Comparison

smartCHECK vs Pilot

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

Head to head
About

smartCHECK

This app acts as a digital copilot for airplane crews, reading checklists aloud and offering automatic altitude callouts. It also includes an integrated document browser for manuals and a notepad, along with tools like an oil log and fuel switch timer.

Highlights
  • Synthetic voice checklist reading
  • Automatic altitude callouts
  • Integrated document browser
  • Customizable checklists
  • Oil log and fuel timer
  • Night mode
Features
Read full description

smartCHECK is an App that reads Checklists by synthetic voice to airplane crews – smartCHECK is your „Digital Copilot“. I. Checklists App comes with a ready Light Airplane Template and a ready checklist set for the Cirrus SR22-G3 and G3 models. You can easily add items or even checklists to the checklist set. Other Checklist sets as in-app purchases: Cessna 172, 182, Piper Warrior and Archer. All checklist sets from the store can be downloaded as often as required, edited and saved. All checklist sets can be shared by eMail if the recipient owns the basic checklist of that airplane. Send checklist sets to yourself to save them on your computer or in a cloud service. Or install them on a second iPad. Make your own checklists for the categories Normal, Abnormal and Emergency and save them in the right category (Ground, Taxi…) of the checklist set for your airplane All checklists you create can be read to you II. Checklist Usage and Setting Checklists can be displayed as text only or shown as text and be read to the pilot/crew at the same time. Checklist items (text or audio) can also be completed manually one at a time by simply tapping the screen. If the whole checklist is read automatically then the reading can always be stopped and resumed by one tap on the screen. Some Checklist groups (Ground, Taxi, Takeoff…) can be forwarded automatically by GPS. Move and sort the icons on the screen according to your needs. Your edited checklists will be preserved with each new version of smartCHECK (we still recommend saving them). III. Automatic Altitude Callouts on Take-off (especially important for pilots of airplanes with BRS or CAPS system) Height AGL* above the Take-off runway can be announced („five hundred“). Pilot can either set one Height AGL* to be announced or a range between 100 and 1000 feet. Elevation above Take-off runway can be displayed in large numbers at the same time. Cirrus Aircraft Checklists contain a special CAPS checklist. After Take-off Checklists can be activated and read automatically and hands off. IV. Integrated Document Browser: Access all your Documents, Tables or Manuals with one tap Document Browser. Create green icons, give them a name and import any PDF or JPEG document. you might want to access with one tap. Import PDF documents like Avionics Manuals or Performance tables. Every document is accessible with tapping its icon. Use the camera of your iPad to create a document on the spot. Notepad feature. V. Other Tools and Settings Oil Log: Enter the Oil status of your engine, how much oil you added and the app calculates the oil consumption per flight hour. Fuel Switch Timer: Select an interval and get an onscreen and audio reminder to switch your tanks. Control brightness of screen in the app or use the red Night Mode. Switch the audio feature on/off. Switch on/off automatic forwarding of flight phases. Or swipe groups manually. Auto voice on/off. Auto voice means: The app reads the complete checklist and goes back to the main menu when checklist is completed. When using checklists without auto voice each tap on the screen will read one item (manual audio mode). If used without audio each tap will only mark each item/line green (manual text mode). Move checklist icons to other place on the screen by sliding them to a new position. Filter which checklist types you want to have displayed with a simple toggle switch. This way you can reduce the number of icons on the screen. More information: www.airwork.biz Hardware Requirements: smartCHECK will work on every iPad and iPad mini. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Pilot

This app calculates essential flight parameters like density altitude, wind-corrected headings, ground speed, and time en route for a specific leg. It focuses on providing core aviation calculations without unnecessary complexity.

Highlights
  • Density Altitude Calculation
  • Wind Corrected Headings
  • Ground Speed Calculation
  • Time En Route Calculation
  • Essential Flight Leg Data
Features
Read full description

Calculates Density Altitude and Wind corrected headings, ground speed and time en route for a specific leg. No complications just the essentials.

Screenshots

smartCHECK4 screens
Pilot3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pilot at $1.99 against smartCHECK's $13.99. Pilot also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (100% vs 71%). On update cadence, ads, monetization model and device support 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

smartCHECK costs $13.99 and Pilot $1.99 up front. smartCHECK sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Pilot asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

smartCHECK ships an update every 3 weeks, Pilot every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
smartCHECK versus Pilot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametersmartCHECKPilot
Price$13.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.0 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size90 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperairWORK aviation media UGamenai technologies

Customer experience

smartCHECK

All ratings9 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral11.1%
Negative22.2%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral10.7%
Negative17.9%

Pilot

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

smartCHECK

Subscriptions2
  • smartCHECK Weather1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • smartCHECK Pro3 Months trial$3.991 Month
None

Pilot

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is smartCHECK free?
smartCHECK costs $13.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Pilot free?
Pilot costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do smartCHECK or Pilot have ads?
Neither smartCHECK nor Pilot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, smartCHECK or Pilot?
smartCHECK ships an update every 3 weeks, and Pilot every 5 weeks. Most recently, smartCHECK was updated on October 10, 2026 and Pilot on October 8, 2026.

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