Hotairballoon Navigation vs SkyBound Dashboard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hotairballoon Navigation
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This app will assist you, as a hotairballoon pilot, to navigate your hotairballoon by helping to find the best wind. It does this by capturing heading and speed at all altitudes, while you fly, and remembers them. After this the tool can provide the information you need to choose the altitude for best heading or speed. Bounds where you are interested in, for example 500 to 1500 feet, can be set and you can request the best heading or speed for the selected range. The information available: - altitude of lowest heading - altitude of highest heading - altitude of lowest speed - altitude of highest speed - actual heading at a selected altitude - actual speed at a selected altitude - real time clock - elapsed time since start button was pressed - upper and lower altitude bounds can be selected - speed can displayed in kilometres per hour or knots (tap on it to switch units) - altitude can be displayed in feet or meters (tap on it to switch units) - heading in true degrees - view tracklog on map and email it as .gpx file for review in other apps. LEFT and RIGHT pickers: By using the most left or right picker you select the altitude range you are interested in. A yellow RANGE button indicates that the range you selected is in use. When this button has a blue colour the range is set to its default settings. Data collection is not influenced by these pickers. CENTRE picker. With the centre picker you select a specific altitude for what you need to know the heading and speed for. It works in combination with the range segmented switch. In case the range is for example set to 100 and the centre picker is set to 1000 feet the app will return the average heading and speed between 950 and 1050 feet. In case you select a range of 1 you can scroll to all captured heights and show results. Running in the background: The app can run in the background. By enabling this feature you allow the app to capture flight data while the screen is off. This to minimise batterie power consumption. When your device detects no movement or receives no GPS data for 30 minutes, while running the app in the background, it will disable the GPS location updates and therefore saves batterie power. You allow running in background using the "BG-ON/BG-OFF" switch. An orange colour of this switch indicates your app will continue running in the background. Right bottom counter: This count shows the number of captured altitudes for what we have data memory for review. For each altitude only the last captured data is remembered. Old values are discarded. Left bottom time field: This field shows the time of when the bottom info field, showing heading altitude and speed, was captured. This field is only shown after one of the bottom buttons (heading or speed +/-) was selected. Top left time field: This field shows your actual local time. Top right time field: This field show the elapsed time since the start button was pressed. Graph view: Swiping from left to right on your main screen will bring you to a graph view of your flight data. On this view you can select heading/altitude or speed/altitude to display your data graphically. Map view: Swiping from right to left or press the map button on the main screen to view your track. You can view both standard and satellite maps. Notes: To make the app work you must allow location services to allow the app to capture movement data. When pressing the "START" button the app will empty its list of captured data and then start capturing new data. The "RUNNING" indicator on the right-top button indicates the app is collecting data. Remarks: Use this app at you own risk. Always follow official navigation regulations. The app will increase battery consumption of your device as the GPS is constantly turned on while it is running.
SkyBound Dashboard
This platform helps hot air balloon pilots and crew track flights in real time, coordinate with each other, and plan routes with integrated weather data. It also offers tools for business management, competition support, and flight logging.
- Real-time GPS flight tracking
- Crew coordination with shared maps
- Integrated weather forecasts
- Flight planning with KML/GPX import
- Competition task extraction via AI
- Automatic flight logging
- Commercial pilot business tools
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SkyBound is the all-in-one platform for hot air balloon pilots and crew. Track flights in real time with precision GPS, coordinate with your crew, plan flights with integrated weather, and manage your ballooning business — all from one app. FLIGHT TRACKING Track every flight with live GPS including altitude, speed, heading, and vertical rate. Your crew sees your position in real time and gets navigation to your landing spot. Background tracking keeps working even when the app is minimized. Pair an external GPS or Balloon Live Sensor (BLS) for competition-grade position — or use your phone's GPS, which takes over automatically if a sensor drops. CREW COORDINATION Create teams with your pilots and crew. Everyone sees live positions on a shared map during flights. No more constant calls and texts — your crew knows exactly where you are and where you're headed. Talk to crew and spotters with push-to-talk voice, and let a spotter mark your map with a laser pointer to call out targets and hazards. CARPLAY CHASE Plug into Apple CarPlay and your crewed pilots load automatically — no need to unlock your phone. Follow each pilot's color-coded live track and drift projection on your car's display, with directions to the landing spot. WEATHER INTELLIGENCE Get flight-specific weather forecasts right at your launch coordinates. View wind speed and direction at multiple altitudes, hourly breakdowns, and sunrise/sunset times. Pick the forecast model that fits your flight — ECMWF, GFS, HRRR, NBM, or RAP. Check active TFRs and NOTAMs with an interactive map. SKYCAST WIND SIMULATOR Drop a takeoff, dial in a wind profile by altitude, and fly the app manually before you ever leave the ground. SkyCast uses the real flight HUD — gauges, target cards, drift cones — so you can see how altitude choices steer you across the map. Perfect for practicing competition tasks or briefing new crew. FLIGHT PLANNING Plan routes on an interactive map with zone overlays. Import KML and GPX files for competition targets, restricted areas, and custom boundaries. Set altitude floors and ceilings with color-coded rules. COMPETITION SUPPORT Snap a photo of your task sheet and let AI extract targets, coordinates, and scoring rules. Import task sheets directly from WatchMeFly. See task overlays on your flight map in real time. Share any target with another pilot — it lands in their pre-flight, in their own UTM zone. FLIGHT LOG Every flight is automatically logged with full GPS tracks, altitude profiles, duration, and distance. Replay any flight on the map. FOR COMMERCIAL PILOTS List your business in our nationwide pilot directory. Manage bookings, track your customer pipeline, send invoices with Stripe payments, and view revenue analytics. SUBSCRIPTIONS All features require an active subscription. Flight Plan — $9.99/month or $109.99/year (auto-renewable subscription) Includes: Flight tracking, weather briefings (ECMWF / GFS / HRRR / NBM / RAP), TFR/NOTAM alerts, flight logging, crew coordination, pilot-to-pilot connections, flight groups, pilot directory access, SkyBound AI Assistant, competition task sheet analysis, SkyCast wind simulator, lift calculator, and drift planning tools. Commercial Plan — $34.99/month or $379.99/year (auto-renewable subscription) Includes everything in Flight Plan, plus: Public pilot profile on skybounddashboard.com, online booking system, customer management, invoicing with Stripe payments, revenue analytics, and priority support. Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. You can manage or cancel subscriptions in your Apple ID account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.skybounddashboard.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.skybounddashboard.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: SkyBound Dashboard at Free against Hotairballoon Navigation's $1.99. Hotairballoon Navigation's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
SkyBound Dashboard is free to download; Hotairballoon Navigation costs $1.99 up front. SkyBound Dashboard sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Hotairballoon Navigation asks for nothing beyond the download.
Hotairballoon Navigation ships an update every 9 days, SkyBound Dashboard weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hotairballoon Navigation | SkyBound Dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 8 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 74 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Henri van Bommel | Luke Thompson |
In-app purchases
Hotairballoon Navigation
No in-app purchases
SkyBound Dashboard
- Flight Plan Monthly$9.991 Month
- Commercial Plan Monthly$34.991 Month
- Flight Plan Yearly$109.991 Year
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- Commercial Plan Yearly$379.991 Year
Questions
Is Hotairballoon Navigation free?
Is SkyBound Dashboard free?
Do Hotairballoon Navigation or SkyBound Dashboard have ads?
Which is updated more often, Hotairballoon Navigation or SkyBound Dashboard?
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