# Garmin Pilot — user reviews > 335 indexed App Store user reviews of Garmin Pilot by Garmin DCI, rated 4.70/5 from 4,126 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/garmin-pilot/id340917615/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/garmin-pilot/id340917615.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 3,339 · 4★ 564 · 3★ 100 · 2★ 36 · 1★ 87 ## What do users think of Garmin Pilot? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 🚀 Excellent EFB app - 🚀 Seamless integration with Garmin avionics - 👍 User-friendly interface - 👍 Reliable and stable - 👍 Great features like engine monitoring and data recording - 💡 Smart Charts is better than Dynamic Procedures - 💰 Less expensive than competitors **Cons** - 🐛 Clunky and multi-step process to view plates - 🐛 Issues with NOTAM updates and database concierge - 🐛 Frequent crashes and lockups - 🐛 Winds aloft data often inaccurate - 🐛 Lacks support for some aircraft models - 🐛 Useless for VFR flying in some regions - 🐛 Incompatible with newer iOS versions **Commonly reported bugs** - Crashes when viewing weather data - Weight and balance profile import/export issues - Database concierge not working as expected - Inability to file VFR flight plans in some regions - Groundspeed and track data not working on certain devices **Most requested features** - Ability to mark up and annotate charts - Vertical navigation view - Cabin altitude/hypoxia warning - Apple Watch app - Passenger app for flight following - Google Maps integration with user waypoints - Ability to import GPX/CSV waypoints - Printable logbook reports - More detailed weather imagery and forecasts ## Newest reviews (18 of 335) ### 2/5 — Need more vfr features for helicopter *2026-07-08* Be careful, premium subscription don’t give you VFR chart and you need to connect on website to subscribe vfr chart I hope satellite map can be use soon ( available on every other app ) No custom map import We can’t see power lines Open street map still freeze sometimes when scroll on different iPads I actually can’t full work with this app in helicopter and I do my best to stay on garmin app This app could be a 5 easy, please do update ### 4/5 — Everybody want the satellite view option , add that quickly ! *2026-07-06* Really good visual ### 3/5 — Great but still difficult for planning *2026-06-17, version 26.6.0* Great tool especially for sync with g1000 nxi, but for routing is really bad compared to foreflight. ### 3/5 — Latest update breaks stored flight plans sync on iPad *2026-05-25, version 26.5.0* Only my 9 most recent flight plans are shown on iPad. The Android app still shows all my flight plans. I tried logging out and back in, no change. Garmin, please fix this! ### 2/5 — tech dept. cannot solve issue *2026-05-04, version 26.4.2* it could be a very nice software, but unfortunately during the briefing package for a flight it keeps giving error and not producing the proper documents. It's a few months I'm going on with a technical department, but nobody solved the issue. ForeFlight it's still the best app at the moment. And if you have any problem within 24 hours it's solved. ### 3/5 — Getting worse not better *2026-05-03* I have used Pilot for years. It is a great platform except for the sync issues which are numerous. I don’t understand why my charts don’t simply update in the background, when I go to the downloads tab it tells me my charts are up to date and then after a few seconds of thinking about it then it tells me they are expired. The W&B is horrible at syncing especially from the Pilotweb site which uses a totally different format and has multiple unintuitive ways of entering the data. It’s almost like they built this thing and never tried it for themselves. Most pilots are results based, we don’t need the flashy graphics as much as we need solid performance, work on making it work before you work on making it pretty. ### 2/5 — Good effort, ways to go. *2026-03-29* Buggy and UX far less polished than the leading competitor. iPhone trips sync constantly fails. App consumes 500mb of (cellular!) data every fresh lunch even though everything has been downloaded for offline use. Occasional crashes. Route wont overlay on top of Plate overlay. Can’t have aeronautical data such as airspaces overlaid on top of VNC or IFR charts. Plates overlay randomly disappear when switching tabs. Redundant Flight Plan tab. Download tab disappeared on iPad app until complete reinstall. CFS download stuck and won’t complete. And many others. No electronic way to contact support or leave feedback. ### 3/5 — Comparing with Foreflight…. *2026-03-27* Very different from my Foreflight experience. Initial chart downloads was a hard fail due to UI issues. Uploading my Foreflight logbook to Garmin was absolutely horrible. Garmin has obviously not thought about trying to win over Foreflight users since transitioning is totally manual and an unbelievable pain in the &$@#. Currency tracking is a hard fail. I manually input ALOT of data and it went from showing me fully current to then rejecting everything… why??? Originally I wanted to use Garmin but the flight school I was at used only Foreflight. So, I used that for the first year. Garmin should be easier to transition to because of how many Garmin systems are being used or upgraded into by Pilatus and Cessna jets plus Cirrus. Unfortunately so far my 30 day trial period is turning out to be a total fail due to the horrible transition from Foreflight. I do like the slightly cheaper prices and 2-tier subscription rather than more expensive 3-tier with Foreflight. Lots of interesting features with Garmin