Settings, Backup & Sync

Settings is the hub for every preference, account control and data control in Pilot EFB. You reach it from Home. It is one searchable screen: your identity at the top, eight folders below, and the app-wide disclaimer at the foot. Every change saves automatically; there is no Save button anywhere in Settings.

Find your way around

Above the folders sit the Search settings field, your profile banner (as a guest it reads "Guest - tap to sign in"; signed in it shows your name) and the Pilot EFB Pro row with your subscription state. Each folder card names what it holds, and rows carry live values such as your current theme and home base. A Show all settings switch under More settings reveals the airline FTL regime and crew-rest options that general aviation, private and student profiles hide by default.

The card at the foot of the hub is the app's standing disclaimer, verbatim: "Pilot EFB is NOT a certified Electronic Flight Bag. It is an informational and organisational tool only. All outputs: weather, NOTAMs, FTL calculations, descent planning, and any other aviation data are for personal reference and planning purposes only. Pilots must always verify all data against official, certified sources before making any operational decisions. The developer accepts no liability for decisions made based on information displayed in this app." You accepted it at first launch; it stays here and in About permanently.

How to set your theme, units and home base

1. Open Settings > General.
2. Tap Theme and pick Light, Dark or Red-light (night), or leave it on System.
3. Tap Units to set speed, altitude and fuel units.
4. Tap Time & format to choose the clock and timezone display.
5. Tap Home base and enter your ICAO code. It anchors briefings, local time and the Home weather cards.
6. Tap Accessibility for text size, haptics, motion and colour-vision options.

How to sign in and manage your account

1. On the Settings hub, tap the profile banner.
2. Sign in or create an account. Your data stays on the device either way; the account adds free backup and restore.
3. Once signed in, the banner shows your name and opens Profile & Account: your name, photo, email, password and sign-out.
4. To remove the account, scroll to Delete account on the same screen, tick "I understand this cannot be undone." and tap Delete account, then confirm, and prove it is you with your password, or by signing in with Apple or Google again. It is done in-app, with no email or website needed, and it deletes the account on the server before it wipes this device.

How to back up and sync with your account

1. Open Settings > Data & storage > Cloud Sync. As a guest the screen shows a Sign in or create account button; sign in first.
2. Read the status line: online or offline, last synced, last backed up, and anything still waiting.
3. Tap Sync now. The app checks your whole logbook, duties, flights and saved weather/NOTAM history against your account and uploads only what is missing or newer. Crew name fields are never uploaded.
4. On a new or wiped device, tap Restore from account. Server entries merge in and only newer ones update your copy; a restore never deletes local data.
5. Pro Turn on Auto-sync in the background. Every signed-in device then syncs when you open the app or reconnect, and a cloud storage meter manages your photo and PDF attachments.

How to save a backup file

1. Open Settings > Data & storage > Save a backup file. The screen lists what goes in: logbook and duties, flights and notes, settings and personal config, airports, weather and NOTAM history (including your NOTAM stars, notes and snoozes, and your saved snapshots with their integrity hashes). Data the app re-fetches on its own is left out.
2. Choose whether to include your photos and PDFs.
3. Enter and confirm a passphrase.
4. Tap Save backup file and save the .pefb file from the share sheet.
5. Optionally turn on Remind me to back up for a local nudge if you have not backed up in 30 days.

How to restore from a backup file

1. Open Settings > Data & storage > Save a backup file and scroll to Restore from backup.
2. Under If data already exists, choose Merge or Replace. Merge adds the entries this device does not already have and changes nothing that is already here. Replace wipes this device's data first and restores everything the backup holds; use it on a fresh install.
3. Enter the backup's passphrase and tap Choose backup & restore, then pick your .pefb file. Verify backup (no changes) checks a file without restoring it.
4. Wait for the restore to finish. Saved weather and NOTAM snapshots are re-checked against their integrity hashes as they restore; any that do not match are skipped, never overwritten.

How to see and sign out your devices

1. Open Settings > Data & storage > Your devices (the row directly under Cloud Sync). As a guest the screen shows a Sign in or create account button; the list appears once you have signed in and synced at least once.
2. Read the list: every device that has synced to your account, with platform, model, app version and last sync, and this device marked.
3. Sign out one device from its row, or tap Sign out everywhere to cover them all.

