Comparison

Bad Elf Wombat vs Virtual PAPI

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Bad Elf Wombat

This free utility app works with the Bad Elf Wombat hardware accessory. It enables pilots to download aviation databases and transfer them to a USB drive or SD card. It also facilitates the collection and uploading of flight and engine logs to various aviation analysis sites.

Highlights
  • Download aviation databases
  • Transfer data to USB/SD via Wombat accessory
  • Collect flight and engine logs
  • Upload logs to analysis sites
  • Check hardware health
  • Perform firmware updates
  • Format media
Read full description

This free utility app is used in conjunction with the Bad Elf Wombat hardware accessory. This app allows pilots and operators to download aviation databases from compatible avionics websites to their iPad or iPhone via Wi-Fi or cellular. Once downloaded, the user can then connect to the Bad Elf Wombat accessory via Wi-Fi to transfer the database(s) to a USB drive or SD card. Pilots can also collect flight and engine logs from compatible avionics, and upload them to sites such as SavvyAnalysis, CirrusReports, and myTBM.aero. Logs can also be shared with 3rd party apps such as CloudAhoy, Dropbox, or the Mail app. This app also allows the user to check the health of their Wombat hardware, perform firmware updates, and format USB/SD media. Visit www.bad-elf.com/wombat to learn more about the Bad Elf Wombat accessory.

About

Virtual PAPI

This app offers adjustable visual descent guidance for any runway, allowing pilots to select airports and runways, then customize descent angles and aiming points. It provides accurate vertical guidance for various approach types and works offline with an extensive runway database.

Highlights
  • Adjustable visual descent guidance
  • Select airport and runway
  • Customize descent angle and aiming point
  • Accurate vertical guidance
  • Works offline
  • 30,000+ runway database
Features
Read full description

Pilots love runways with visual descent guidance, such as PAPI or VASI, but unfortunately they don't exist everywhere. This app provides an adjustable visual descent guidance for every runway on the planet. The pilot can select an airport, a runway, adjust the desired descent angle and the aiming point, then Virtual PAPI will create a glide slope indicator style. The glide slope will provide accurate vertical guidance to the aiming point from any direction, 360 degrees, providing a valuable guidance for any type of approach, like base entries, short approaches, straight-ins, etc. The app comes with over 30 thousand runways in its offline database, and more will be added as they are discovered. The app works completely offline and never tries to use the internet. All it needs is access to your location. Virtual PAPI is and free and open source, with all the code available on GitHub.

Screenshots

Bad Elf Wombat3 screens
Virtual PAPI2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Bad Elf Wombat at 8 against Virtual PAPI's 1. Bad Elf Wombat also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 18.6). Virtual PAPI's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 weeks). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Bad Elf Wombat against 5.0 for Virtual PAPI. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bad Elf Wombat has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bad Elf Wombat ships an update every 4 weeks, Virtual PAPI every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Bad Elf Wombat versus Virtual PAPI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBad Elf WombatVirtual PAPI
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBad Elf, LLC.Marlon Dutra

Customer experience

Bad Elf Wombat

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Virtual PAPI

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Bad Elf Wombat

No in-app purchases

None

Virtual PAPI

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bad Elf Wombat free?
Bad Elf Wombat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Virtual PAPI free?
Virtual PAPI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bad Elf Wombat or Virtual PAPI?
Bad Elf Wombat and Virtual PAPI are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 8 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Bad Elf Wombat or Virtual PAPI have ads?
Neither Bad Elf Wombat nor Virtual PAPI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bad Elf Wombat or Virtual PAPI?
Bad Elf Wombat ships an update every 4 weeks, and Virtual PAPI every 2 weeks. Most recently, Bad Elf Wombat was updated on September 26, 2026 and Virtual PAPI on October 12, 2026.

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