We built FlightyFlow because flight tracking should be free, beautiful, and quietly respectful of your data.

Why a new flight tracker?

The flight-tracking category has been dominated for a decade by two camps: massive aviation databases dressed up as consumer apps, and beautiful but expensive premium subscriptions. Both serve real audiences. Neither serves most travelers — the person picking up their mom from JFK, the parent flying with kids, the consultant chasing a connection in Atlanta.

We started FlightyFlow in 2025 with a simple thesis: a fast, private, ad-free flight tracker built natively for modern iOS — Live Activities, Dynamic Island, Lock Screen widgets, Apple Watch — should be free. Not a feature-stripped trial of a $9.99/mo subscription. Free, full-featured, forever.

How we make money

Most of FlightyFlow is free for everyone, no account required. We sustain the company through an optional Premium subscription that unlocks heavier-use features (unlimited saved flights, advanced delay analytics, priority alerts, certain map layers) for power users who want to support the app.

We do not run ads inside the free tier. We do not sell aggregated location data to airlines, brokers, or marketing companies. We do not require an account to use the app. We do not buy or sell your email address.

What we'll never do

• Sell your data. Ever. Not anonymized, not aggregated, not “in the legitimate-interest sense.” Just no.
• Rent your inbox. If you give us your email, it's for one thing — the thing you asked for.
• Embed third-party tracking SDKs. Vercel Analytics counts pageviews on this marketing site; the iOS app uses Apple's privacy-respecting analytics, no third-party trackers.
• Bury safety information behind a paywall. If your flight is in trouble, you'll see it on the free tier first.
• Spam you with notifications. Our default notification policy is conservative. You opt in to more, not out.

Who builds FlightyFlow

FlightyFlow is built by a small team of engineers and designers in the United States who fly too much and have opinions about iOS. We work directly with the people who use the app — read every email, respond to every App Store review, and ship updates roughly every two weeks.

For press, partnerships, or to chat with the team, write to info@jhobbie.com.

Where the data comes from

We blend multiple data sources to give you the most accurate live picture of any commercial flight in the world:

• ADS-B and ADS-B satellite for live aircraft positions over land and ocean
• ACARS for departure, takeoff, landing, and arrival events sent from the aircraft
• Airline feeds for gate, baggage carousel, and operational status
• FAA, Eurocontrol, and equivalent ATC sources for ground-stop and program awareness
• NOAA and equivalent meteorological agencies for weather overlays and risk modeling

We're a consumer app, not a flight-planning tool — please always confirm critical operational information directly with your airline.

Our roadmap, in plain English

• iPad-optimized layout with the same Live Activities and widgets
• CarPlay support for arrival pickups
• Email and calendar trip parsing (importing without giving up your inbox)
• Android version
• Programmatic airport, airline, and route pages on the web with live arrival/departure boards
• An Apple Watch complication for active flights

We share what we're shipping in our blog as we go.