Questions and Answers

Getting started

Which devices does the app run on?

iPhone with iOS 18 or later, and iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. The app is free, with no in-app purchases, no subscription and no account to create.

Where can I get it?

FAR/AIM Search is coming to the App Store. This site will link to it once it is available.

Do I need a connection?

No. All of the content is stored on your iPhone or iPad, so search and reading work without a connection, including in flight. A connection is needed only to get new text in a content update, for iCloud sync, and to open links to websites.

What is the “What do you fly?” screen?

The first time you open the app it offers a reader profile: Private pilot, Instrument pilot, Commercial pilot, Flight instructor, Airline and charter, Remote pilot (Part 107) or Aviation mechanic. The parts for that kind of flying are listed first in the Library under Your parts (on iPad, in the 14 CFR list), and search ranks results from them higher. The other parts are still listed and searched. Change it in Settings, under Reader profile, or choose No profile: rank everything equally.

Searching

How do I look up a regulation or an AIM paragraph?

Type its number in Search. These forms all work:

• A section: 91.155 or 14 CFR 91.103
• A paragraph: 91.155(b) or 61.57(c)(1)
• A whole part: Part 107 (capitals do not matter)
• An AIM paragraph: AIM 4-3-2
• 49 CFR: 830.5

A matching citation is listed first. While you type a number, a list headed Continue the citation shows the sections and paragraphs whose numbers begin with what you typed. On iPad with a keyboard, Command-K goes to the search field from anywhere.

Can I search in plain words?

Yes. The app knows the words pilots use as well as the words in the regulations: “lost comms” finds 14 CFR 91.185 and AIM 6-4-1, and “BasicMed” finds Part 68. Abbreviations such as VFR, IFR and ADS-B match the terms the regulations use, and phrases such as “right-of-way” work as typed. Partial words and other forms of a word find results too.

What happens when I mistype a word?

Small typos still find results. When the app corrects a word, it says Showing results for the corrected text, with a link to search for exactly what you typed instead.

What are the buttons under the search field?

They choose what to search: All, FAR (14 CFR), 49 CFR, AIM or P/CG (the Pilot/Controller Glossary). Three more appear when they apply:

• When you start a search from the Search menu in the reader, a button named after the document you were reading (for example “14 CFR Part 91”) searches only that document.
• When you use Search in This Folder on a folder in Saved, a button with the folder’s name searches only the sections its items are in.
• Your parts, when you have chosen a reader profile, searches the parts of that profile.

How do I move between the matches in a section?

A result opens the reader at the matching paragraph with your search terms highlighted. The bar at the bottom shows which match you are on, for example “3 of 17”, with buttons for the previous match, the next match and hiding the matches. To find any word in the document you are reading, use Find in Page in the reader’s Search menu.

Are my own notes searched?

Yes. Matching notes and highlights are listed in the results under My notes and highlights. Saved also has its own search field for notes and highlights.

How do I clear recent searches?

With the search field empty, the app lists your recent searches. Tap Clear to remove them all, or touch and hold one and choose Remove.

Coverage and editions

What is included?

• 14 CFR, Aeronautics and Space: all of Chapter I, the FAA’s regulations (83 parts, including Parts 1, 61, 91 and 107).
• 49 CFR Parts 172 and 175 (hazardous materials and their carriage by aircraft), Part 830 (notification and reporting of aircraft accidents and incidents), Part 1544 (aircraft operator security) and Part 1552 (flight training security program).
• The Aeronautical Information Manual, with its figures and tables, and the FAA’s AIM Index.
• The Pilot/Controller Glossary.

How current is the text?

Settings shows the edition the app holds, under Content: the date the eCFR text is current through, and the AIM and Pilot/Controller Glossary edition with its effective date. Tap Sources and what these dates mean for the full explanation. The Library shows the same dates at the top, and in the reader each CFR section shows when it was last amended.

As of October 30, 2026, the current content is the eCFR as of October 27, 2026, and the AIM and Pilot/Controller Glossary, Basic with Changes 1, 2 and 3, effective July 9, 2026. Content updates bring newer text, so the dates in your app may be later.

“Current through” means the regulation text is the eCFR as it stood on that date, including every amendment the eCFR had incorporated by then. A rule published after that date, or one that takes effect after it, is not in that edition. Check ecfr.gov for anything newer.

How do I know when the text may be out of date?

The app says so. Once a newer AIM edition or change has taken effect, or the regulation text is more than 45 days old, a note appears at the top of the Library, and at the top of the pages it applies to in the reader, with the date of the text you have.

How do I see what changed in the regulations?

Open Recent changes in the Library (Recent Changes in the iPad sidebar). It lists the sections amended in the two years before the eCFR date. Each change shows the earlier and the current text, with added and removed words marked, and the Federal Register rule that made it.

A section I looked up says it was removed. Why?

Sections that no longer exist, such as 23.149 and the other Part 23 sections replaced in 2017, say when they were removed. Where it is known, Open what replaced it takes you to the new rule, and View last text on eCFR shows the last text in force.

Content updates

How does new text reach the app?

New regulation, AIM and glossary text can arrive between app releases. When you open the app, if a day has passed since the last successful check, it checks a few seconds later for a newer edition of the content and downloads it over Wi-Fi. It does not check while the app runs in the background, but a download that has started can finish after you leave the app. The app checks every download before it uses it, including that the new content opens and can be searched. If anything is wrong, the app discards the download and keeps the text it has. The app does not send notifications about updates.

How do I check for an update?

