Garmin Pilot App: An EFB Built for the Panel

The Garmin Pilot app has been on the market for years, but only recently has it evolved into what many pilots would consider a top-tier EFB. It does come with a learning curve and like other full-featured apps, it’s not something you fully master in a day or two. After more than a year of using it as my primary EFB, its strengths and shortcomings have become clear, along with why more pilots are starting to take a serious look at it.

For those with a panel full of new Garmin avionics, the Pilot app has become almost an essential accessory. Here’s a warts-and-all report as we continue our series on EFB programs.

How We Use ‘Em

Like most pilots, most of my EFB use happens before I ever touch the airplane. I’m using it to pick the best day to fly, find winds that work for longer legs, and figure out whether the mountains between Denver and wherever I’m going westbound are going to be a problem. I fly a Cessna T310R equipped with a G500 PFD, GTN 750, and GTN 650 out of the Denver area. Once I’m airborne, the panel avionics carry the primary navigation workload. The iPad becomes a weather reference, a chart viewer, and a backup—not the primary instrument.

That context shapes how I evaluate an EFB. For pilots in glass cockpit aircraft with modern avionics, the app plays a supporting role. For pilots in older panels or rental aircraft, it may be the primary tool in the flight deck. Garmin Pilot is designed for both, but it’s most at home alongside a Garmin panel and the deeper you are in that ecosystem, the more the integration earns its keep.

History and Philosophy

Garmin Pilot’s roots go back further than most pilots realize. In 2002, a company called Digital Cyclone launched Pilot My-Cast, the first aviation weather app for a cellphone. Garmin acquired Digital Cyclone in 2007, and in 2012 Pilot My-Cast became Garmin Pilot—redesigned to mirror the interface logic of Garmin’s touchscreen avionics. Digital Cyclone still operates as Garmin’s development arm for aviation apps today.

Garmin Pilot’s design philosophy has always been vertical integration—building the app to work seamlessly with Garmin hardware at every level. The interface mirrors the look and logic of Garmin’s panel avionics, which matters for pilots who spend significant time with GTN units. The mental model is familiar, and the learning curve is shorter for it.

The app runs on iOS and Android, and one subscription covers up to three devices plus access to Garmin Pilot Web—full flight planning, filing, and mapping from a desktop browser. That’s meaningful value: an iPad in the flight deck, a phone as backup, and a laptop for the planning session the night before, all on one subscription.

Garmin Pilot operates on two subscription tiers. Standard covers core planning tools, weather, IFR and VFR filing, internet traffic, and cockpit connectivity via Garmin Connext. Premium adds SmartCharts, enhanced aircraft performance data, graphical weight and balance, geo-referenced FliteCharts, SafeTaxi airport diagrams, icing forecasts, synthetic vision, terrain and obstacle alerts, and chart overlays on the moving map.

At $109.99 for Standard and $209.98 for Premium, Garmin Pilot is priced well below ForeFlight Premium at $360. That gap is substantial—and worth factoring into the decision. More on pricing later.

Weather

Weather is one of Garmin Pilot’s strongest features—well designed, predictable, and easy to read. The full suite is available on both tiers: animated NEXRAD radar, METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, PIREPs, winds and temperatures aloft, lightning data, TFRs, and terrain.

Recent updates added high-resolution dual polarization NEXRAD for U.S. users, providing meaningfully better storm cell definition than standard radar. The web platform adds daily weather summaries and a winds aloft overlay that is genuinely useful when picking altitudes on longer legs.

NavTrack is one of the more useful planning tools in the app and unique to Garmin Pilot. In split-screen mode, you pull up weather widgets alongside the map and drag a slider along your route. As it moves, the data updates to show conditions at each point along the flight path; METARs, TAFs, MOS forecasts, PIREPs, NOTAMs, and frequencies. It’s a simple idea, but an effective way to visualize what’s ahead without digging through multiple screens.

On the radar depiction itself: Garmin’s presentation is more subdued than ForeFlight’s WSI-style rendering, and in my experience, a benefit rather than a drawback. I fly with a GDL 52 portable ADS-B/SXM receiver alongside the panel avionics. On flights with building convective activity, Garmin’s radar picture has consistently tracked closer to what I see on the panel and out the window.

An overstated radar can keep you on the ground when you don’t need to be. Understated imagery is a different (and more dangerous) problem. No app replaces pilot judgment, but Garmin’s depiction has proven trustworthy in real-world use.