and I’m hoping this will work as a Foreflight replacement but does not look good right now. ### 3/5 — Good app, unstable *2026-03-10* I’m a foreflight convert. Pilot is definitely different but after the initial learning curve it’s easy to use and a capable EFB. Unfortunately I have serious stability issues in flight. When paired with flightstream, opening a weather tab will freeze my iPad 100% of the time. The logbook entry page freezes frequently, and I’ve been trying to look at my entries recently, and they’re missing. There are many other bugs, I saw airports turn green today, not sure why-it’s not weather related. It doesn’t feel like a polished product and with its inflight crashes I’m going to have to move back to foreflight. ### 3/5 — Error *2026-02-24, version 26.2.0* Setelah update untuk EET DAN ETA tidak muncul ### 2/5 — TIME *2026-02-23, version 26.2.0* Why the ETA and everything about time are not functioned when i i i update in 26.2.0 version ### 3/5 — Some low hanging fruit fixes… *2026-01-30, version 26.1.0* More aircraft profiles, better CFI and logbook functionality. Apple Watch integration. ### 4/5 — Great for GA *2026-01-17, version 25.12.3* Currently a student pilot with about 70 hours and have been using Garmin Pilot from the start, absolutely love it. I do wish that more metrics and reports were available. I also wish there was a tracker for cert or rating progress. ### 2/5 — has potential ! But *2026-01-15* Garmin’s slow release of keys features outside of the USA is killing this app. 1 get smart charts to the rest of the world ASAP 2 fully integrate it with Australian ERSA 3 and when bugs are reported fix them 4 Smart charts ASAP or allow OzRunways to send flight plans to the panel or like me with a full Garmin’s panel people like me won’t renew !!!!!! ### 3/5 — App crashing! *2025-12-22, version 25.12.1* App is crashing! ### 2/5 — Need more vfr features for helicopter *2025-12-07* Be careful, premium subscription don’t give you VFR chart and you need to connect on website to subscribe vfr chart I hope satellite map can be use soon ( available on every other app ) I would choose with the old design ( for water color ) No custom map import We can’t see power lines Open street map still freeze sometimes when scroll on different iPads I actually can’t work with this app in helicopter and I do my best to stay on garmin app This app could be a 5 easy, please do update ### 1/5 — App is freezing *2025-11-21, version 25.11.0* My iPad 11 is running on iPadOS 26.1 and the app is freezing whenever I zoom out it fails to refresh the map or whenever I try to input my route worse it quits on its own while using it inflight. Everything was OK before the latest update. ### 1/5 — Plates are a nightmare *2025-11-08, version 25.10.0* There are three different ways to view plates. Each method is clunky and requires multiple steps. I paid hundreds for a premium subscription to get smart charts and they’re useless because you can’t mark them up. Most plates have NOTAM updates and are illegal if flown according to Garmin’s info. Am I really supposed to memorize all the NOTAMs? With ForeFlight,I just write on the plate. Now, I’m going to have to buy another iPad so I can have one with my work FF and one with my personal FF. I was hoping to use Garmin but it’s useless to me without being able to markup charts. I’m going to ask for my money back. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Like all things Garmin, a fail JUST GET FOREFLIGHT *2026-07-06, version 26.6.0* After all the inputs and effort you put in it falls at the most important point... The briefing. Some mysterious error message about IFR not being a valid aircraft type. ### 1/5 — Great app, logbook is a failure *2026-07-03, version 26.6.0* I was sick of ForeFlights tactics so I switched to Garmin. The app is great if not using the logbook. The log books big failure is not printing out. You can only export which does not include CFI signature. Reluctantly I went back to ForeFlight. It’s only a convenience, next year when I finish my training and signatures are no longer important I will more than likely be back. ### 1/5 — Crashes and hangs recently *2026-06-30, version 26.6.0* Not useful anymore for productive flying. Crashes and hangs regularly, not only for me but also others. I recommended it before, but like this I cannot anymore. Tip: If it hangs try reinstalling the NAV database. ### 1/5 — Database concierge *2026-06-06* You spend tens of thousands of dollars on equipment, thousands on databases, a couple thousand on an SD card (flightstream 510) and they still want a yearly subscription for this app to be able to use all the above mentioned products correctly. Database concierge should easily be included in the free plan. The only people using it have already given garmin, and continue to give garmin, an insane amount of money. ### 1/5 — One of the worse nav apps possible *2026-03-29* Tried and paid subscription but was a bad experience ### 1/5 — Failure *2026-03-18* The flight is not being send to D2 Mach2 ### 1/5 — Transfer FPL to watch *2026-02-26, version 26.2.1* After previous update can’t transfer FPL to my D2 Mach 2 watch. Support can’t solve this issue. Button transfer to look like ok but don’t respond to tapping. ### 1/5 — So, traffic info is only attainable through a Garmin device!? *2026-01-27, version 25.12.3* I’m wondering why I can’t get traffic info through the Internet? This is a feature in FF, what is the point of it’s unavailability here? Is this trait only availability on Garmin website? ### 1/5 — I gave Garmin $145,000 and they still put the one feature