Frequently asked questions

The app

Is Airplanes.live free?

Yes. The app is free on the App Store, and the full unfiltered live map is free permanently, with no advertising of any kind. An optional Pro subscription adds live weather radar, ATC scope mode and convergence alerts, advanced filters, an unlimited watchlist and push alerts, for $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year. Nothing is gated behind an account, because there are no accounts. Full feature list.

What devices does it run on?

iPhone and iPad running iOS 17 or later. There is also a web version of the live map that works in any modern browser, and a GNSS interference map alongside it.

Do I need an account?

No. There is no sign-up, no email capture, and no accounts server to sign up to. Open the app and the map is there. Sign in with Apple is available if you want your subscription tied to your Apple ID, but nothing requires it.

I feed the airplanes.live network. How do I get Pro free?

Enter your feeder ID in the app. Pro is yours at no charge for as long as your receiver keeps feeding. Access is issued for a short period at a time, currently about a week, and renews automatically while data is still arriving, so it lapses shortly after a receiver goes quiet. It is a thank-you rather than a purchase; the terms describe it exactly.

The data

Where does the aircraft data come from?

From the community-run airplanes.live network: thousands of volunteer-run receivers that decode the signals aircraft broadcast on 1090 MHz and share what they hear. It is received from the air, not licensed from a government feed. That is precisely why the map looks different from some others. How ADS-B works.

Why does this app show military aircraft that other trackers hide?

Because the filtering happens in the pipeline, not in the sky. A tracker built on an official data feed inherits every exclusion that feed applies, including the FAA's LADD programme, which lets operators ask to be withheld from public redistribution. A map built from volunteer receivers hears the aircraft directly, inherits none of that, and has to decide for itself whether to re-impose filtering. We don't.

The honest limit: an aircraft that switches its transponder off is invisible to everyone, us included. We show what was broadcast; we don't manufacture what wasn't. The long version.

Why is the aircraft I am looking for missing?

Almost always coverage or equipment rather than policy. It may not carry ADS-B Out at all: plenty of general aviation aircraft, gliders and balloons don't. It may have only a legacy Mode A/C transponder, which replies to radar with a squawk and an altitude but broadcasts no position and no unique address. It may be below the radio horizon, hidden by terrain or by the curve of the earth. Or it may be somewhere with no volunteer receivers within range, which is most of the ocean.

How up to date is the map?

Aircraft broadcast position roughly twice a second and the network relays it within seconds, so where coverage is good the map is close to live. It is not air traffic control information, none of it is verified, and it can be delayed, incomplete or entirely absent. Treat it as a very good view of public radio traffic, which is what it is.

Does it work outside the United States?

The live map is worldwide, wherever the network has receivers. Two layers are regional by nature: the NOAA MRMS weather radar covers the United States, and the IFR and VFR sectional charts are FAA products covering US airspace. Everything else (the map, aircraft identification, watchlists, alerts, traces and replay) works anywhere there is coverage.

What is a hex code, and why does the app use it?

Every Mode S and ADS-B transponder transmits a 24-bit ICAO address, written as six hexadecimal digits such as A1B2C3. It belongs to the airframe, not to the flight, so it stays constant all day while the callsign changes with every leg. That makes it the only dependable way to follow one specific aircraft, which is why watchlists are built on it rather than on callsigns.

Why is the callsign different from the flight number on my ticket?

The callsign in the app is the flight identification the crew entered in the aircraft, and it normally uses the airline's three-letter ICAO code: AAL2956. Your ticket and the airport boards use the two-letter IATA code: AA2956. Same flight, two naming systems. Some flights also operate under a callsign that has no relationship to the published flight number at all.

What does squawk 7700 mean?

7700 is the universal transponder code for a general emergency: the crew is telling every radar and controller in range that they have a problem and want priority handling. It covers everything from a serious technical failure to a passenger medical issue, and the large majority of 7700 flights land uneventfully. 7600 means lost radio communications and 7500 means unlawful interference. The full explanation.

What is MLAT?

Multilateration. Some aircraft carry a Mode S transponder that transmits an address and an altitude but no position of its own. When four or more receivers with synchronised clocks hear the same transmission, the very small differences in arrival time can be solved for a location. It needs dense coverage and favourable geometry, so MLAT tracks are patchier and less precise than ADS-B tracks, but they are better than nothing.

Privacy

Does the app track me?

No. No accounts, no analytics, no advertising, no attribution SDKs, no third-party trackers. Our servers keep no request logs at all: not your IP address, not which part of the map you were looking at. If you grant location permission it is used on the device to centre the map and to compute distance and bearing, and it is never transmitted to us. Even the map tiles and weather imagery are served from our own infrastructure, so no tile provider sees you either. The privacy policy is short and worth reading.

What happens to my watchlist?

It stays on your device unless you turn on notifications, which necessarily requires our server to know which aircraft to watch for you. In that case the server holds a random identifier the app generates for your installation, an Apple push token, which alert types you enabled, and the hex codes you follow. Not your name, not your email, not your location. Turning notifications off deletes that record immediately, and records are dropped automatically after about 60 days without contact.

Use and safety

Can I use this for flying?

No. The app is for entertainment and general information only. It is not air traffic control data, it is not a traffic advisory or collision avoidance system, the charts are reference layers rather than navigation charts, and the radar shows past observations rather than a forecast. Coverage is uneven, data can be stale or wrong, and many aircraft do not appear at all. Never use it for navigation, separation, or any safety-of-life purpose. The terms of use say the same thing in more formal language.

Can I use it to see whether my flight is delayed?

Only indirectly. The app shows aircraft, not airline schedules. If you know which airframe is due to operate your flight you can watch it come in and draw your own conclusions, but there is no schedule feed, no gate information and no delay data behind it. Your airline remains the authority on your flight.

How do I report a problem, or a wrong aircraft record?

Email blake@hughesit.us. If it concerns a specific aircraft, include the hex code and roughly when you saw it. That makes almost anything reproducible.