Icing forecasts are premium-only, covering the contiguous U.S. and Southern Canada, worth noting for winter flying in the mountains. Garmin has also added cloud tops into both briefing formats, rounding out the weather picture without requiring additional tools.

Performance Planning, Weight and Balance

Performance planning integrates directly into the trip-planning workflow, calculating fuel burn and landing weight across the full route. The aircraft library covers most piston aircraft on both tiers. Less common aircraft may require a custom profile.

Enhanced performance data is premium-only, and library profiles can’t be edited on the mobile app. However, Garmin Pilot Web allows full editing of performance data, including speeds and fuel burns at varying altitudes, making it the better tool for dialing in aircraft-specific numbers.

FltPlan.com integration fills gaps in Garmin’s library. For the T310R, I had to import a Cessna 414 profile, which is close in performance but requires some tweaking to match my aircraft. It’s workable but still a step behind ForeFlight, which includes a dedicated T310R profile out of the box.

Weight and balance is tiered. Standard provides basic calculations, while Premium unlocks a graphical interface showing passengers, cargo, and fuel distribution with CG tracking throughout the flight. Profiles sync across devices and can be shared across accounts. Visual alerts flag CG exceedances before departure.

One of my gripes is the lack of visible weight limits (max takeoff and landing weights) alongside the calculations. Maybe I’ve been missing something, but if not, it wouldn’t seem like a difficult addition for Garmin to make. I find myself operating near max takeoff weight on a regular basis, and having those limits visible would add meaningful situational awareness to the workflow.

Briefing and Filing, Route Planning

Garmin Pilot files through Leidos or directly through FltPlan.com. Both work cleanly.

The workflow stays inside the app—route, briefing, and filing all happen in one place. Weather, NOTAMs, and routing are presented together, making it easy to see the full picture without jumping between tools.

Garmin Pilot Web extends this workflow to desktop, allowing you to plan and brief on a larger screen and sync everything to the tablet before departure.

Route planning uses a strong preferred route database, with a tabbed advisor that organizes options by altitude, aircraft type, and popularity. The route suggestions are better than other platforms I’ve used, particularly in how they’re sorted and presented, making the options easier to interpret and making it simple to choose a viable route based on what other aircraft have flown and at what altitude.

In terrain-critical areas, this matters. Garmin Pilot often suggests routes that follow lower terrain and mountain passes rather than more direct high-terrain options. When flying my family around, the smart route planning is a comforting feature.

Freehand route editing allows you to drag your path around weather and airspace directly on the map. Fuel prices and FBO data are included, though I’d caution anyone to treat them as planning references only. Data reporting from FBOs varies considerably, and accurate numbers are harder to guarantee than they might appear.

When I started using Garmin Pilot a year ago I immediately noticed the app didn’t clearly define which aircraft types can fly which departure procedures. That’s still the case. For comparison, ForeFlight tags each departure with jet, turboprop, and piston designations directly in the list, so a piston pilot can immediately see which procedures apply to them without cross-referencing the plate. For pilots operating in and out of unfamiliar airports, that distinction matters, and ForeFlight still does a better job here.

Panel Avionics, ADS-B Connectivity

This is where Garmin Pilot earns its keep and in my view still separates itself from every other EFB on the market. Two-way wireless integration via Flight Stream allows seamless transfer of flight plans, traffic, weather, GPS position, and attitude data between the panel and the app—included on both Standard and Premium tiers.

For older navigators like the GNS 430 and 530, building and pushing routes from the tablet eliminates one of the most tedious parts of IFR flying. In my own operation with the GTN 750 and 650, I still manually enter routes as part of my verification steps. But the integration works reliably when you want it.

Database Concierge is included with both tiers, allowing wireless database updates without handling cards. For pilots with a GDL 60 datalink and a compatible Garmin EIS, the integration goes further: Engine data streams to Garmin Pilot in-flight, and upon landing, flight and engine data transfers automatically to the app and uploads to flyGarmin.com for post-flight analysis or sharing with your mechanic.

Garmin portable ADS-B receivers are fully supported, along with Stratus and Stratux devices. The Sentry line remains incompatible because Garmin’s data protocol doesn’t accommodate it, and there’s been no movement on that front. For pilots thinking about switching from ForeFlight, that’s the most concrete hardware question to resolve first. Unfortunately, my Sentry Mini now keeps paperwork from blowing off my office desk at home.

