Prepware Instrument Pilot vs Garmin TXi Trainer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Flashcard-style review
- Questions, answers, and explanations
- Study by subject
- Practice test simulation
- FAA Knowledge Exam preparation
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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.
Garmin TXi Trainer
Virtually explore Garmin's G500/G600 TXi flight displays and engine information systems on your iPad. Familiarize yourself with touch interfaces, various configurations, and simulated system information before flying with the actual hardware.
- Simulated touch and bezel interface
- TXi EIS (Engine Instrumentation System)
- Multiple display configurations
- Aviation databases
- SafeTaxi and FliteCharts
- Simulated system information
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The Garmin G500 TXi, G600 TXi and TXi EIS Trainer provides an on-the-ground environment to experience these products virtually anywhere you can take an iPad. Easily familiarize yourself with these flight displays and engine information systems prior to flying behind them. The Trainer includes: - Simulated touch and bezel interface – interact with the primary flight and multi-function displays, become familiarized with the new HSI Map one-touch zoom gesture, full- and split-screen PFD/MFD modes, on-screen autopilot controls, and much more - TXi EIS (Engine Instrumentation System) – demonstrates common engine gauge layouts for single-engine piston, multi-engine piston, and single-engine turboprop aircraft - Selection between 10", 7" Portrait, and 7" Landscape configurations for multiple aircraft types - explore the broad range of options available in the TXi series - Garmin North America and Jeppesen Worldwide/Americas aviation databases are available – go to Settings > More to select the database used. - Garmin SafeTaxi and FliteCharts – view detailed airport information and published approach charts on the moving map - High resolution worldwide terrain and obstacle databases, including powerline alerting - Simulated system information for: - ADS-B and TCAS Traffic with TargetTrend™ Relative Motion - FIS-B and SiriusXM Weather - Garmin GWX 75 Weather Radar - Stormscope Lightning Detection * Note: The Trainer is currently only supported on iPads with an A7 Chip or newer, including iPad Air, iPad Mini 2, and later. * This app contains simulated data and does not receive data from or interact with real Garmin avionics. Content may differ slightly from actual hardware for demonstration purposes or be out-of-date with respect to the latest airborne software and database cycles. This app should not be used for navigation purposes. * Some functionality that requires a navigator or other products, e.g., flight plans from GTN, may be unavailable in this standalone Trainer. * Visit Garmin's web site for additional GTN/TXi Trainer options, TXi flight familiarization and tutorial videos, and to explore our fully-featured training programs.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Garmin TXi Trainer at Free against Prepware Instrument Pilot's $9.99. Prepware Instrument Pilot's advantage is rating (2.6 vs 2.2) and review sentiment (38% vs 16%). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Garmin TXi Trainer is free to download; Prepware Instrument Pilot costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Prepware Instrument Pilot holds the better App Store score, 2.6 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prepware Instrument Pilot has 45 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of Prepware Instrument Pilot's written reviews are positive against 16% of Garmin TXi Trainer's.
Prepware Instrument Pilot ships an update every 4 months, Garmin TXi Trainer every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Prepware Instrument Pilot | Garmin TXi Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.6 (45 ratings) — better | 2.2 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 37.8% of reviews — better | 16.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 45 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 8 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 2.5 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | Garmin DCI |
Customer experience
Prepware Instrument Pilot
Garmin TXi Trainer
Bugs and requests
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
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- 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
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- 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
Garmin TXi Trainer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Prepware Instrument Pilot
No in-app purchases
Garmin TXi Trainer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Prepware Instrument Pilot free?
Is Garmin TXi Trainer free?
Which has better reviews, Prepware Instrument Pilot or Garmin TXi Trainer?
Do Prepware Instrument Pilot or Garmin TXi Trainer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Prepware Instrument Pilot or Garmin TXi Trainer?
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