Prepware Private Pilot vs Prepware Instrument Pilot
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Head to head
About
Prepware Private Pilot
Prepare for your FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Exam with this comprehensive study and test tool. It offers flashcard-style review of questions, answers, and explanations, allowing you to study by subject or take realistic practice tests.
Highlights
- Flashcard-style review
- Questions, answers, and explanations
- Study by subject
- Practice tests
- FAA Knowledge Exam preparation
Features
Currently charting
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Comprehensive preparation, study and test tool for the FAA Knowledge Exam. Flashcard style review of questions, answers and explanations included for you to study by subject or with a true-to-form practice test.
About
Prepware Instrument Pilot
Prepare for your FAA Knowledge Exam with flashcard-style reviews and practice tests. Study by subject or take a full practice exam to gauge your readiness.
Highlights
- Flashcard-style review
- Questions, answers, and explanations
- Study by subject
- Practice test simulation
- FAA Knowledge Exam preparation
Features
Currently charting
Read full descriptionHide full description
Comprehensive preparation, study and test tool for the FAA Knowledge Exam. Flashcard style review of questions, answers and explanations included for you to study by subject or with a true-to-form practice test.
Screenshots
Prepware Private Pilot4 screens
Prepware Instrument Pilot4 screens
Verdict
The call
The clearest difference is rating: Prepware Private Pilot at 3.9 against Prepware Instrument Pilot's 2.6. Prepware Private Pilot also leads on review sentiment (63% vs 36%) and chart position (#9 vs #53). On price, update cadence, 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
Prepware Private Pilot costs $9.99 and Prepware Instrument Pilot $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings
Prepware Private Pilot holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 137 and 43 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Prepware Private Pilot's written reviews are positive against 36% of Prepware Instrument Pilot's.
UpkeepUpdate frequency
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. Both last shipped on September 22, 2026.
Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
| Parameter | Prepware Private Pilot | Prepware Instrument Pilot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| Rating | 3.9 (137 ratings) — better | 2.6 (43 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 62.5% of reviews — better | 35.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 137 — better | 43 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #9 — better | #53 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | ASA |
Customer experience
Prepware Private Pilot
All ratings137 ratings
Positive68.6%
Neutral9.5%
Negative21.9%
Written reviews72 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral16.7%
Negative20.8%
Prepware Instrument Pilot
All ratings43 ratings
Positive34.9%
Neutral14.0%
Negative51.2%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive35.7%
Neutral20.0%
Negative44.3%
User reviews
Prepware Private Pilot
From 137 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💯 High scores achieved
- 📚 Great practice for harder questions
- 📱 Convenient for studying on the go
- ✅ Questions similar to real exam
- 💡 Detailed explanations provided
Room to improve
- ❓ Powered flight questions for glider pilots
- 📱 Small screen issues for plotting/maps
- 🤷 Missing essential questions
- ⚠️ Not a sole reliance tool
- 🤔 Questions worded differently
Prepware Instrument Pilot
From 43 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Good value for money
- 👍 Offline functionality
- 👍 Helpful for passing written exams
- 👍 Simple interface
- 👍 Explanations provided
Room to improve
- 👎 Outdated question bank
- 👎 Inaccurate questions/answers
- 👎 Missing core features
- 👎 Poor optimization for iPad
- 👎 Formatting issues
Bugs and requests
Prepware Private Pilot
Reported bugs
24 issues- Powered flight questions appearing for glider pilots
- Small screen makes chart plotting difficult
- Missing essential questions for the written exam
- Some answers are incorrect
- Macbook app not working properly
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Dark mode has contrast issues, making text unreadable
- Status bar bug with black text on black background
- Right answers not highlighted after getting a question wrong
- Study portion allows pushing through without selecting the right option, leading to false 100% scores
- Questions cut off at the end
- Save and exit function does not save progress
- App resets to homepage after a short period or if not actively used
- Quiz shuffles questions, preventing picking up where left off
- Errors in questions referencing sectional charts
- Sections on charts not available when referenced
