Flightradar24 Flight Tracker

Have you ever looked up into the sky and seen a high up jet plane flying away to some distant place? Curiosity is a hallmark of the human spirit. Don't tell me that you've never wondered where do those white trails lead to. With Flightradar24 you can now find out.

Flightradar24 tracks all civilian flights that are soaring through our world's skies. The main screen depicts Google maps with superimposed flights that are moving in real time relative to their physical position. Tapping on an airplane icon will bring up details about the flight such as departure and destination point (with included timetable), aircraft model, current flight data and what radar unit is being tracked from. You also get controls to show the airplane's full path, share data with others and switch to a simulated in-flight view.

Conversely, tapping on an airport will bring up details about weather conditions, flight delays, user ratings and comments. With a small in-app purchase you can also access lists for scheduled arrivals and departures.

There's also a search function. With it you can search for flights and airports. Flights can be searched by a set route, designated airline or proximity. Locations can also be bookmarked and you can set up arrival and departure alerts if you purchase the second in-app... purchase.

Finally the free version only allows you to visualize and select flights and airports, but the ad free version is really cheap and has almost everything you'd want from this type of application.

Features

• Comprehensive plane and airport data
• Search by category
• 3D flight visualization
• Map filters
• Visible flight identification

Pros

• Lean interface and good responsiveness
• Good for researching flight routes
• Great for researching the flights in the southern hemisphere (or the lack thereof) ;);)

Cons

• Not all flights appear as soon as you pan the map, you might need to wait a bit.
• Panning is slow, especially when there are many flights around.

Conclusion

Flightradar24 is a really neat tool that fits comfortably on any tablet (the phone might be too small a screen) and can be illuminating factor when wondering about what flies where. Having this keeps the situation topside under check.

Get the free version and convince yourself!