Visual Traffic Pattern vs Active Runway
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Visual Traffic Pattern
Visualize runway traffic patterns with magnetic orientation matching your aircraft's heading. Includes wind component diagrams for crosswind and headwind calculations. Designed for pilots on iOS devices.
- Visual traffic pattern reference
- Magnetic orientation matching
- Wind component diagram
- Heading indicator control
- Runway crosswind/headwind calculation
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The Visual Traffic Pattern provides a complete visual reference to a selected runway's left or right traffic pattern. With a single finger rotation a pilot can easily view the runway, crosswind, downwind, base, and 45 degree entry headings associated with that runway's traffic pattern. The magnetic orientation of the runway can be rotated to match the aircraft's heading to allow the pilot to visualize the aircraft's approach to the selected runway. Additional features include compass control of the Heading indicator and a built in Wind Component diagram which will allow you to easily determine runway crosswind and headwind components before takeoffs and landings. This app is designed for optimal viewing and use on an iPad or iPhone 5 and above. This app requires iOS 8.0 or greater.
Active Runway
This app simplifies runway calculations for pilots, offering quick and easy decisions in the cockpit. It displays the runway with the least crosswind based on available runways and wind direction, and can also pull airport weather to automatically calculate the preferred runway.
- Quick runway calculations
- Least crosswind display
- Airport weather integration
- Automatic preferred runway calculation
- Offline functionality
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When your workload is high, calculating the best runway for landing can be difficult. Active Runway makes it quick and simple. Built for pilots who need fast runway decisions in the cockpit, Active Runway is designed to be simple to use, easy to read, and fully functional without cell service. Just move the sliders to the available runways and current wind direction, then tap Calculate. Active Runway will display the runway with the least crosswind — that's it. New: Load any airport to pull current and forecasted weather, and Active Runway will automatically calculate the preferred runway for you. I hope you find this app helpful in the cockpit. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Visual Traffic Pattern at 78% against Active Runway's 0%. Visual Traffic Pattern also leads on rating (4.4 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (7 vs 1). Active Runway's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99). On 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
Active Runway is free to download; Visual Traffic Pattern costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Visual Traffic Pattern holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Visual Traffic Pattern has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Visual Traffic Pattern's written reviews are positive against 0% of Active Runway's.
| Parameter | Visual Traffic Pattern | Active Runway |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (7 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | — |
| Ads | No | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | — |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Arthur Varrassi | Lawrence Masullo |
Customer experience
Visual Traffic Pattern
Active Runway
In-app purchases
Visual Traffic Pattern
No in-app purchases
Active Runway
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Visual Traffic Pattern free?
Is Active Runway free?
Which has better reviews, Visual Traffic Pattern or Active Runway?
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