How to Use Hidden Flight Tracker in Messages on IPhone
This is the season of busy airports and massive flight delays that can cause big headaches when traveling to visit family and friends. But if you and your loved ones have iMessage, you don’t really need an airline app, a flight tracker app, or even Google’s ability to find out if your flight is on schedule.
IPhone Messages has a built-in flight status tool with real-time information about departures, arrivals, boarding gate changes and baggage claim numbers. All you have to do is write your airline name and flight number to someone using iMessage.
Here you can find your flight status in messages on iPhone.
Track flights in Messages
First, you need to email yourself or someone else your flight number using messages, not SMS, so make sure iMessage is turned on on your device ( Settings> Messages> turn on iMessage ). The message must be in one of the following formats:
- Airline + Flight Number: Delta Airlines 405
- Airline abbreviation + flight number: DL 405
- Airline abbreviation + flight number (no spaces): DL405
The first option – adding “Airlines” to the company name – is the best option for all airlines. Simply entering “Delta 405” or “JetBlue 101” is not enough to start the flight tracking system. You will know that your format is correct if the text is underlined (with a hyperlink) after the message is sent.
To track your flight, tap the underlined text to open a menu with two options. You can copy the flight code to your iPhone’s clipboard, or select Flight Preview to view flight details. If the flight is active, you will also see a live tracking map.
Clicking on “Flight Preview” opens another window with additional flight details such as current status, departure and arrival times, duration, and information about the boarding gate and baggage claim. Depending on the flight, you can also swipe to see statistics for the same flight in the coming days.
Obviously, this is most useful for active routes or routes on the same day, as data may not be available for flight numbers that are not frequently used. And if you don’t get underlined text in your Messages when you submit your airline name and flight number, please check the format is correct.