For my money, Flighty Pro is the best personal flight tracking app, period. Its slick design and no-nonsense breakdown of even the most convoluted flight data set it apart from everything else on the market … and it just keeps getting better.
To coincide with Apple's recent iOS 26 update, Flighty just redesigned its user interface to work even more seamlessly with your iPhone, adopting the new liquid glass design – giving everything that cool, slightly see-through look. At the same time, Flighty also added some practical new features like the ability to see live activities in Apple CarPlay (the perfect solution for airport picker-uppers), and updates to the overall reliability of its flight tracking system.
Longtime features like delay notifications (often well before the airlines let you know), short connection warnings, and even nerdy details about the type of airplane you're flying – and where it's coming from – haven't gone anywhere. But after this most recent update, Flighty is more powerful (and prettier) than ever.
We recently sat down with Flighty Founder & CEO Ryan Jones on the Thrifty Traveler Podcast to discuss Flighty's origin story (starring an airport Chili's), an in-depth breakdown of the app, and all the advancements they're making to handle millions of flight updates every day.
Be sure to give the podcast a listen – and read on for everything you need to know about the latest update.
Read More: Our Full Review of Flighty Pro
Flighty and Apple CarPlay
The most practical update to Flighty Pro is the ability to track your or your friends' flights in Apple CarPlay on the way to the airport.
If you have your flight open in “Live Activities” on your iPhone, it will appear in Apple CarPlay, too, giving you a look at how your friends' flight is progressing – or how close your own flight is to takeoff.
If you're constantly shuttling to and from the airport to pickup your friends and family like I am, this is a fantastic feature. You can see exactly how far away from arrival your friends' flight is, so there's no more guesswork when executing pickups and drop-offs.
For your own flights, you can see if there are delays to your upcoming flight in real time, so can keep your phone in your pocket and your eyes on the road – all while still knowing if there's time to stop for a bite to eat if you're delayed.
Liquid Glass
Flighty CEO Ryan Jones is a sucker for great design, and the new integration his app has with iOS 26 and the new “liquid glass” look is proof of that.
In the “Live Activities” bar that appears on the lock and home screens of your iPhone, the new transparent design is already available if you update your app now. Not only are the push notifications clear, but the darker bar also features that same transparent aesthetic.
Ryan seemed most excited about the updated design to the flight progress bar. In the example above, you can see it on the right screen with the San Francisco (SFO) – New York (JFK) flight that has the sloped progress line mimicking the takeoff, cruising altitude, and landing of the flight.
In addition to the liquid glass updates, new larger-buttoned toolbars can be clicked throughout the app. The larger, more touchable buttons are a feature of most of the new iOS 26, and Flighty's work seamlessly with the old.
More Accuracy Across the Board
Jones knows that his pretty app still has to be functional to be good, and that's why Flighty also invested time in enhancing the reliability of its flight tracking all over the world.
Flighty's data has always been good in the U.S., but in Europe and Asia, sometimes it isn't as readily available. Jones and his team have spent months working with airports and airlines the world over to get better, up-to-the-second data that Flighty can process for its users' flights. That includes not only flight status, but baggage claim information, gate numbers, and airplane tail numbers, too.
Jones added that the calendar imports are now more accurate for travelers and crew members who link their calendars to the app to seamlessly import their flight details. Using some AI learning, Flighty can now decode more flight-related calendar events and spit them out into the actual flights you're taking this year and beyond.
Bottom Line
With the addition of CarPlay capabilities, added flight tracking reliability, and a redesign for Apple's new “liquid glass” look, Flighty padded its resumé as the best travel app out there with its latest round of updates.
