Best Flight Tracking Apps 2025

As much as you’d like to fly yourself on every trip, the reality is that airline travel remains a necessity for most pilots. While the major airlines offer mobile apps for booking flights and digital boarding passes, those apps often fall short when it comes to detailed, real-time tracking.

That’s where dedicated flight tracking apps come in. They’re useful for monitoring an airline trip or meeting someone at the airport, but for many pilots they’re also just plain fun. Whether you’re curious about the flight overhead, watching GA traffic in your area, or keeping tabs on airline operations while sitting at the gate, these tools can be as entertaining as they are practical.

Below, we revisit our favorite apps for tracking flights on iPhone and iPad, updated for 2025.

Flight tracking on iPhone, iPad and Mac

Before installing anything, iOS and macOS already include a useful flight status feature. If someone sends you a flight number (e.g. “DL1087”) via iMessage, it will appear as a link. Tap it → Preview Flight to see a live map view and ETAs.

You can also type the airline designator + flight number (e.g. AA105, UA1074) into the Spotlight search bar on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to pull up the real-time status.

You can also enter the flight number into a spotlight search field on your Mac computer to retrieve the status (press the Command and Spacebar keys simultaneously to display the search field):

To use this built-in iOS feature, you must enter the flight with the airline’s 2-letter IATA designator as the alphabetical prefix, immediately followed by the flight number. Here are some examples:

American Airlines – AA105

Delta Airlines – DL1087

Southwest Airlines – WN1093

United Airlines – UA1074

You can search for your airline’s 2-leter designator via the International Air Transport Association search tool.

Flight tracking apps

FlightAware—One of the original all-purpose flight trackers, FlightAware continues to support airline, charter, and general aviation flights. It’s free to download (with ad-supported use) and offers premium subscriptions.

Highlights:

• Push‑alert notifications: departure, delay, gate change, arrivals
• Can send your scheduled flight plan to ForeFlight
• Community ADS-B feed augmentation

FlightRadar24—With global coverage and a polished interface, Flightradar24 remains a top pick.

Highlights (2025):

• Live Activities support for lock screen/Dynamic Island flight status
• 3D aircraft views and AR mode
• Filter by aircraft type, see blocked N‑numbers, or track GA traffic
• Apple Watch app support

Flighty—Designed for the traveler, Flighty is all about trip management and passenger experience. It is iOS-only (no Android version) and offers a subscription model for premium features.

Highlights:

• Imports flights automatically from calendar, email, or TripIt
• Advanced delay prediction and push alerts
• Flighty Passport keeps stats of your past flights
• Live Activities and home screen widgets

Flight Tracker+—Catering to frequent flyers and travel enthusiasts, Flight Tracker+ provides a wide set of tools. The app is actively maintained with recent updates.

Highlights:

• Real-time updates on delays, cancellations, and schedule changes
• Airport information, terminal maps, and weather updates
• “Flight Board” feature shows all arrivals and departures at an airport
• Option to add travel documents to tracked flights

Flightview— Focused on airline passengers and companions, Flightview offers reliable flight information and trip organization.

Highlights:

• Add trips manually or email itineraries for automatic import
• Customize your home screen with favorite airports
• Easily check which airports are experiencing delays
• Provides gate info, weather, and airline contact options

ForeFlight—ForeFlight is still primarily an EFB and flight planning tool, but it can also be used to track flights by number. Search from the Airport or Maps views to load the filed flight plan as the active route. For pilots already using ForeFlight, this integration is a convenient extra.

Plane Finder—Plane Finder combines solid flight tracking with fun extras.

Highlights:

• Augmented reality mode: point your phone at an airplane overhead to identify it
• 3D globe view of live flights (subscription feature)
• Explore mode shows trending flights or emergencies
• Apple Watch app support

Final thoughts

Whether you’re catching a commercial flight, picking up family at the airport, or just curious about the airplane passing overhead, these apps make it easy to stay connected with the aviation world. For pilots, they’re more than practical—they’re part of the fun of flying.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Eric Radtke

It was his first airplane trip at age seven that made Eric decide to become a pilot. "While boarding the airplane, a flight attendant noticed my interest in the flight deck and urged me to go talk to the pilot. I give a lot of credit to that pilot for my career choice." He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and went on to an airline career. Eric now heads Sporty’s flight school and directs the University of Cincinnati’s Professional Pilot Training Program. In addition, Eric serves as a Captain in Sporty’s corporate flight department.

Latest posts by Eric Radtke (see all)

• Best Flight Tracking Apps 2025 - September 26, 2025
• Finally, a charging cable that doesn’t fight back - September 5, 2025
• 6 ForeFlight Features You Probably Aren’t Using - September 2, 2025