There are many great apps that allow you to track flights and watch planes land and take-off in real-time. But did you know there's a flight tracker built-in to your iPhone?
If the answer is no, we don't blame you. There are all kinds of hidden features packed into Apple's iOS iPhone software and this is one of our favorites—but no one talks about it.
It's built directly into the Messages app—or iMessages to be more exact—and it's a live flight tracker that sends you live locations of flights, details about take-off and landing times, information about delays and even departure gate numbers. To get started, all you need is an airline name and the flight number.
Note: Messages' flight tracking is primarily designed for flights taking off within 24 hours; as such, you can't look up planned flight paths for future days.
How to track flights on the iPhone or iPad
- Open the Messages app. Find the conversation where a user has sent you flight information. They'll need to type the Airline Name and Flight Number in succession. In most cases, this also works with the airline abbreviation and number.
- Tap the Airline Name/Abbreviation and Flight Number in Messages.
- Choose Preview Flight.
That's it. You can now see all of the key details about the flight.
How to track flights on your Mac
- Open the Messages app. Find the conversation where a user has sent you flight information. They'll need to type the Airline Name and Flight Number in succession. In most cases, this also works with the airline abbreviation and number.
- Tap the Airline Name/Abbreviation and Flight Number in Messages to bring up the flight information.
You can see that you can quickly track flight information by having the airline name and flight number. Then, click on a link in the Messages app, and you're good to go ... just like the flight!
