Prepware Instrument Pilot vs VOR Tracker
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.
VOR Tracker
This app provides a realistic IFR navigation training experience for pilots. Practice holding patterns, radial interceptions, and other critical procedures in real-time using various flight instruments. It's designed to help pilots apply theoretical knowledge in a simulated cockpit environment.
- Real-time IFR simulation
- VOR and NDB navigation practice
- Multiple instrument displays (CDI, RMI, HSI, EHSI)
- Practice holding patterns and radial interceptions
- Map mode for progress verification
- Freeze and fast modes for training control
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The needles are moving. The examiner is watching. Your mind goes blank. The cockpit is the most expensive place to discover the gap between knowing the theory and flying the procedure. VOR Tracker is a real-time IFR procedure trainer for holding patterns, radial interceptions and DME arcs — you fly them on the instruments you already use, wherever you are, whenever you want. One-time purchase — for less than half an hour of dual instruction, and it never renews. No subscription, no ads. FLY THE INSTRUMENTS YOU ACTUALLY USE - Fixed-card CDI, RMI, HSI or EHSI — the EHSI adds wind, track and groundspeed - VOR or NDB, with realistic dip error and atmospheric noise on the NDB - Aircraft speeds from light trainer to jet TRAIN THE WAY YOU FLY - Freeze the action when things get too fast - Skip ahead through the straight bits - Drag the aircraft to reposition, or repeat any exercise from a new random start - Stuck on holding entries? Let the map show you the sectors - Build your own missions, with your own wind RAISE THE STAKES WHEN YOU'RE READY - Start calm, then add wind: steady, gusting, variable — or hidden, so you work it out yourself SEE YOUR PROGRESS - Rewind and fly it again; the previous tracks stay on the map so you can compare MADE FOR - Student pilots who would rather make their mistakes on the ground - Pilots preparing for a check ride, an IPC or a simulator assessment - Instructors who want to show an entry, a lead angle or a wind correction in real time WHAT IT IS NOT - Not a game - Not a flight simulator: it trains navigation procedures at a constant speed and altitude - Not a ground-school course: it assumes you know the theory and need the practice "I was really struggling to visualise NDB joins and an hour on this and I have it cracked." — App Store review "I highly recommend it to all of my students and to anyone learning IFR procedures." — Google Play review Recommended for simulator-assessment preparation by training organisations including Horizon Swiss Flight Academy, SKY4u Aviation Service and Airline Entry Training. VOR Tracker has trained IFR procedures since 2014, on iPhone, iPad and Android. Questions or feedback: info@vor-tracker.com Try the free browser demo: https://vor-tracker.com/app-demo/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: VOR Tracker at 86% against Prepware Instrument Pilot's 36%. VOR Tracker also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.6) and ratings volume (138 vs 43). Prepware Instrument Pilot's advantage is price ($9.99 vs $19.99) and chart position (#88 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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
Prepware Instrument Pilot costs $9.99 and VOR Tracker $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
VOR Tracker holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 138 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 36% of Prepware Instrument Pilot's written reviews are positive against 86% of VOR Tracker's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Prepware Instrument Pilot | VOR Tracker |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 — better | $19.99 |
| Rating | 2.6 (43 ratings) | 4.7 (138 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 35.7% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 43 | 138 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #88 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | Karsten Heiland |
Customer experience
Prepware Instrument Pilot
VOR Tracker
User reviews
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
VOR Tracker
From 138 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent for IFR training
- 👍 Helps understand VOR navigation
- 👍 Great for holding practice
- 👍 Useful for intercept practice
- 👍 Good for sim assessment prep
Room to improve
- 🐛 Knob rotation is difficult
- 🐛 Random intercepts unrealistic
- 🐛 To/From indicator unreliable
- 🐛 Airplane turns too slowly
- 🐛 Holding pattern depiction inaccurate
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
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
VOR Tracker
Reported bugs
8 issues- Knob rotation difficult
- To From indicator sometimes does not work
- App freezes on download
- App freezes on opening
- Not able to download 2nd time
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Holding pattern depiction inaccurate
- App freezes every time I open it
- App doesn't work, totally unusable
Requested features
25 requests- Scroll wheel for knobs
- Add CDI option
- Add RMI pointer
- Add ILS approaches
- Add non-precision approaches
Show 20 moreShow fewer
- Add point-to-point navigation
- Add user-defined patterns
- Add fix-to-fix scenarios
- Add more hold entry options
- Add wind correction details
- Add written ATC instructions
- Add common VOR nav receiver
- Add option for basic 6-pack instruments
- Add custom/randomized ATC hold instructions
- Add speed control slider
- Auto-restart on timer reset
- Random wind option
- More scenarios
- More videos from developer
- Point to point addition
- Low enroute charts practice
- Practice missed approaches
- Second VOR/ADF bearing needle for HSI
- Option to know when task completed successfully
- Hold patterns away from VOR on radial/DME
In-app purchases
Prepware Instrument Pilot
No in-app purchases
VOR Tracker
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Prepware Instrument Pilot free?
Is VOR Tracker free?
Which has better reviews, Prepware Instrument Pilot or VOR Tracker?
Do Prepware Instrument Pilot or VOR Tracker have ads?
Which is updated more often, Prepware Instrument Pilot or VOR Tracker?
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