Skyby
Live overhead flight ID
Free · In‑App Purchases
Know exactly what's flying over you.
Look up, and whatever is overhead appears on screen. Airliners, private jets, helicopters, and more, identified instantly. No searching, no typing, no menus.
Whether you're a planespotter camped at the end of a runway or a casual fan glancing up from home, Skyby reads the sky in real time and shows the aircraft directly above: the airline or operator, the aircraft type, the altitude, and, for scheduled flights, where it came from and where it's headed. An inbound indicator shows when a flight is coming into range.
Two ways to use it:
Set it and forget it. Prop Skyby on a desk, shelf, or windowsill and leave it running: a quiet radar for your patch of sky. Set an alert for the aircraft you care about, and Skyby chimes the moment one flies over.
Pull it out and look up. On a walk or in the backyard, open Skyby and see what's flying over right now.
From airliners to helicopters:
Skyby identifies it all. The passenger and cargo jets, the private planes and business jets, the helicopters overhead. And yes, if a blimp drifts over, Skyby catches that too. Prefer to keep it to the airlines? Flip on Commercial Only in settings.
Set your spot, or take it with you:
Use your current location
Drop a pin anywhere in the coverage area to watch the planes over home while you're away
Or set the pin to live, and Skyby follows you as you move
WHAT YOU GET
Instant overhead ID for the aircraft above you
Alerts that chime when a plane you care about flies over (A380 and 747 built in, free)
An inbound indicator when a flight is coming into range
Real routes and aircraft types for scheduled flights
A logbook that saves your catches automatically
Available across the United States, Canada, the UK, and Europe today, with more on the way
Skyby Pro adds aircraft photos matched to the tail number (when available), custom alerts (any airline, aircraft type, flight number, or tail), your full logbook with search and bookmarks, detailed stats, and a wider search radius.
Skyby runs on iPhone and iPad, and it shines on iPad propped up on a desk or shelf.
Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Skyby 1.21 - Now looking up in Australia, New Zealand, and Greenland
Skyby has crossed the equator. If you are under the approach into Sydney, Auckland, or somewhere far more remote (we're looking at you, Perth), the sky overhead is now yours to read.
Also new:
-The sky is never empty. When nothing is overhead, Skyby now shows you the nearest flight and points you toward it.
-Locked on through landing. When a flight lands while within your radius, Skyby now rides it all the way to touchdown and ends on a clean "Landing...", with smoother fades throughout. Like butter!
-Heads-up for everything. Incoming alerts now fire for helicopters and small aircraft too, not just airliners.
-We fixed a bug where a plane might display the wrong animated icon, including one that kept insisting it was a blimp. It was not.
Happy spotting, wherever you are under.
The developer, StoryForward, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- Location
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Steve Peters
- Size
- 10.8 MB
- Category
- Travel
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Skyby Founder Lifetime $19.99
- Skyby Pro $2.99
- Skyby Pro Annual $19.99
- Copyright
- © 2026