Flighty – Live Flight Tracker

What it does

Flighty is a powerful flight tracking app designed for frequent flyers and aviation enthusiasts. At its core, it provides hyper-detailed, real-time information about any flight, including gate changes, delays, and aircraft status. The app visualizes flight paths on a 3D globe and maintains a personal flight log, or 'passport', of all your travels.

Where it shines

Flighty's strength lies in its data-rich and beautifully designed interface. Adding a flight is simple (00:14), but the result is a stunning 3D visualization of the flight path across the globe (00:27). The flight detail screen (03:02) goes far beyond typical airline apps, offering arrival forecasts based on historical data and information about the specific aircraft. The 'Flighty Passport' (06:29) is another standout, turning a simple log into a gamified collection of your travel history.

UX highlights

Immediate utility: The app opens directly to the map and search functionality, skipping any lengthy onboarding to get users to the core task right away.
Elegant visualizations: The 3D globe animation (00:27) when a flight is added is not just visually pleasing, it provides an immediate, visceral understanding of the journey.
Contextual actions: Instead of cluttered menus, options like sharing (02:27) and setting alerts are presented within the context of a specific flight.
Clear information hierarchy: Flight details are neatly organized into collapsible sections like 'Arrival Forecast' and 'Where's My Plane?', making a dense amount of data easy to scan (03:03).
Thoughtful microcopy: Labels like 'This flight usually arrives early' (02:26) add a human touch and provide useful, predictive information.
Comprehensive settings: The settings menu (07:37) is well-structured, allowing deep customization of alerts, units, and automations like Calendar Sync.

Monetization & growth

Flighty uses a freemium model with a 'Pro' subscription. The app cleverly drives upgrades through contextual paywalls. For instance, when the user tries to access the 'Weather Layers' feature at 00:37, a paywall appears. This paywall (00:41) is a comprehensive feature carousel highlighting benefits like live activities and delay forecasts. The app offers multiple plans, including annual, weekly, lifetime, and family options (00:41 - 00:56), catering to different user needs. Another smart growth loop is the 'Flighty Friends' feature (06:41), which encourages sharing and collaborative tracking.

Who it’s for

This app is clearly built for frequent business travelers, aviation enthusiasts, and anyone who needs more reliable and detailed information than standard airline apps provide. The depth of data, from historical delay performance to aircraft tail numbers, appeals to power users. The 'Flighty Friends' feature also makes it useful for families or teams coordinating travel.

Notes & opportunities

The app is incredibly polished, but the sheer number of options in the 'more' menu for a flight (02:50) could be slightly overwhelming. Some of these, like 'Live Activity,' might be better served as primary buttons for discoverability. Additionally, the distinction between 'My Flight' and 'Friend's Flight' (02:46) could be clearer on first use, perhaps with a small tooltip explaining the difference in alert behavior.