I need behind a $200 annual paywall *2025-12-29* I recently upgraded my panel with 2 G500 TXIs, GTN750xi and 650XI and the one feature that I really wanted to use was the database concierge so I could wirelessly update my avionics. I even paid the extra US$1700 for the Flight stream 510 only to find out that I have to have a $200 per year Garmin pilot subscription in order to update them and that is on top of the $1200 a year I’m paying for the database updates…. Garmin, it is things like this is why you are losing so much market share to companies like Dynon, your endless greed sickens me and I can assure you I will never put another Garmin product in any of my aircraft again. Maybe if you got some actual developers and not just a bunch of random people you found off the street to update and maintain your Garmin Pilot app then I would consider switching but as it is now, Garmin pilot is clunky, slow, and not intuitive in any way shape or form to use. ForeFlight has you beat in just about every aspect. The only cool thing your app had was smart charts but ForeFlight has their own version now and it’s honestly just as good. ### 1/5 — Useful in the US hampered elsewhere *2025-12-15* Garmin user for years, bought because it was meant to be somewhat platform agnostic, it isn’t the android app on a galaxy fold 5 is buggy and doesn’t sync. The smart charts are US only the web version is US only. It turns out that foreflight … tried a demo last week is far superior and the web version works on any platform and for anywhere in the world. Waiting for my subscriptions to expire then ditching. My advice .. go foreflight or rocket route / skydemon AVOID. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Better than ForeFlight *2026-05-10* As a CFI I really appreciate the %50 discount. The pricing is very reasonable and I like that there are only 2 pricing tiers, which makes things simple. With ForeFlight pricing going up and up it’s nice to have a solid alternative, as there have been many improvements to Garmin Pilot since I last used it. All of my new students will be using GP. Keep up the good work. The only thing I miss from ForeFlight is the Takeoff and Landing distance feature, so it would be nice to have this in the future. ### 5/5 — My favorite EFB app *2026-02-11, version 26.1.1* Garmin Pilot is the EFB app that works best with my Garmin avionics. It took me a while to get used to some of the differences (after I switched from ForeFlight), but I’m now completely at home in Garmin Pilot and feel it was worth switching. ### 5/5 — Recent Covert to Garmin Pilot *2025-09-20* I used a competitive product for almost 15 years. Had no incentive to change to Garmin Pilot until Smart Charts. I tried Garmin Pilot during the 30 day free trial period and I was blown away: Smart Charts is so much better than Dynamic Procedures and, after using Garmin Pilot for a few weeks, I have found other great features like engine monitoring and data recording after each flight. If you experience an engine anomaly, you can play it back and determine potential causes. You need a Garmin EIS capability in your panel to do this, but wow, it is worth it. Other features like weight & balance are well integrated into flight planning and easy to use. I could go on and on, but my last observation is the financial bottom line - it is less expensive for a much better product. ### 5/5 — Been using Garmin Pilot for years *2025-09-06, version 25.8.0* Up until recently it has been working well. The newest release, while adding internet traffic, also locked the application up on my 6th generation IPad. I got it working again by not turning on that feature. I hope this does not mean Garmin Pilot will stop supporting my gen 6 IPad in the near future. ### 5/5 — Recent update *2025-08-18, version 25.8.0* getting better everyday keep up the good work ### 5/5 — 500 Hours, Never Let Me Down *2025-07-16, version 25.7.0* Excellent EFB app. I have over 500 hours flying with this and a gdl50 adsb receiver. They are both rock solid. Now with smart charts, it’s even better. ### 5/5 — Great App *2025-07-06, version 25.6.0* Really great app. I have used it for over a year now and I am very impressed. One feature that I would like to see is a feature that lets you set up a temporary area to stay within for practicing manoeuvres like steep turns or upset prevention and recovery so that you don’t stray outside of a specific area especially when there may be a lot going on around like busy airspace or areas that are covered by NOTAMS which usually aren’t there. ### 5/5 — Wt heck *2025-06-13* What a mess. with this last update, the database concierge function has disappeared. I’m pretty sure the program has a built-in urgency detector chip. The greater you need to get something done efficiently the more likely it is to Bork. This program has the capacity to really be great, but the update feature and the fact that I was double charged for years until I figured it out on my own what Garmin was doing to me is simply unconscionable. Now I’m sitting at the airport wasting time trying to get this blasted thing to work so I can depart.. great job Garmin. Keep the passengers waiting deal out delays whenever you can. #$&@#$@ ### 5/5 — Highly recommend *2025-06-01, version 25.5.0* Been using Garmin Pilot for years and love it. The new Smart Charts is amazing. I hope a future update will allow a mark-up feature similar to how you can mark on the map and traditional charts. ### 5/5 — Great App *2025-05-30, version 25.5.0* Really well designed. No glitches. --- *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 2026-08-28.*