How tracking works
Choose between watching an area and following named flights, and learn what applies to each.
A FlightWall picks the aircraft it shows in two ways. You can use either or both. They are separate settings and neither one changes the other.
Area Tracking
Draw a shape on a map and the display cycles through the aircraft inside it. Filters narrow the results by aircraft type, airline, altitude, and speed.
Use it when you care about a place: the traffic over your house, one runway approach, or the corridor you can see from a window.
See Area Tracking.
Flight Tracking
Name up to five flights by flight number, callsign, or tail number. The display shows them whether or not they cross your tracking area.
Use it when you care about a specific aircraft: a family member flying home, a tail number you follow, a departure you want on the wall this afternoon.
Flight Tracking does not find aircraft for you. It shows only the flights you add. To cycle through whatever happens to be overhead, use Area Tracking.
See Flight Tracking.
Which settings apply to which mode
Most of the Display Layout page applies to area-based results only. The app says so on the page itself: layout settings apply to area-based flight tracking, not individually tracked flights.
| Setting | Area Tracking | Flight Tracking |
|---|---|---|
| Layout template | Yes | No |
| Title text, flight display speed | Yes | No |
| Anchor airports | Yes | No |
| Brightness, border, sleep schedule | Yes | Yes |
| No-flights screen and clock | Yes | Yes |
| Aircraft metric units | Yes | Yes, when metrics are turned on for that flight |
A tracked flight takes over the display while it is in the air. Area results resume once the flight is removed.
Limits that apply to both
- The display cycles through at most five flights at a time. When more aircraft match, it can show a warning screen, light an orange corner LED, or do nothing. See Layout and templates.
- Aircraft are visible only when they broadcast ADS-B and a TheFlightWall data partner receives it. Some private aircraft use privacy programs and never appear.
- Flight data is live. The display has no history or replay.
- Changes take effect only after you select Save in the device header.