- New update degraded the app interface
- White lettering on light background makes questions unreadable
- Dark mode compatibility issues with white text on gray background
- Questions in rotorcraft sections refer to fixed-wing regulations
- Irrelevant gyrocopter and fixed-wing questions in rotorcraft section
- Dark theme not displaying correct/incorrect answers properly
- App not compatible with iPhone X screen
- No way to systematically study, questions are random
- Questions that reference a chart or diagram are cumbersome to view
Requested features
14 requests- Ability to save/create a bank of difficult questions
- Scramble answer choices for realism
- Improve UI for newer devices (iPhone X/Xs/Xr, iPad Pro)
- Add Apple Watch support
- Vary the length of test modules
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Allow studying more than one section at a time
- Add better reference information in explanations (page/section numbers)
- Allow resizing of figures on iPhone
- Show explanation immediately after wrong answer
- Fix grading to allow for incorrect answers without immediate correction
- Make questions more compatible with dark mode
- Fix contrast issues in dark mode
- Add a feature to stop showing questions already known
- Allow review of only missed items
Prepware Instrument Pilot
Reported bugs
39 issues- Text frequently cut off
- App cannot dynamically scale text
- Some questions missing figures
- Figures have nothing to do with the question
- Correct answers no longer shown in green
Show 34 moreShow fewer
- Dark mode broken
- App crashes
- Save feature does not work
- Answers lost when returning to app
- Progress lost when switching categories
- App closes by itself
- Loses test progress when minimized
- Figures not displayed for questions
- Incomplete questions
- Questions and answers do not match
- Questions not completely displayed
- Can't get back to question from figure display
- Back button disappears
- Can't take entire test without shutting down or redownloading
- Software reverts to quiz mode when returning to study mode
- Explanation link missing in study mode
- Can't go back when opening a figure
- Answers longer than three lines are cut off
- Figures are sometimes incomplete
- Figures are sometimes at too low a resolution
- No way to store previous test scores
- No progress shown
- Study modes stops showing correct answer
- Practice test questions do not allow access to appropriate figure
- Truncated answers
- Truncated questions
- Figures are sometimes incomplete
- Font is hard to read and small
- Bold indication of right or wrong is missing
- No running tally of missed questions
- App restarts in test mode even when last in study mode
- Bugs causing crashes that instantly exit the application
- Scans did not come over well, particularly weather graphics
- Hard to see some images
Requested features
18 requests- Ability to focus on previously incorrect answers
- Major update for functionality and display bugs
- Ensure all software is up to date with FAA question banks
- Add timer and number of questions selection
- Ability to eliminate questions already known
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- Autosave and clear progress button
- Ability to search through questions
- Save test results
- Ability to uncheck material of questions not needed
- Ability to select questions relating to chapters
- Provide reasons for wrong answers
- Make background red or green for visibility
- Allow marking questions for review
- Record wrong answers for review
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- Ability to skip questions that do not apply to equipment
- Add CX-2 to iPhone
In-app purchases
None
Prepware Private Pilot
No in-app purchases
None
Prepware Instrument Pilot
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Prepware Private Pilot free?
Prepware Private Pilot costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Prepware Instrument Pilot free?
Prepware Instrument Pilot costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Prepware Private Pilot or Prepware Instrument Pilot?
Prepware Private Pilot is rated higher. Prepware Private Pilot averages 3.9 out of 5 from 137 ratings, while Prepware Instrument Pilot averages 2.6 from 43 ratings.
Do Prepware Private Pilot or Prepware Instrument Pilot have ads?
Neither Prepware Private Pilot nor Prepware Instrument Pilot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prepware Private Pilot or Prepware Instrument Pilot?
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, and Prepware Instrument Pilot every 4 months. Most recently, Prepware Private Pilot was updated on September 22, 2026 and Prepware Instrument Pilot on September 22, 2026.
Which is more popular, Prepware Private Pilot or Prepware Instrument Pilot?
Prepware Private Pilot currently peaks at #9 in the App Store charts, and Prepware Instrument Pilot at #53. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.
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