Pilot Time vs xWind
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pilot Time
Instantly view local, military, and UTC time with a tap. Developed by pilots, this app eliminates mental time conversions by displaying current and past/future times across various time zones. Easily select continents and cities for quick comparisons.
- View local, military, and UTC time
- Compare current location time to UTC
- Display frequently used time zones
- Convert past, current, and future times
- Easy continent and city time zone selection
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Stop converting time in your head! See local, military, and UTC time (GMT and Zulu time zones) with a tap. Developed by pilots who can never remember the current UTC (GMT/Zulu) time conversion, Pilot Time instantly gives you the current time and date for your zone, plus UTC time. Pilot Time can: - Compare the time and date at your current location (in 12-hour format and 24-hour format) to UTC time. - Show the 3 time zones you looked at most recently, plus UTC time. - Quickly convert any past, current, or future time to or from any time zone (including GMT). And selecting time zones is easy: first find the continent, then the city you want. No more mental calculations. (The time is provided by your phone's operating system, not a central server. Time zones are taken from the IANA Time Zone Database.)
xWind
This tool helps pilots quickly assess wind conditions relative to aircraft limitations. It displays essential wind data, including headwind, crosswind, and tailwind components, along with runway course and wind limits on a single screen for easy reference during flight.
- Headwind, crosswind, and tailwind calculation
- Displays current wind direction and speed
- Shows runway course
- Indicates applied wind limits
- Identifies 'forbidden' wind angles
- Provides maximum wind speed table
- Adjustable wind and runway settings
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xWind is an easy to use tool to assist pilots in evaluating wind conditions with respect to head, cross and tailwind limitations. Once setup, the xWind app provides all information in one single screen, requiring minimal user interaction during high workload phases of flight, displaying: - Current wind direction and speed - Runway course - Cross and head or tailwind components - Currently applied wind limits - 'Forbidden' wind angles based on the current wind speed - Maximum wind speed table based on current wind limits Reference wind, runway course, as well as wind limits, can all be adjusted on the main screen by either dragging the wind arrow, course rose or wind limit lines. A settings button at the bottom presents a popup screen where both the units for wind speed (Kts or Mps) and the default values for wind limits can be specified. In addition to the general setting for wind speed units, the user can select the alternative units for only the current wind, wind components and maximum winds table by double tapping the wind display at the top of the main screen. When operating from a Kts country into Mps territory, this option allows to set the current wind and see the maximum allowed winds in Mps, based on limits that are still set in Kts. Or vice versa.... xWinds supports iOS darkmode.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Pilot Time at Free against xWind's $0.99. xWind's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (550 vs 19). On rating, review sentiment, 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
Pilot Time is free to download; xWind costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Pilot Time against 4.6 for xWind. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: xWind has 550 ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Pilot Time's written reviews are positive against 75% of xWind's.
Pilot Time ships an update every 6 months, xWind fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pilot Time | xWind |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (19 ratings) | 4.6 (550 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 73.2% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 19 | 550 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | WillowRoot Apps, LLC. | Jan Bloemendaal |
Customer experience
Pilot Time
xWind
User reviews
Pilot Time
From 19 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and intuitive user interface
- 🎯 Accurate time zone conversions
- 💰 Free application with no cost
- ⚡ Quick and easy access to Zulu time
- 📱 iOS widget functionality
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes on app launch
- 📺 Intrusive advertisement pop-ups
- 🔧 Widget loading failures
- 📋 Limited city/location database
- 🎯 Defaults to Los Angeles time zone
xWind
From 550 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and read
- 👍 Works well for its intended purpose
- 👍 Good interface
- 👍 Remembers settings
- 👍 Helpful for visualizing wind
Room to improve
- 🤔 Numbers are unlabeled and ambiguous
- 🤔 Not intuitive
- 🤔 Difficult to understand
- 🤔 Instructions could be clearer
- 🤔 Old version was better
Bugs and requests
Pilot Time
Reported bugs
9 issues- App crashes upon opening after updates
- Widget displays 'UNABLE TO LOAD' error
- App crashes when changing time zones
- Incorrect time zone offsets for some locations (e.g., Sydney)
- Time doesn't update when app is reopened
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Incorrect time zone naming conventions
- Incompatibility with iOS 18 widgets
- 12-hour clock incorrectly identifies noon as AM
- App freezes on startup with certain iOS versions
Requested features
11 requests- Favorites or saved locations tab
- Flight time and air time calculator
- Julian date display for each time zone
- GPS location detection for automatic time zone
- Multiple simultaneous time zone display (3-4 zones)
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- 24-hour format option only
- Search cities by typing functionality
- State listings for US locations
- Flight forecast hour conversion chart
- Decimal format for logbook entries
- Ability to set custom background images
xWind
Reported bugs
1 issue- Speed toggle doesn't work, always shows MPS
Requested features
3 requests- Incorporate gust factors
- 3 customizable buttons for quick limit settings
- Different colored concentric rings inside the red limit ring
In-app purchases
Pilot Time
No in-app purchases
xWind
No in-app purchases








