Comparison

Pilot Time vs xWind

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.)

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Pilot Time4 screens
xWind4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pilot Time ships an update every 6 months, xWind fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Pilot Time versus xWind: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPilot TimexWind
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.5 (19 ratings)4.6 (550 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.2% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings19550 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWillowRoot Apps, LLC.Jan Bloemendaal

Customer experience

Pilot Time

All ratings19 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews112 reviews
Positive73.2%
Neutral8.0%
Negative18.8%

xWind

All ratings550 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.8%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative20.0%

User reviews

Pilot Time

From 19 App Store ratings

What 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 ratings

What 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 more
  • 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 more
  • 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

None

Pilot Time

No in-app purchases

None

xWind

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pilot Time free?
Pilot Time is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is xWind free?
xWind costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pilot Time or xWind?
xWind is rated higher. Pilot Time averages 4.5 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while xWind averages 4.6 from 550 ratings.
Do Pilot Time or xWind have ads?
Neither Pilot Time nor xWind shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pilot Time or xWind?
Pilot Time ships an update every 6 months, and xWind fortnightly. Most recently, Pilot Time was updated on September 21, 2026 and xWind on September 20, 2026.

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