Comparison

iPreFlight3 vs Active Reader

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

Head to head
About

iPreFlight3

This app helps pilots quickly calculate available payload and fuel for flights. It integrates runway analysis, weight and balance, and flight planning with weather data. Users can prepare flight books and releases, and share them with crew.

Highlights
  • Max Payload Estimator (MPE™)
  • Runway Analysis (RWA)
  • Weight and Balance (WB)
  • Flight Planning with Fuel Calculation
  • Flight Book preparation
  • Flight Release generation and sharing
Read full description

Aircraft Performance Group (APG) has released an application for use on the iPad, which integrates their Runway Analysis (RWA) and Weight and Balance (WB) system with a flight planning module. The combination of these functions allows the user to easily and quickly calculate the available payload for a planned flight – this service is known as MPE™ (Max Payload Estimator). iPreFlight™, has been developed to run on the iPad using the latest iPad technology. iPreFlight™ is a first-of-a-kind product that requires minimum user input to quickly calculate the available payload for a given city pairing, considering takeoff/landing performance limitations, manufacturers WB requirements and flight planning constraints. The flight planning element utilizes manufacturer’s operational data, in conjunction with current forecast weather conditions to calculate the fuel required for the flight. The fuel calculation includes fuel burn (optimized for minimum fuel or time), reserve, alternate and holding fuel. In addition to including the RWA, WB and flight plan, iPreFlight™ allows the user to prepare a Flight Book, containing all textual and graphical weather products for the planned flight. The book may be prepared days in advance of the flight, stored on the iPad and can be automatically updated as products are revised. Approaching departure time the user can easily prepare a Flight Release, consolidating the RWA, WB, flight plan and weather products. The Flight Release may then be emailed, stored on the iPad and/or shared with another iPad, such as the other fight deck crewmembers’, by simply selecting the appropriate distribution method(s). iPreFlight consolidates several preflight functions into one program, not only ensuring accurate takeoff and landing performance limits and correct aircraft loading, but allows pilots to quickly calculate the available payload and fuel requirements for a flight. In addition, iPreflight™ allows pilots to make last minute adjustments with just a few keystrokes. The Flight Release may then be saved on the iPad for review in-flight and shared with the other crewmember, Application Requirements: To use this application you must be an existing APG customer having a Runway Analysis (Point Calculation) and Weight and Balance services account.

About

Active Reader

This app serves as an enterprise content delivery system, providing secure access to company documents and information. Users require specific credentials to log in and utilize its features.

Highlights
  • Enterprise content delivery
  • Secure access
  • Credentials required
  • System administrator access
Features
Read full description

Active Reader™, your enterprise content delivery system. Credentials required. Contact your system administrator for access.

Screenshots

Active Reader1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: iPreFlight3 at 3.1 against Active Reader's 2.4. Active Reader's advantage is review sentiment (17% vs 5%) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iPreFlight3 holds the better App Store score, 3.1 against 2.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 55 and 41 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 5% of iPreFlight3's written reviews are positive against 17% of Active Reader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iPreFlight3 ships an update every 6 weeks, Active Reader every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 19, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
iPreFlight3 versus Active Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriPreFlight3Active Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.1 (55 ratings) — better2.4 (41 ratings)
Positive reviews5.0% of reviews17.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings55 — better41
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB116 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAircraft Performance Group, LLCViaTech Publishing Solutions, Inc.

Customer experience

iPreFlight3

All ratings55 ratings
Positive50.9%
Neutral7.3%
Negative41.8%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive5.0%
Neutral30.0%
Negative65.0%

Active Reader

All ratings41 ratings
Positive34.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative65.9%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive17.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative82.6%

In-app purchases

None

iPreFlight3

No in-app purchases

None

Active Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iPreFlight3 free?
iPreFlight3 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Active Reader free?
Active Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iPreFlight3 or Active Reader?
iPreFlight3 is rated higher. iPreFlight3 averages 3.1 out of 5 from 55 ratings, while Active Reader averages 2.4 from 41 ratings.
Do iPreFlight3 or Active Reader have ads?
Neither iPreFlight3 nor Active Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iPreFlight3 or Active Reader?
iPreFlight3 ships an update every 6 weeks, and Active Reader every 2 months. Most recently, iPreFlight3 was updated on August 19, 2026 and Active Reader on June 11, 2026.

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