Foreflight vs Garmin Pilot

[gabez]

On 6/4/2025 at 1:27 PM, hubcap said:

My Foreflight subscription is up for renewal. Before I renew I wanted to get some idea of whether folks are moving to Garmin pilot with their new features seeming quite an improvement, and the likelihood that Foreflight will be under new Wall St ownership with perhaps reduced enhancements in the future. 

I have been happy with Foreflight to this point, but they have already announced a price increase for this years subscription. 

Thoughts?

I switched from firelight to Garmin many moons ago. The new pilot web application is in my opinion very good. I would say there is just 1 feature that pilot has and foreflight doesn't, if you split the screen you can have an approach on the map and a different approach on the other screen. I thought that was awesome while doing my training and also keep current or IPC. Tho foreflight may have it, again I haven't use it in forever 

[Hector]

Been a ForeFlight user since the beginning. Know it well enough that everything is second nature and I don’t have to think about how to do anything. However, since I upgraded my panel with all Garmin avionics I now have OnePack subscription and I use GP to transfer database updates to my panel. I’ve also been playing with GP during flight and slowly warming up to it. Last weekend I used SmartCharts during an approach and I have to admit it’s a very cool feature. I’m now at the point that I’m seriously considering dropping ForeFlight.


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[Mister_Bevilaqua]

I have been using FF and I am happy with it overall, but I was recently gifted a free year of GP. I plan to start playing with it here in the coming months to compare the two. I am not sure if I'll run both moving forward, but I am hoping to find one as the clear winner in my book by the end of the year. I've heard a lot of great things about GP in the recent months, so it gives me hope that it might replace FF as my new EFB. 

[hubcap]

I just purchased Garmin Pilot. I know it works, it is way cheaper than ForeFlight and I believe it will continue to improve...........and I expect ForeFlight to stagnate at best and cost more.

I will run them parallel for the time being until I get up to speed and comfortable with Garmin Pilot and decide if i want to make the switch permanent.

[MikeOH]

UGH!

My FF subscription expires in a week.  I've never been a fan of monopolies like Garmin, but with FF's price hikes, I'm really tempted to try GP.  Thing is,  I'm such a CB that I won't run both...I'll have to quit FF cold turkey!

[hammdo]

I’m going to buy GP once the trial is up but, there are many things i really like in FF. 
 

3D views, traffic on my maps, Sentry Plus enhancements, performance maps, just to name a few.

While GP works with my Stratus 3 (backup to Sentry Plus), I cannot run FF and GP at the same time on one iPad so, I’ll have to use 2 iPads. 
 

Don’t like GP where i have to use a split with traffic and traffic does not show on Smart Chart. Don't like there is no internet traffic and i have to have a connection to ADS-B.

Overall, GP has made outstanding improvements but, still has features needed that are in FF.

I get a NAFI discount on FF and BTW I do like Jepp charts and the IFR overlays in FF map. The price increases with FF and the slowdown of features makes it necessary to give GP a go. 

My panel is Garmin but i don't have one pack with the GNC 355 - thus i have to purchase GP outright…

-Don

[midlifeflyer]

13 minutes ago, hammdo said:

I cannot run FF and GP at the same time on one iPad so, I’ll have to use 2 iPads. 

There's a reason I recommend people buy a tablet with plenty of memory even if they claim, "I will only use it for..." I have four EFBs (I've had as many as 6 at one time), the trainers for both Garmin and Avidyne, and a few other aviation apps before getting to the non-aviation stuff like document collections, personal notetaking apps, and downloaded videos and audio, all using about 2/3 of the storage capacity of my Mini. But I knew I was a "fill whatever space you have" kind of guy before I bought my first iPad.  

[hammdo]

I have 2 iPad minis both 256 GB and powerful. The issue is Stratus 3 switches from ADS-B GDL90 protocol when FF starts, GP stops working then. FF forces the switch to FF mode only thus only 1 can run. So i have to run GP on a second iPad mini with Stratus 3, and FF on the other with Sentry Plus (that only works with FF). I do have a Stratux that can run both but i loose features that Sentry Plus adds to FF. Its not the iPad minis that are the issue…

To get the full features with GP, a Garmin ADS-B unit would be needed - much like Sentry Plus for FF..

-Don

[hubcap]

To be fair, the ONLY thing I use my IPad for in the cockpit is to review approach plates. Everything else is on the panel...... traffic, weather, etc

[Pinecone]

On 6/7/2025 at 3:44 PM, hubcap said:

To be fair, the ONLY thing I use my IPad for in the cockpit is to review approach plates. Everything else is on the panel...... traffic, weather, etc

Enroute I have the sectional view up on FF on my iPad.  Gives me more info on ground features than the Map on the Garmin boxes.  I prefer Track Up and Garmin does not allow Track Up on the Chart (sectional) view.

[Mister_Bevilaqua]

31 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

I prefer Track Up and Garmin does not allow Track Up on the Chart (sectional) view.

 

This is true, but I imagine that will be fixed in a future update. 

[Pinecone]

The G3X has been out for 10 years and only does North Up for charts.  Same with 750 and 650.

[donkaye, MCFI]

On 6/7/2025 at 12:01 PM, hammdo said:

 I get a NAFI discount on FF and BTW I do like Jepp charts and the IFR overlays in FF map. The price increases with FF and the slowdown of features makes it necessary to give GP a go. 

-Don

GP overlays Jepp charts.

[PeteMc]

6 minutes ago, hammdo said:

My setup for now is ForeFlight and GP for a while. Some things I like in GP and others in ForeFlight….

