iOS Shortcuts and Automations for Flight Tracking

What Shortcuts can do for travel

The Shortcuts app turns FlightyFlow into a data source for any iOS automation. The most useful patterns we've seen from real travelers:

1. "Pre-flight" shortcut that runs 4 hours before scheduled departure: switches to a Travel Focus, sets Do Not Disturb, opens FlightyFlow, queues the boarding pass, and sends a "leaving for the airport" iMessage.
2. "Land" shortcut that runs when the aircraft is at the gate: turns off airplane mode, posts an iMessage to a partner, opens the rideshare app, and disables the Travel Focus.
3. "Connection check" shortcut that runs at scheduled landing: queries inbound aircraft for the connecting flight and tells you whether to sprint or stroll.

Building one (worked example)

1. Open Shortcuts → + Automation → When → App → choose FlightyFlow.
2. Set trigger: Status changes to "Boarding."
3. Add actions: Set Focus → Travel; Open Wallet (boarding pass); Speak text → "Boarding starts now".
4. Save.

Useful FlightyFlow Shortcut actions

• Get next pinned flight — returns flight number, gate, status, ETA.
• Get arrival time for [flight] — for use in countdown widgets.
• Get delay risk for [flight] — returns low / medium / high.
• Share live link for [flight] — copies to clipboard or sends via Messages.

Why this matters

A great app is not a destination. It's a piece of plumbing that other apps and automations can compose. The trips that feel magical on iPhone are usually the ones where Shortcuts is doing invisible work in the background.

Get FlightyFlow Shortcut actions →