In Settings, under Content, tap Check for updates. The row then says what it found:

• Content is up to date: you have the newest edition.
• New content available: it lists the new edition and what changed. Tap Download, which shows the size of the content database.
• New content ready: the new text is used the next time the app starts, or tap Use the new content now to switch at once.
• Newer content needs an app update: update FAR/AIM Search from the App Store to get it.

Do updates use cellular data?

Automatic updates do not. They run only on Wi-Fi, and not on a Personal Hotspot or while Low Data Mode is on. Check for updates works on any connection, and the app downloads only when you tap Download.

A download stopped or failed. What now?

Nothing changes: the app keeps the text it has. A download that was cut off starts over at the next automatic check. To start it again yourself, go to Settings, under Content, and tap Download if the row offers it, or Check for updates (Try again if the row shows an error) and then Download.

What happens to my highlights and notes after an update?

They move with the text. The app finds each highlighted passage in the new text, and if a passage was rewritten or removed, the item is kept and listed under Needs review in Saved. The Library also lists the saved sections that were amended since you saved something in them, for example “3 saved sections changed”. See When the text changes.

Reporting an error in the text

I found a mistake in the text. How do I report it?

If the app’s text differs from the eCFR or the FAA’s AIM, or a paragraph, table or figure is missing, misplaced or garbled, email [email protected] with:

• The citation, for example 14 CFR 91.155(b) or AIM 6-4-1.
• What is wrong, and what it should say.
• The content edition from Settings, under Content: the CFR line (“eCFR, current through …”) and the AIM line.
• The app version, shown at the bottom of Settings, for example “FAR/AIM Search 1.0 (1)”.
• A screenshot, if you can.

To send the citation and the edition in one step, select the passage in the reader, choose Copy with Citation, and paste it into your email. It copies the text with its citation and edition. To compare with the source, use View on eCFR or View on FAA.gov in the reader’s More menu.

Fixes to the text can reach the app in a content update, without waiting for a new version of the app.

Highlights, notes and folders

How do I highlight a passage or add a note?

Select text in the reader. The menu offers Highlight, with five colors (Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink and Orange), and Add Note, as well as Copy with Citation and Share with Citation. Tap a highlight later to change its color, switch between highlight and underline, add a note, put it in a folder or delete it.

How do I bookmark a section?

Tap the bookmark button (Bookmark Section) in the reader’s toolbar. Tap it again to name the bookmark, choose a folder or remove it.

How do folders work?

In Saved, open Folders and tap New Folder. You might make one folder per checkride. To put an item in a folder, touch and hold it in Saved and choose Move to Folder, or choose a folder when you edit it in the reader. Search in This Folder searches only the sections its items are in. Deleting a folder keeps its bookmarks, highlights and notes.

When the text changes

Highlights and notes are anchored to the text itself, so they stay in place when the regulations are updated. If an update rewrites or removes a passage, nothing is deleted: the item is listed under Needs review in Saved. There you can Show a changed highlight and Keep it where it now is, Re-attach one whose text is gone by selecting the new text, or Delete it.

The Library also lists the saved sections amended after you saved a bookmark, highlight or note in them, each with its amendment date, so you can check that your notes still say what you meant.

iCloud sync, export and backups

How does sync work?

If your iPhone and iPad are signed in to the same Apple Account with iCloud on, your bookmarks, highlights, notes, folders and recent searches sync between them through your own iCloud account, and Continue reading in the Library (on iPad, in the sidebar) picks up where you left off on the other device. There is no account to create and nothing to sign in to in the app. Settings shows the state under Sync, for example “iCloud sync is on” and when it last synced.

Settings says “iCloud is off on this device”.

Sign in to iCloud in the Settings app. Until then, everything you save stays on this device, and it syncs once iCloud is on.

How do I stop syncing?

In the Settings app, tap your name, then iCloud, and turn off FAR/AIM Search in the list of apps that use iCloud. Your items stay in your iCloud account and sync again when you turn it back on. If you sign out of iCloud, iOS may remove the synced items from the device until you sign in again, so make a Backup of All Saved Items first if you want a copy of your own. The privacy policy explains how to delete the copy in iCloud.

How do I export my notes?

In Saved, tap Export and Sort (the button with three dots) and choose one of:

• Notes and Highlights (Markdown) or Notes and Highlights (Plain Text): your bookmarks, highlights and notes with their citations and the edition of the text, to read, print or keep in another app.
• Backup of All Saved Items: a file with all of your bookmarks, highlights, notes, folders and recent searches, to save in Files or anywhere else.

How do I restore a backup?

In Saved, tap Export and Sort, then Import Backup, and pick the backup file. Items already in the app are not added twice, and the app says how many it added.

Accuracy and legal use

Is this the legal text of the regulations?

Is the app made by the FAA?

No. FAR/AIM Search is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FAA. It is an independent app by Motomatic LLC.

Privacy

Does the app collect my data?

No. There are no accounts, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking. Searching and reading happen on your device, and your notes stay on your device and in your own iCloud account. Content update checks carry no account, no device identifier and nothing about what you read, search or save; like any request on the internet, they come from your network’s IP address. The privacy policy has the details, and the app has a summary in Settings, under Privacy.

Contact

Email [email protected]. It helps to include:

• Your device and its iOS or iPadOS version.
• The app version from the bottom of Settings.
• The content edition from Settings, under Content, if your question is about the text.
• What you did, what you expected and what happened instead.
• A screenshot, if you can.

We answer by email. In the app, Email support in Settings, under About, starts a message to this address, and the app version is shown just below it.