Overflight FAQ

This is the question Overflight exists to answer. It reads your position, queries the airplanes.live ADS-B network for the traffic around you, and identifies the aircraft overhead: airline, flight number, route, type, altitude, speed, and which way to look, with the rest of the visible sky ranked behind it on a radar scope. It runs on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV — iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS 17 or later. How it works has the full mechanics.

Yes, when they're broadcasting. Military and otherwise notable airframes are scored separately, and one closing on your position takes over the instrument in amber with a countdown to overhead. Proactive inbound alerts like that are an Overflight Pro feature; the first takeover is free on every install. One caveat: traffic flying with transponders dark is invisible to every ADS-B app, this one included.

It starts from the TV's own coarse fix, which is enough to put traffic on the scope. For a precise position, press the remote's select button, choose Pin exact location & direction from the Options menu, and scan the QR code with your iPhone camera. One exact fix is handed off through the pairing server and deleted within minutes. More on the Apple TV page.

No account, ever, and no subscription is required. The live scope, aircraft identity, type, altitude, speed, and military highlighting are free. Overflight Pro adds the deeper layer on top of that. What's included in Pro is the next question down.

Four things: routes on every aircraft (origin and destination, not just identity), spoken ATC-style traffic calls, proactive alerts when an interesting aircraft is inbound to your position (the amber takeover with a countdown to overhead), and always-on running with no idle timeout for ambient or wall-display use. Everything else stays free: the live scope, identity, type, altitude, speed, and military highlighting.

Pro is $3.99 a month or $19.99 a year, each with a 7-day free trial, or $69.99 once. Your first aircraft's route and your first inbound takeover are free on every install, so you can see what Pro does before deciding. Buying Pro on your iPhone or iPad unlocks the Apple TV automatically.

The owner asked the FAA to keep the aircraft's route private (the LADD program, common for business jets). Overflight honors that end to end: you still see the aircraft, its type, and where to look, but the origin and destination stay withheld.

Yes. The receiver network is worldwide and volunteer-run, so coverage tracks receiver density: excellent near populated areas, thinner over oceans and remote terrain. If you run your own ADS-B receiver, you're part of why this works.

Almost always: it isn't broadcasting ADS-B, or no receiver near you heard it. Some general aviation, gliders, and dark military traffic fall in this gap. Occasionally the visibility model has concluded you shouldn't be able to see it; setting RANGE to FAR tells the model to be more generous.

Your coordinates leave the device only to query nearby aircraft, to look up terrain elevation, and during the optional Apple TV pairing handoff, which is deleted within minutes. No account, no location history. The privacy policy spells out where each coordinate goes.

Yes — Overflight launched in July 2026 and is on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.