Why Skyty and FlightRadar24 work together — and which one to open when
Same ritual before every long-haul: I open FlightRadar24, type in the flight number, see where the inbound aircraft is right now. On time? Already on approach? Two hours late out of Shanghai, which means the Frankfurt outbound is also going to slip? FR24 answers reliably, every time.
By the time I’m packing the carry-on, FR24 is closed. On the plane, I open Skyty.
That’s the whole relationship between these two apps in one sentence. FR24 before and after the flight. Skyty during. There’s no competition. There are two different problems.
What FR24 nails
One thing first. FR24 is a technically impressive app. What they’re doing isn’t trivial — pulling real-time ADS-B feeds from tens of thousands of aircraft worldwide, plotting them on a map, with aircraft type, route, altitude, ground speed, all updated every second. Anyone who’s tried to set up an ADS-B receiver knows what’s happening behind the scenes.
The AR mode is my personal favourite feature. Hold the phone up at the sky, app identifies whatever’s flying overhead. Works embarrassingly well. Did it last week from a café in a park, an SQ A380 was on long final into Zurich, the phone immediately showed SQ 346, altitude, origin, ETA. Magic.
For anyone on the ground who wants to track aircraft — a kid at the airport fence, a friend wondering if their partner is landing on time, a spotter with a camera — FR24 is the tool. It is the tool.
What FR24 doesn’t try to do
FR24 is built around looking from outside the aircraft, in. You on the ground, or by a café window, looking at a world full of little dots. The app is unmatched there.
What FR24 doesn’t try to be is the inverse view: you inside the aircraft, looking out, wanting to know where you are. For that you’d need to know the user’s own position, you’d need GPS plus a map, you wouldn’t need ADS-B from anywhere on Earth — only what’s directly under the window. And it would have to work offline, because there’s no signal at altitude.
What Skyty does
Skyty solves the inverse. You’re at 11 km, want to know where you are, what’s underneath, when the sunset will hit, how much altitude is left to the next airport. The whole world map is in the app. GPS works in airplane mode anyway. You don’t need in-flight WiFi.
That’s the split:
- You on the ground, wanting to see other aircraft → FR24
- You in the aircraft, wanting to see where you are → Skyty
Both apps belong on the phone of someone who likes flying. I have both. I open them at completely different moments.
Practical workflows
Before the flight, at home:
- FR24: check the inbound aircraft, gauge whether the delay risk is real
- Skyty: I don’t really open it. It’s faster on launch if I’ve already used it once that day, that’s the only ritual
At the airport, while the aircraft taxis in:
- FR24: check the aircraft type, do some spotting if there’s time
- Skyty: get a GPS fix so the app is responsive once I’m on board
On the plane, cabin door closed, airplane mode on:
- FR24: stops working, because of course it does. It needs network.
- Skyty: this is the moment Skyty was built for.
After landing:
- FR24: look at the route, maybe share it
- Skyty: save the flight, export GPX, look at the altitude profile, see if any achievement unlocked
What happens when you have both
Exactly what’s supposed to happen: each app handles its half. No friction, no overlapping feature, no “which one do I open.” The split is unambiguous — FR24 for outside, Skyty for inside.
The one place we visually overlap is the map. FR24 shows a world map with every aircraft. Skyty shows a world map with your aircraft. But even the maps look different, because FR24 has to render thousands of planes legibly while Skyty renders one, in a cockpit-style dark theme that doesn’t burn your eyes on a night flight.
Which Premium do you buy
If you’re a spotter and want ADS-B history, all aircraft types and the map filters, FR24 Gold/Silver is worth its money.
If you’re the traveler who flies less often but who likes to actually be present for the flight, Skyty Premium is worth its money. One-time purchase. No subscription.
Both apps are inexpensive. Both apps are made by small teams. There’s no reason to pit one against the other.
A small story to close
Last year, on approach to Zurich, right-hand window seat. I opened Skyty, saw we were over Lake Constance at 4 km altitude, twelve minutes to landing. Looked out, saw another aircraft on a parallel track, slightly lower. Wanted to know what it was.
Skyty didn’t answer. Skyty shows where I am. Other aircraft nearby is not our job.
But once we’d landed and I had network again, I opened FR24, dragged the time slider back, and saw: that was LX 1187 from Madrid, A220-300, five minutes ahead of us into runway 33. That mosaic of apps is the answer, not a single app trying to do everything.