Flying soon? Flighty is a must-have iOS app for air travel

I recently started traveling again for work. missed it. I missed meeting people who I only interacted with online. I missed experiencing different parts of the country. I missed New York City (yes, yeah). But what I didn’t miss is the flight.

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To be clear, I don’t care about flying. fine. But I don’t like the process of getting to the airport, figuring out which gate my flight is at, worrying if my flight is on time. A harrowing experience.

For years, I used TripIt as a way to organize my travel plans. And with our TripIt Pro subscription, we received timely alerts about gate changes and delays.

A few years ago I read about a new flight tracking app called Flighty. The app promised quicker alerts and more information about flights in general. But I couldn’t justify paying for TripIt Pro and subscribing to Flighty Pro to unlock all the push alerts and other features like TripIt sync.

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Yet, every time I book a flight, I find myself paying for a 1-month subscription to Flighty Pro and using it for alerts instead of TripIt.

After COVID, when I started traveling again, I felt uncomfortable with my travel routine. I found myself trying to remember which apps I used and for what. I even had to re-evaluate the gadgets I put in my backpack.

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In the end, I went back to using Flighty, paying one month at a time. Then I went on a trip to San Jose, California. Flighty’s experience convinced me to finally pay for her one-year subscription, not just for me, but for my whole family.

reason? Flighty’s iOS 16.1 update brings lock screen and iPhone 14‘s Dynamic Island always has everything you need on the move, whether your phone is locked and idle (always on to win) or you’re actively using your phone thanks to Dynamic display information about small island.

Below is an example of a Flighty experience that starts a few hours before your scheduled flight and ends when you land and pick up your luggage.

A few hours before your scheduled flight, you’ll receive an alert letting you know that your plane is heading to the airport for that day and whether you’ll be on time. In fact, with a Pro subscription, you can see where your plane is 25 hours before your scheduled flight. This is data that tells you if a plane is late for a previous flight and helps you set expectations for your flight.

As your flight approaches, an alert will appear on your lock screen and dynamic islands, displaying your gate number and a countdown to gate departure. An alert will appear when an incoming plane lands. And another alert when you reach the gate.

All the while, the most important information about your flight is available and at a glance on your lock screen.

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Flighty does not stop when you board a flight. The alert remains active to indicate how long it will take for the plane to land. In addition to using alerts, you can actually open the app and see the exact flight plans that pilots have submitted to the FAA, as well as an estimate of your current location. on that road. With in-flight Wi-Fi, the final data set would be even more accurate, but even in offline mode Flighty does an excellent job of estimating flight locations and times.

Then, when you land, you’ll get an alert telling you how long it will take to taxi to your gate. This next statement is not an exaggeration. On my last flight, when the plane landed in Denver, I received an alert that the plane landed within seconds of the wheels touching down. That’s how fast Flighty alerts you.

I’m supposed to receive baggage claim information in a separate alert, but on my last two flights that information didn’t show up in the app.

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The overall experience is a prime example of how developers should see and use Live Activities and Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 lineup. In fact, it wasn’t until Flighty added support for these features that I finally convinced myself it was time to go all in and sign up for a $90/year family subscription. That way, when I travel, I can share my plans with my wife and kids, and they can track my trip in as much detail as they want.

You don’t need to sign up for the Pro plan to use Flighty. The first trip on the app is free, complete with all push notifications and additional data I didn’t touch on (such as percentage and time of flight delay). You can even use it to track random flights while sitting at your desk to get a feel for how the app works and what to expect during your trip.