How to lock the app and control what leaves the device

Open Settings > Privacy & security and pick a row:

To turn on the lock, open App lock and switch on Lock on launch, then pick Biometric or PIN as the method. A new PIN is 6 digits; with Biometric, set a backup PIN too, so you can still unlock if Face ID or Touch ID fails. The screen states what the lock covers beyond the app itself: "While locked, widgets, the Watch app, Live Activities and Spotlight show no duty or flight data."

How to manage storage and network use

Open Settings > Data & storage and pick a row:

How to delete all data on this device

1. Open Settings > Data & storage and tap the red Delete all data row.
2. Read What this does: logbook entries, duty periods, flight folders, snapshots, all preferences, cached weather and NOTAM responses, downloaded offline map packs, and the disclaimer acceptance. The app returns to the first-launch flow.
3. Read What is kept: cloud backups are not deleted. The wipe is device-local, and your backups restore automatically at the next sign-in. Signed in, the card reads "Your cloud data is kept", warns that anything not yet synced is lost, and offers Delete account instead.
4. Tick the acknowledgement: I understand this cannot be undone as a guest, or the signed-in version that names unsynced changes. The button stays disabled until you do.
5. Tap Delete all data and confirm the second dialog.

How to read the disclaimers, policies and licences

1. Open Settings > Help & about > About Pilot EFB.
2. Read the version and build you are running, the standing disclaimer with its version stamp, the privacy policy and Terms of Service in full, release notes, and the feedback form.
3. Tap Acknowledgements for every open-source licence and data-source credit in one list.
4. Tap Module disclaimers for the verbatim caveat each module shows beside its data: Weather - "Reference only - verify officially." NOTAMs - "May be incomplete - verify officially." Flight & duty time - "Personal planning only." Logbook - "Personal record only." Descent planning - "Approximate - use approved procedures." The list continues for every module in the app.

Help & about also holds Learn & Reference and Help & onboarding, covered in the Learn & Reference chapter.

On iPad

On iPad, Settings uses a persistent two-pane layout. The folder list is a rail that stays open on the left; whatever you pick renders beside it, with no full-screen pushes. The landing pane carries quick links and the same verbatim disclaimer.

The web edition arranges these same settings as panes inside its own Settings area - same rows, same honesty surfaces, at desk size. It drops the rows that only make sense on an iPhone (app lock, widgets, Spotlight, offline map packs) and adds Desk sessions under Privacy & security, the list of browsers signed in to Pilot EFB Desk. The iOS app never takes a Desk seat, so there is no such row here.

Free vs Pro in Settings, Backup & Sync

Troubleshooting

The Pro row says Active but I am not signed in. That is a real state. Subscriptions attach to your App Store identity and accounts are separate, so neither requires the other.

I lost my backup file passphrase. There is no recovery and no reset. Pilot EFB cannot open the file for you. Keep a fresh backup with a passphrase stored in a password manager.

Your devices is empty. The list fills once you have signed in and synced at least once on that device.

I deleted all data but my records came back. Delete all data is device-local; cloud backups survive it and restore at the next sign-in. To erase cloud data, sign in and delete the account from Profile & Account.

Delete account says my Pilot EFB Desk subscription is still active. Deleting the account does not cancel web billing. Cancel the Desk plan on the web under Settings > Subscription > Manage subscription, then delete the account again.

The app lock hides my widget. That is by design: while the app is locked, widgets, the Watch app, Live Activities and Spotlight show no duty or flight data. Unlock the app and they fill in again.

Sync is not running. Check Network & data: the Wi-Fi only, manual fetches only and roaming guards apply to sync too. Without Pro there is no live sync: your records go up when you tap Sync now, and changes made on another device come down with Restore from account or when you sign in.

Where next

• Notifications & Widgets - the Notifications & widgets folder's screens: alerts, reminders, quiet hours, widgets and the Live Activity.
• NOTAMs and Weather - the alert screens and keyword highlights the Briefing folder points into.
• Aviation Map - the Offline maps packs.
• Logbook - imports, exports and the logbook defaults behind the Logbook & currency folder.
• Learn & Reference - everything behind Help & onboarding.
• Free vs Pro - what Pro changes here: live auto-sync and attachment storage; backup and restore stay free.