Ah come on...  You can move those around and block a little more of the view out the window...

 

[hammdo]

Not as bad as you think…

;o)

-Don

[flyingscot]

I use both and have for a number of years. Comfortable in both (more in FF, though). Full Garmin panel.

Smartcharts are really a great innovation, and the Garmin web application is now superior, but I still find the FF workflow more seamless, and the iconography and menu structures better, especially in a high cockpit workload. I haven't switched....yet...

Too bad you can't reliably run both at the same time on the same device (or at least I haven't ever been able to).

One thing is clear, though, Garmin is whittling away at FF's advantages, and at some point the scale will tip unless answered.

[Hank]

I won't use any EFB that forces me to buy an overpriced apple product, at double the price to get the GPS enabled.

I'll get a shot of Avare's georeferenced approach plates, but we're stuck in a cycle of daily thunderstorms. We had over 10" of rain in May, and so far it's rained every day except one in June, and I spent 6 hours in the car that day.

[Ragsf15e]

On 6/7/2025 at 12:01 PM, hammdo said:

I’m going to buy GP once the trial is up but, there are many things i really like in FF. 
 

3D views, traffic on my maps, Sentry Plus enhancements, performance maps, just to name a few.

While GP works with my Stratus 3 (backup to Sentry Plus), I cannot run FF and GP at the same time on one iPad so, I’ll have to use 2 iPads. 
 

Don’t like GP where i have to use a split with traffic and traffic does not show on Smart Chart. Don't like there is no internet traffic and i have to have a connection to ADS-B.

Overall, GP has made outstanding improvements but, still has features needed that are in FF.

I get a NAFI discount on FF and BTW I do like Jepp charts and the IFR overlays in FF map. The price increases with FF and the slowdown of features makes it necessary to give GP a go. 

My panel is Garmin but i don't have one pack with the GNC 355 - thus i have to purchase GP outright…

-Don

Is this true that GP can’t display traffic on the vfr sectional maps?  That seems weird, but that’s 90% of my use.  Displaying terminal procedures and weather is most of the rest, but Id definitely want traffic on my sectional.

[WilliamR]

MY GP shows ADSB traffic on both VFR (sectionals) and IFR (enroute) charts.

I used to trace my taxi clearance on the taxi diagram and then my georef'ed plan follows the red tracing both in FF and GP. On GP with the addition of smart charts that is no longer workable. The smart taxi chart is georeferenced but you can write on it. The gv't taxi chart you can write on but it's not georef'ed. Anybody find a way around this? What am I doing wrong?

William

[hammdo]

QRG for Smart Charts:

https://static.garmin.com/pumac/190-03148-01_a.pdf

-Don

[hubcap]

I purchased Garmin Pilot and I will say the "Smart Charts" feature is very nice. I am certain it will take a while for me to get up to speed on Garmin Pilot, but it is half the cost of Foreflight, so that is a win.......along with Smart Charts.

I suspect it will interface better with my panel than Foreflight, but that isn't really a big deal to me at this point.

[Pinecone]

It seems that all M20K aircraft are considered to be 231s.  I just talked to Garmin and that is something they MAY fix later.

Has anyone compared the GP performance charts to 252 or Encore specs?

[kortopates]

MY GP shows ADSB traffic on both VFR (sectionals) and IFR (enroute) charts.
I used to trace my taxi clearance on the taxi diagram and then my georef'ed plan follows the red tracing both in FF and GP. On GP with the addition of smart charts that is no longer workable. The smart taxi chart is georeferenced but you can write on it. The gv't taxi chart you can write on but it's not georef'ed. Anybody find a way around this? What am I doing wrong?
William

Chart annotations is another thing we can’t yet do with Smart Charts.

I really love many of the capabilities of Smart Charts, such as on the runway i can bring up departures for each specific runway and during IFR flight planning i can directly bring up alternate min’s and they make it really easy to decode by just checking boxes for having local weather and if tower is open and showing you only the available options - makes it’s doubly hard to make mistakes if your tired and in a hurry etc.
What’s really cool is almost everything out of the Supplement is included minus some of the runway details. For example i still have to go the Supplement to get PAPI angle and TCH.
Hopefully they add a Smart Charts view for Runways - maybe as another tab on the airport smart chart.

But unable to annotate is another big missing feature. I have always annotated my Jepp charts with updated min’s due to Notams but i don’t have a means to do it now. A note box on the plate would be one way since now min’s are no longer shown on the georeferenced part of the plate.
But that’s not ideal for taxi instructions.

I keep finding myself going back to Jepp charts for all the things i am missing and don’t want to go without:
- Traffic overlay
- Weather overlay
- track vector option as well as
- Chart Annotations or some means to track changes due to Notams


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[midlifeflyer]

4 hours ago, kortopates said:

keep finding myself going back to Jepp charts for all the things i am missing and don’t want to go without:
- Traffic overlay
- Weather overlay
- track vector option as well as
- Chart Annotations or some means to track changes due to Notams

Other than the track vector, those are the top three things I see the most wanted in SmartCharts discussions.

[kortopates]

Other than the track vector, those are the top three things I see the most wanted in SmartCharts discussions.

Another item lacking we discussed was time to the next waypoint or destination - you mentioned that was always available, but when you select Smart Charts you loose all the data fields you had in map view.
Am i missing something?
You could go split screen but too little display to do that when the point of smart charts is to give you everything you need declutterred.
i am expecting they get better in future
updates.


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