# askM: Aviation Manuals AI — Offline answers, cited pages > Offline answers, cited pages (iPhone/iPad app by Philippe Le Gall.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/askm-aviation-manuals-ai/id6761671388 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Philippe Le Gall](https://appshunter.io/developer/1004932800) - Category: Reference - Price: Free - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 26.0 · 2.3 GB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-04-14 - Data updated: 2026-10-06 ## What is askM? askM is a personal reference tool that helps you study technical aviation documentation. Ask a plain-language question about your FCOM, FCTM, MMEL, QRH, AFM or any technical manual you provide, and get a direct, sourced answer — with the original page right beside it. Everything runs on your device. HOW IT WORKS askM imports the technical documents you provide — synced from your company's document server or imported as ZIP packages — parses every document unit, and builds a local search index on your device. When you ask a question, it retrieves the most relevant passages and writes a concise answer with numbered citations. The cited page of your manual opens next to the answer, with the passage marked, so you can check it at a glance. KEY FEATURES • Answers with citations that exactly match what the AI read • The answer and its source page side by side (stacked in portrait) • A question field the keyboard never hides, with a blue Send key and a New line key • Question history kept on the device: search, reopen, delete • Limit a question to one or several manuals • Library: read any manual from its table of contents • Full-text search across every section, with AND, OR, NOT, "exact phrase", word*, title: and NEAR • Aircraft guard — never silently answers from another aircraft's manuals • Optional Enhanced Search model (about 350 MB) for markedly better retrieval • Supports FCOM, FCTM, MMEL, CDL, QRH, AFM, APD, WBM and similar technical manuals • A dark, cockpit-style interface with the B612 typeface, Dynamic Type and large touch targets • Day and night appearance, for the app and the manual pages • Runs entirely on this device — no cloud, no account, no telemetry REQUIREMENTS The on-device language model is the resource-intensive part of askM. To run it well you need an iPad with Apple Silicon (M-series) — iPad Pro M1 or newer, or iPad Air M2 or newer — on iPadOS 26 or later, or an Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 26 or later. On Mac, an optional larger on-device model for higher-quality answers needs about 5 GB of free disk space. On iPhone, askM offers the Library — search, contents and reader — without AI answers: the language model does not fit the iPhone's memory. HOW YOUR DATA IS HANDLED The language model runs on your device. Your documents, your questions and the answers never leave your iPad or Mac. There is no cloud service and no analytics or telemetry. askM goes online only to sync your manuals, to download optional models (once; they stay on your device) and, when you open Settings, to check the App Store for a newer version. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY askM does not include, host, or distribute any documentation. You provide the documents you want to study, and you are responsible for obtaining the rights to use them. By using askM, you confirm that you have permission to use these documents for personal study and reference, and that doing so complies with the terms set by their authors and publishers. STUDY AID ONLY askM is a personal study aid. It is not certified, approved, or intended for use in operational, maintenance, dispatch, or any safety-critical activity. Always defer to the authoritative published manuals and your operator's procedures. askM is an independent application. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorized by any equipment manufacturer, documentation publisher, or operator. ## Is askM safe? Not enough ratings yet to assess askM. ## Is askM legit? askM: Aviation Manuals AI appears legitimate, with a few gaps. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for askM is 75 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.1 — 2026-10-05 Version 2.1 — your manuals, linked and in their own order LIBRARY • Each manual opens on its own table of contents, exactly as its publisher defines it: the lists of effective documentary units and of modifications and the summary of highlights at the top, then the chapters in ATA order (00, 21, 22, 23…). Sections that don't apply to your aircraft are not listed. • Links between manuals: a reference from one manual to another (CDL to MMEL, MMEL to FCOM, FCTM to FCOM…) now opens that page. Back returns, and the page header always names the manual and section you are reading. • Pictures open full size when tapped, with a Rotate button for charts drawn sideways. • The lists of documentary units, modifications and highlights now use the full width and show only the rows for your aircraft. • Cited passages are marked in the page even when they contain an abbreviation. SETTINGS • See which version you run and whether a newer one is on the App Store, with an Update button. • Rate askM from Settings › About. After some days of regular use, askM may ask once for a rating: it goes to the App Store, or straight to the developer if something needs fixing. PERFORMANCE • Manual pages are released from memory when their pane closes. ### 2.0 — 2026-10-03 Version 2.0 — a new interface, built for the cockpit ASK • The answer and its source, side by side. As soon as the search finishes, the cited page of your manual opens next to the answer (below it in portrait), with the passage marked in soft green. Step through every source without leaving the answer. • A question field the keyboard never hides. The blue key on the keyboard sends, a New line key sits just above it, and Return sends on a hardware keyboard. Stop the answer at any time. • Question history: your questions and answers are