarded WingX "The Best iPad App of 2012".
 
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flyingcheesehead said:
How so? There is a map layer for PIREPs in ForeFlight these days, and you can tap on the PIREP icons on the map to see the full PIREP.
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Ever put them side-by-side? Garmin Pilot has about 300% more PIREPS than FF.
 
I use FF as part of my preflight planning, along with DUATS, but use the G1000 in my bird during flights.
 
I use FF. love it. ATC routing suggestions are accurate. Chart handling is a bit clunky. Filing and briefing work well. Very satisfied customer.
 
Does it have to be an app? I use the garmin 796 with a gdl 39.
 
I am a FF user. The only other one I have tried was Garmin Pilot, in fact I bought a GDL39 assuming GP was the way to go, but found that I really struggled with the planning in GP. Not that I did not know how, it was just a PIA compared to FF.

There are two iPad mini's in my cockpit when I fly, I found that I was using FF on both of them one with charts the other with the destination airport info up. If i was not using FF on my second one I would have Xavion up (I really like the work they have done).

In short I have just sold the GDL39, and purchased a Stratus2 so I guess I am locked into FF for the foreseeable future. I have activated the 30 day trial on WingX and plan to try it this weekend for my CC flight (5 hours) on one of the iPads while running FF on the other. I believe that having a 2ndary is not a bad idea, but GP will not be that for me even thought I have 1 year sub.

Rick
 
My Gp subscription just expired. I deleted GP on my Ipad and loaded up FF. They have a 99 dollar a year price. ( Cheaper then GP) Does this include save taxi? can you track yourself in flight like GP? I know I will not have Synthetic vision like GP but then again I never use it.
What to I NOT get with the 99 dollar a year special?
 
skippy101 said:
My Gp subscription just expired. I deleted GP on my Ipad and loaded up FF. They have a 99 dollar a year price. ( Cheaper then GP) Does this include save taxi? can you track yourself in flight like GP? I know I will not have Synthetic vision like GP but then again I never use it.
What to I NOT get with the 99 dollar a year special?
Click to expand...

The webpage, https://foreflight.com/pricing/ describes what is included with each subscription level. The $99/yr is the left column.

These thumbnails are screenshots of that page. That should answer your question of what you are getting and what is available by upgrading.

A27AF400-7D9B-4060-B7FE-7311E0D96C88.png F06C8315-498E-42ED-904C-D17F2BF34951.png 6E732557-8629-48C0-806C-A653B8D75EFE.png
 
"Safe Taxi" is a Garmin product that uses "georefefencing" of the airport diagram to show where you are on the airport. This is not part of Foreflights $99/yr subscription, biut is part of the higher tiers.

40A72661-132A-4DF6-8861-8BB6CE4290EB.jpeg

Can you track yourself in flight like GP?
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Yes, ForeFlight does provide this function as long as your device is being fed a GPS signal for either the GPS receiver chip in your device or from an outside GPS receiver connected to your device.
 
Droid EFB. Works great with the Lynx NGT9000.
 
Wow talk about Necro posts. Yes FltPlanGo is good and what I use. Not sure I can add to a poll that is over 5 and a half years old.
 
AdamZ said:
Wow talk about Necro posts. Yes FltPlanGo is good and what I use. Not sure I can add to a poll that is over 5 and a half years old.
Click to expand...
A new poll may be of interest, see how (or if) perceptions have changed.
 
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