Help with What The Flight?

Aircraft show up when their transponder is picked up by receivers on the ground, so coverage varies by area and altitude. Many military, government and private aircraft hide their position or don’t broadcast one. Also check your radius (Settings → Radar) and, for helicopters, that Show helicopters is on.

The radar turns with your iPhone’s compass. Move away from magnets, metal tables and car mounts, then wave the phone in a slow figure-eight to recalibrate it. Make sure Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → System Services → Compass Calibration is on.

Sky View uses the compass too, so calibrate it as above. Hold the phone upright, give it a second to settle, and line an aircraft up in the circle to lock on. Once it locks, Sky View corrects its aim for every other label.

Open What The Flight? on your Apple TV. On your iPhone, go to Settings → Apple TV and match the four-digit code on the TV. Both need to be on the same Wi-Fi. The iPhone sends your location and the direction the TV faces. You can also search for an address on the TV itself.

Turn on Settings → Logbook → Sync with iCloud on each device, and check you’re signed in to the same Apple Account with iCloud Drive on. New sightings can take a minute to appear on your other devices.

Olive aircraft are military. A colored dot means something notable: an emergency squawk, a government or air ambulance flight, or a rare type. Tap it for the details.

On the Watch, open Settings → Identify & Find and turn on Reverse arm direction. If the text reads upside down while pointing, turn on Turn screen around.

Sky Watch keeps location running in the background so it can alert you while the phone is locked, so it uses more battery than the app does when it’s closed. It stops on its own after two hours, and you can stop it from the Lock Screen at any time.

No. The radar needs an internet connection for live traffic. Your logbook and photos are always available offline.