kept on the device. Search them, reopen them, delete them. • Limit a question to one manual, or several, from the chips above the question field. • Change aircraft from the tail number at the top of the screen. LIBRARY • Read your manuals: each one opens on its table of contents, and any section opens in the reader. "Ask in FCOM" starts a question limited to that manual. • Search every section with the usual search syntax: AND, OR, NOT, "exact phrase", word*, (grouping), title: and NEAR. Operator keys sit above the keyboard, matches are marked in the page, and tap ? for help. • Each manual shows its index state. Sync, import and indexing keep running when you leave the screen, and any error is shown. • On iPhone, the Library — search, contents and reader — is now available. AI answers remain iPad and Mac only. DESIGN • A dark, cockpit-style interface with the B612 typeface, drawn for cockpit displays. Each colour has one meaning: cyan for what you can act on, green for what comes from the manual, magenta for AI-generated text, amber for caution, red for failures. • Larger, clearer text that follows your Dynamic Type size, and larger touch targets. • Manual pages fit the pane and no longer slide sideways while you scroll. askM now requires iPadOS 26 or macOS 26. ### 1.2.2 — 2026-08-31 Version 1.2.2 — Rebuilding the search index Fixed • Rebuilding the search index is now always possible. "Re-index" only ever picks up manuals that were never fully indexed, so on a library that was already complete it finished instantly without changing anything — the same result whether or not there was anything to do. • A "Rebuild Index" button, until now shown only when askM detected an index built by an older version of the app, is available in Settings at all times. It asks for confirmation first, then clears the index and reads every manual again — useful after installing the Enhanced Search model, or any time answers stop matching what a manual says. Everything else — search, answers, citations and the on-device models — is unchanged from 1.2.1. ### 1.2.1 — 2026-08-26 Version 1.2.1 — Importing a manual from a file Fixed • Importing a manual directly from a file could leave the library empty. Depending on how the archive was packaged, none of the manual's documents reached askM: indexing appeared to finish instantly, the app reported success, and every question afterwards found nothing. askM now reads the archive correctly whatever its internal layout, and an archive that contains no manual is refused with a clear message instead of a silent success. • Re-importing a revised manual now replaces the previous one. Until now the earlier files were kept and the new revision was never indexed, so answers still came from the superseded manual. • Illustrations and formatting inside imported manuals now display correctly. A manual imported from a file is stored exactly like one downloaded from the server. • A library already left in this state by an earlier import repairs itself on the next launch. Manuals downloaded from the server are untouched. Everything else — search, answers, citations and the on-device models — is unchanged from 1.2. ### 1.2 — 2026-08-14 Version 1.2 — Smarter search, trustworthy answers Smarter search • Optional Enhanced Search model (about 350 MB, downloaded in Settings) — dramatically better retrieval: in our internal manual evaluation, the right passage reaches the top results far more often • Optional answer reranker (about 350 MB, experimental) — an on-device judge that re-orders results by true relevance and powers a better-calibrated low-confidence warning • Smarter retrieval engine — keyword and semantic evidence are fused, near-duplicate passages are removed, and follow-up questions carry the context of your previous question into the search Trustworthy answers • Citations now exactly match what the model actually read — no more listed sources the model never saw • Aircraft guard — if nothing matches your selected aircraft, askM says so instead of silently answering from another aircraft's manuals; an optional setting widens the search, clearly flagged on the answer • Versioned search index — the app detects an index built by an older version and offers a one-tap rebuild • Visible rebuild stages — see exactly what indexing is doing: clear old index, load embedding model, parse-chunk-embed, finalise Under the hood • Fixed document extraction issues (duplicated table text, heading bleed, lost special characters such as degree units) • Fixed chunking so long sections split correctly with proper overlap • Fixed keyword search ranking on iPhone • A memory manager keeps the language model and the optional search models within device limits • Interrupted indexing runs are detected and repaired automatically Hardware Same requirements as 1.1: iPad with Apple Silicon (M-series) or any Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 15 or later. The optional search models download once and stay on your device. ## Apps similar to askM | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Pocket Airports](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pocket-airports/id6758133999) | — | $0.99 | Reference | | [Dangerous Goods](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dangerous-goods/id1525855216) | — | Free | Reference | ## More apps by Philippe Le Gall - [sJL](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sjl/id1560983278) - [sSL](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ssl/id1568969548) - [sQRH](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sqrh/id1570004350) - [Jetform](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/jetform/id6753701639) - [Off 2: Offline Flight Tracker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/off-2-offline-flight-tracker/id6756080778) - [No-ICE](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/no-ice/id6757936550) All apps by Philippe Le Gall: https://appshunter.io/developer/1004932800 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-06.*