Garmin Pilot App Reviews

Run don’t walk away from this app. On hold for over 1 hour and still no help. I paid over $250 for three subscription services and they are not showing up on my Garmin account. Apple has them paid but no record to Garmin. The whole setup procedure is archaic and needs revamping. So now I need to be on hold for even more time to resolve this mess.

This app worked really well but... I now cannot get the DUATS briefing if my enroute time is less than 1 hour. I cannot file a flight plan is the enroute time is less than an hour. Once you have these errors, there is nothing that can be done to correct or change it. No amount of tweaking will get your briefing or plan filed. Also, the feature where you tap an item on the map screen used to instantaneously allow you to select from the "wheel" of options. Now it has a spinning "wait" thing that happens. Many times in an IFR environment, you need something now. You dont want to wait 30 seconds for the spinning to stop. Once these issues are corrected it will go back to being awesome.

The most recent update for this program broke the ability to get a DUATS brief, as the estimated time enroute does not fit the DUATS system. This takes a very solid app from well above average to a below average one, as a pilot now needs to use other avenues for a weather briefing. Also, because of update changes, it is not possible to file a flight plan because of the changes that Garmin apparently made to the estimated time enroute and fuel quantity. When/if Garmin fixes this issue, this app will be significantly better (Id give it a 5-star rating if that were fixed). As of now, this app only has usefulness to me because I own a GDL39.

Updated review for 7.4.2: As others are reporting, flight planning is now a broken feature because there is no way to get briefing data. Since it is a big part of the pilots workflow, it dramatically degrades the apps value. The app still gives the option for DTS and CSC DUATS but the FAA discontinued DTS support. Now the only option is CSC. This is broken and can get updates because of a bug in this version of the Garmin Pilot App. "Error: EnrouteTime: doesnt match pattern". It didnt seem to matter what ETE was entered - less than an hour, more than an hour, etc. The error always occurs. You cant go back to using DTS and there is no integration with the FAA approved Lockheed Martin weather brief and flight plan filing. Old Review: While the latest release promises new features for iPad users, pilots with an iphone will be frustrated. The most common tasks are impossible. Take flight planning. You use the FPL button and can enter waypoint identifiers and/or work directly on the map. But there is no way to the file the flight plan or get a brief. Those are "trip planning" actions which are totally separate and there is no way to go from one to the other. The app even prevents simple copy/paste from the flight plan text field. Its as if they were developed by two different companies. Stranger still is the fact you can bookmark a flight plan and you can save a trip plan but they are not the same implantation so you still cant perform the two tasks together. Intuitive pilot workflow is not one of the Gain Pilot strengths.

Due to the recent software version 7.4.2 you cannot file a flight plan. The app is excellent except for this new version does not work. I called support and they could not give me a timeframe to fix this problem with a new revision.

Missing features: Would be nice to have features including traffic and weather overlay onto the approach plates. Also nice to have a split screen view of the approach plate and say the AHRS info from fs210 or gdl39 3d. Fs210 and garmin 430w is a nice combo with the garmin pilot app.

This latest update has completely made this app unusable and Garmin has made no effort to address the issues or to communicate the problems to pilots who pay a premium annual license to use this app. Weather briefs and flight plan filing is no longer working! Unbelievable that Garmin puts out software without testing it. This happens time and time again. Only difference this time is that they messed up an extremely important part of the app. Contact Garmin support and after waiting for several days for a response they come back with no eta on a fix and not willing to roll back to prior version to they figure it out.

Ive been using Garmin Pilot for 3 years and every update seems to add new quirks and bugs and older bugs are slow to be addressed. Most of my pilot friends use Foreflight and Ive been experimenting with it. Im contemplating making a change. I have the GDL-39 3D so Id have to get a Stratus as well. I like that Foreflight has all the approaches, something sadly lacking in the Garmin app.

Update has solved all my issues, getting better everyday keep up the good work

After months of the release of D2 Bravo, the app still DOES NOT support this watch. And this function is shown on the product video? (Uplink from Garmin Pilot app???) ridiculous!

First off, let me say that I also have their two main competitors (ForeFlight and WingX) installed on my iPad. I find Garmin Pilot the best. What is great about Garment Pilot is that it will give a graphical representation of airspace so you can read everything right side up, regardless of direction of flight. With ForeFlight, for example, I have to use their sectional map display and read upside down when flying south. Here’s my problem with Garmin Pilot, and it’s a big one. I find myself frequently having to tap on the display to find out the air space limitations. So let’s say I am flying under class B airspace. I must tap once to bring up a icon, and then tap on a certain part of that icon to show me the class B altitudes. Using my 10 YEAR OLD iPaq and Anywhere Map it shows me air space limitations right on the display, just as a sectional paper map does. Shockingly, Garmin Pilot does not do this. Despite having a much larger and sharper display to utilize.

From preflight planning to inflight use, its great. I use it with a GDL-39. 530W and 430 are my primary avionics.

Love the app easy to use in flight. Would give it 5 stars if it overlaid approach plates on the sectionals

With the new iPad Air 2 and previously using foreflight I had to delete Garmin because of the battery usage. Even with location services off and the iPad sitting overnight, drained 40 percent. I wished I couldve kept it for longer than a day before deleting it... Cant believe others arent having this problem.

Ive never been a great fan of the product for too many reasons to note here. Having a Garmin panel in my plane and until recently, no interface with any other product, I subscribed. Last week, the straw broke the camels back. GP started filing my proposed flight times as UTC - 12 hours (Im in a -6 zone). Discovered this as I sat in hard ifr waiting for a clearance on a flight plan that "timed out" hours earlier. Im using fltplan.com until I can decide on a replacement.

So glad to see Lockheed added! I have not tried filing the ICAO form but it looks very well done.

The app cant verify my identity, so it wont let me log in... That seems backwards, but Im locked out of the app. Its a brick. Try again Garmin.

Unless there is a need for the new BETA Flight Planning (re-designed interface), for filing ICAO Flight Plans through LM , stick with the more familiar and user-friendly version 7.5.

I wave been using the Garmin Pilot product for over 7 years and truly enjoy its capability and functionality. The most recent release, version 8 ha made it virtually impossible to enter a flight plan. I have yet to be able to do so and i find myself taking a prior flight plan and modifying it to the new route. This interface must be changed or most users will migrate to Foreflight including me.

Trying just to write this review is in kind with all the problems the Garmin Pilot/GDL 39/mini iPad has to offer. I wrote the review but when, as a last step, I put in my "nickname " I was told that name was taken and my review vanished. I have owned the aforementioned combination for three years and I intend to switch to Fore Flite. Dropped Bluetooth connections, data that wont expand, day old data purporting to be current, unavailable radar, a screen that locks up, a screen thats unusable in mild turbulence, the list of problems is endless and seems to be worsening. I adamantly suggest you buy something else.