TheFlightWall overview
How the TheFlightWall app connects a FlightWall display and controls the flights it shows.
A FlightWall is an LED display that shows live aircraft on your wall. It joins your home Wi-Fi and pulls flight data from TheFlightWall servers. You set it up and configure it with the app on iOS or Android.
The app needs no account and the flight data costs nothing beyond the price of the display.
Two models run the same software. The FlightWall Mini has a 128 by 64 pixel panel and cycles through screens to fit everything in. The FlightWall Widescreen has a 256 by 64 pixel panel and shows more of it side by side.
Two ways to choose flights
The display can watch an area, follow named flights, or do both. The two modes are independent, and turning one on does not change the other.
Area Tracking watches every aircraft inside a shape you draw on a map, then cycles through the results. Use it for the traffic over your house, the approach to one runway, or any other place with data.
Flight Tracking follows up to five flights you name by flight number, callsign, or tail number. Those flights appear whether or not they cross your tracking area. Flight Tracking does not discover aircraft on its own. You add each one.
Read How tracking works to pick between them.
Where the settings live
Open a FlightWall from the app home screen. The settings selector gives you five pages:
| Page | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Area Tracking | The map areas the display watches, and the filters applied to them |
| Flight Tracking | Named flights the display follows |
| Display Layout | Template, idle screen, clock, brightness, sleep schedule, units, and anchor airports |
| Saved | Configuration presets stored on your phone or tablet |
| System | Device information, Wi-Fi changes, reset, and removal |
A display linked to a Plus account adds a sixth page, Plus Sync, which opens the Plus Sync screen.
Nothing you change reaches the display until you select Save in the device header. After saving, the display updates within about ten seconds.
App settings and display settings
The app has its own settings, separate from any display. They control the language, dark mode, and whether the app itself shows metric or imperial values. Changing units in app settings does not change units on the wall. For that, see Display units.
The display cannot change language. Only the app can.
What the display cannot do
- It cycles through at most five flights at a time. When more aircraft match, the display can show a warning screen, light an orange corner LED, or ignore it. See Layout and templates.
- It shows live traffic only. There is no history or replay.
- It shows the callsign or airline name, never the tail number, even when you tracked the flight by registration.
Add schedule syncing
TheFlightWall Plus is a paid add-on for pilots and flight crew. Plus Sync imports a work schedule and sends its flights to linked displays, so you do not type flight numbers before every trip.
Requirements
- iOS 15.1 or later, or Android 7.0 or later
- A 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network with WPA2 security. See Wi-Fi and network requirements.