Internet-based traffic is now included on both tiers, showing aircraft positions with tail number, altitude, speed, and route, which is for advisory use only, but useful for situational awareness.

Maps, Overlays, and Charts

The moving map is stable, with extensive overlay control. Garmin has improved readability and reduced clutter over the past year, but it’s still not as intuitive as ForeFlight’s interface.

A few gaps are still worth noting: no cloud layer tool for altitude selection and no FAA weather camera integration, both particularly useful in mountainous flying. ForeFlight also lets you type in a tail number and pull up that aircraft’s filed flight plan, a useful feature Garmin Pilot still doesn’t offer. And D-ATIS, available in ForeFlight at supported airports, is still absent—leaving you to tune in and sit through the full audio broadcast at a busy Class B or C airport.

Graphical NOTAMs are a genuine improvement worth calling out. Three categories are now overlaid directly on the map: runway and airport closure NOTAMs, color-coded with yellow clocks for time-based closures; airspace NOTAMs showing special use airspace, MOAs, and restricted areas; and obstacle NOTAMs depicted with pink figures to differentiate from permanent obstacles.

Where Garmin clearly leads is chart management, and two features deserve specific attention because pilots often confuse them.

The Active Chart Binder automatically organizes charts based on your active flight plan (departure diagram, departure procedure, arrival, approach, and destination diagram) and updates dynamically when the plan changes. It’s available to all U.S. subscribers regardless of tier and significantly reduces heads-down time in the flight deck.

SmartCharts is a different feature entirely, and the most significant advancement in EFB charting in years. These dynamic, data-driven charts cover instrument approaches, SIDs, STARs, and airport diagrams. For approaches, you select your transition, aircraft category, and runway. The chart strips to only your selected route and crossing restrictions, and SmartCharts calculates the appropriate minimums for your category, eliminating the decision matrix on a traditional plate. The geo-referenced profile view uses GPS-derived altitude to show your aircraft relative to the glideslope or glidepath. For SIDs, set aircraft type, runway, and transition fix, and the chart declutters to your selected routing only. Day and night modes are available, with night mode to help preserve night vision. SmartCharts is premium-only, iOS only, U.S. and Bahamas only.

It’s one of the EFB features I genuinely miss when I’m back in the 737.

Post Flight

Garmin Pilot records flights automatically and includes an integrated logbook with syncing across devices. Each entry captures dates, times, aircraft, airports, landings, photos, and remarks. Currency and endorsements are easy to track, and everything syncs across devices and to flyGarmin.com. With compatible avionics, flight and engine data transfers automatically after landing for post-flight review or sharing with your mechanic.

For recreational pilots, it’s sufficient. Dedicated logbook apps still offer more advanced tracking for pilots pursuing a professional career.

Worth noting as we go to press: Garmin has just added Airport and FBO Comments to all Garmin Pilot platforms— iOS, Android, and Garmin Pilot Web. Pilots can now leave reviews and comments on airport facilities and FBOs globally, including a five-star rating system for FBOs, giving the community a crowdsourced layer of ground truth on service quality and facility conditions. Given how inconsistent FBO data can be (something I’ve noted throughout this app report series) this is a genuinely useful addition. It’s the kind of feature that gets better the more pilots use it.

Pilot App: Stable, SmartCharts a Standout

I’ve been a Garmin Pilot user for a number of years and have watched the app grow into what I think is a logical, feature-packed program that can work for a wide variety of missions—VFR , IFR and a combination of both. Better yet, I have found that it reliable works on older Apple iPads, mainly my Gen 6 model. That’s good, because who wants to deal app crashes when the tablet runs out of horsepower? Most recently, I tacked my Premium subscription on to my new Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max where the program is comfortably workable in the cockpit thanks to the combination of a not-too-busy control set and the Pro Max’s decent screen. For learning the program, if you’re comfortable with the feature set on Garmin GPS navigators, I think the Pilot app should be an easy transition thanks to a familiar look.

