LookAround vs VatView
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LookAround
Enhance your flight simulator experience by using your iOS device for head tracking in X-Plane. This app allows you to look around the virtual cockpit hands-free, improving immersion and situational awareness. Basic roll tracking is free, with yaw and pitch tracking available via a one-time purchase.
- Hands-free head tracking for X-Plane
- Uses iOS device camera for face tracking
- Automatic X-Plane discovery
- Roll tracking included for free
- Yaw and pitch tracking via in-app purchase
- Simple setup over Wi-Fi
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Experience virtual reality in X-Plane without any additional hardware! Prop your iOS device running LookAround - Sim under your monitor and your head movements are magically reflected in X-Plane. Want help lining up the runway when turning to final? Simply rotate your head towards to the runway! Want to look at the beautiful mountain range on your right? Just rotate your head to the right! LookAround - Sim uses face tracking to let you look around in X-Plane simulator hands-free. Extremely simple setup: - Download LookAround - Sim on your iOS device. - Run X-Plane on your computer and start a new flight. - Verify your iOS device is connected to Wifi and on the same network as your computer running X-Plane. - Launch LookAround - Sim and it will auto-magically discover X-Plane! No need to figure out IP addresses and ports! LookAround - Sim is free to to download to try Roll tracking - tilt you head sideways and watch it reflected on your simulator. Yaw and pitch tracking can be enabled through a simple one time In-App purchase. LookAround - Sim requires X-Plane 10.40 and above. Head Roll tracking is only supported with X-Plane 11 and above. For optimal setup, try to place the iOS device and your Wifi router as close as possible. Additional, having a wired connection from your Wifi router to the X-Plane computer also helps with minimizing latency and delays.
VatView
Track air traffic controllers and flight information on the VATSIM network. View active ATC stations, frequencies, and ATIS messages. Explore an interactive map showing pilots and controllers, or search for airport-specific flight data.
- Interactive VATSIM map
- Live METAR weather data
- Filterable pilot and ATC lists
- Airport-specific flight information
- Enroute and FSS control areas
- ATC bookings
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VatView is a mobile app that allows flight simulation enthusiasts to track ATC presence and flight information on the VATSIM network. VatView aims to be your ultimate VATSIM companion! It provides easy access to active VATSIM terminal area ATC stations and frequencies and exposes the ATIS message easily. It also shows enroute ATC, including marking land, oceanic, UIR and FSS VATSIM controlled areas on the map. VatView features three main views: - a map displaying all pilots and air traffic controllers currently connected to the VATSIM network. - A filterable and searchable list page - displaying a detailed list of all connected pilots and ATC. - An airport search page - which concentrates all connected ATC, active flights and prefiled flight plans for a specific airport. VATSIM (short for the Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network) is a completely free online platform that allows Flight simulator enthusiasts connect and fly virtually on one shared virtual aviation eco system. It simulates Air Traffic Control (ATC) with full voice and network connection between virtual pilots flight on flight simulator software and virtual air traffic controllers using software for providing ATC services. It is as real as it gets. It supports Microsoft's Flight simulator (MSFS, FSX and FS9), P3D and X-Plane. For more information visit https://www.vatsim.net. Features: - An Interactive map displaying VATSIM pilots and ATC - Detailed aircraft and terminal ATC station Icons - Enroute and FSS control areas - Live METAR (weather) data for any airport - ATC Bookings - Always up to date FIR boundaries synced with VATSpy's data project - Detailed flight information - Filterable and searchable list screen - An easy way to get all relevant terminal area stations with the relevant ATIS message * The app uses the storage permission to cache large airspace data it needs to display on the map. Disclaimer: The author is not affiliated with the VATSIM Organization in any way (other than being an enthusiastic user and member of the community)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: VatView at none against LookAround's 1. VatView also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks). LookAround's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (38% vs 25%). On price 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
Both are free to download. LookAround sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. VatView asks for nothing beyond the download.
LookAround ships an update every 5 weeks, VatView weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LookAround | VatView |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (6 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 37.5% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.3 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mutual Image LLC. | Oren Geva |
Customer experience
LookAround
VatView
In-app purchases
LookAround
- XPlane Yaw & Pitch$9.99
VatView
No in-app purchases