The other thing Pilot does well is integrate with the Garmin G3X Touch display on my panel, where you can wirelessly sync flight plans and work with EIS engine data. I also connect the app to a Garmin GDL 52 portable ADS-B/XM receiver we keep in the airplane for the traffic and weather source. But I don’t really need the Pilot app for that. The GDL 52 connects via Bluetooth to the G3X Touch panel display and it displays weather and traffic there, too. Point is for that reason, I find myself using Garmin Pilot more for preflight planning than I do in the airplane. The app’s Devices tab is where you connect with external units, and I especially like the biometric data (SpO2, heart rate, and SpO2 State) that syncs to the app from my Garmin D2 Mach 2 aviator watch. On a much higher level, I’ve used Garmin Pilot in later-model Cirrus airplanes equipped with the Perspective+Touch integrated suite where a standout is the app’s ability to automatically update databases (Database Concierge) when away from the airplane—a huge time saver.

But that won’t be a factor for the majority of Pilot users. For them, it’s all about no-nonsense trip planning and weather awareness. For preflight planning days in advance of a flight, I usually start in the Weather tab on the Airport page and eyeball the TAF, MOS, and Discussion where the presentation is straightforward. In the Trip Planning tab, it’s easy to file through Leidos from the Action drop-down. For planning, runway and other airport info is front and center.

If I had to pick a favorite feature in Garmin Pilot it would have to be SmartCharts—especially the surface diagrams. These SmartCharts are worlds ahead of plain-vanilla procedural charts, and you’ll pay a hefty premium for them in the Premium subscription tier. But you do get both and you can choose between SmartCharts and Garmin FlightCharts in the Chart dropdown. As we reported previously, Garmin has been publishing the VFR arrival procedures for both Sun ‘n Fun and AirVenture in the app.

One feature that stands out of SmartChart airport diagrams is what Garmin calls Quick Access keys for calling up the airport’s details. This is stuff you would find in the Airport Facilities Directory, like comm frequencies, runway info, alternate minimums and symbols. Notes that would otherwise be scattered around the chart are now cleanly organized in a general operational notes tab. Also worth mentioning is that the COMs tab declutters the frequencies stamped on the traditional chart and logically files them for viewing.

If I had a nit to pick, it would be the app’s lack of D-ATIS functionality. For an app of this caliber, it’s noticeably missing. I also struggled from the beginning setting up the weight and balance profile for the Van’s RV I fly. The program recognizes the airplane, and while I might be doing something wrong, I couldn’t make it work and gave up in frustration. Garmin’s tech support rep was stumped. I was able to make the checklist functions work, but again, the Garmin panel display has an electronic checklist that I use. Same with the weight and balance utility that’s built into the G3X Touch.

At press time, Garmin added a new airport and FBO comments feature that I think will be useful in a day where most of us are looking for the best service we can find when parking our airplanes away from home. It will take a while for the comments to populate a large scale, so if you’re a Garmin Pilot user, add yours.

—Larry Anglisano

Pricing

Standard is $109.99 per year while Premium is $209.98 per year. One subscription covers up to three devices plus Garmin Pilot Web. For IFR and more complex operations, Premium is worth the cost. For simpler flying, Standard may be sufficient.

Compared to ForeFlight Premium at $360 per year, the price gap is significant and growing harder to ignore. Garmin Pilot is a standalone subscription where there are no bundle discounts, no avionics database tie-ins.

Two promotions are worth knowing about, both running through July 26, 2026. Active CFIs in the U.S. and Canada can access the Right Seat Rewards program, which offers 50% off a Standard or Premium subscription. For pilots who are new to Garmin Pilot or haven’t had an active subscription for more than 180 days, the 15 for 12 promotion offers 15 months of Standard or Premium for the price of 12. Details at Garmin.com/AviationPromotions. It would be great to see the Right Seat Rewards program continue beyond July 26.

Bottom Line

Garmin Pilot is a serious, competitive EFB that has closed significant ground on ForeFlight over the past year. The panel integration is unmatched, SmartCharts represent a real advancement in charting, and the overall workflow reflects how pilots actually fly. I’ve been using it as my primary EFB for the past year and when my ForeFlight renewal came around, I would likely have dropped it if it weren’t for this project. It took a few months to get truly comfortable to rebuild the workflow I had developed with ForeFlight over 15 years. But getting there in two to three months says something real about how well this platform is built.

It’s not perfect. Sentry compatibility, overlay usability, Android parity still need work, and it’s still missing a couple of features. But what’s clear is that Garmin is listening to pilots and investing in this platform. The pace of meaningful updates over the past year—closing real gaps, not just adding features—shows a development team that understands what pilots actually need and want in the flight deck.

For pilots operating within the Garmin ecosystem, it’s no longer just an alternative but instead a legitimate first choice.