FlyingOver - Track your flight, in the sky, even offline

Tired of boring flight maps? FlyingOver uses your iPhone’s GPS to track flights offline and reveal exactly what you’re flying over, with detailed, interactive info, and things about your flight.

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My Inspiration

I travel frequently by plane and I don't like when the plane does not have a screen. And if they do, I’ve always felt that the map they use to track the plane has a lot of room for improvement. Whenever I fly, I always choose the window seat and can spend the whole flight looking at the map and the cities below.

Based on this, I created FlyingOver.

FlyingOver is an app that you can use on your flight without an internet connection, and thanks to your iPhone's GPS, you can know exactly what you are flying over.

🛠️ How I Built It

Although I am more of a Python person, I built almost the entire app in React Native using Expo. Working with the phone to access the native sensors—especially the GPS—was one of the most exciting parts of the project. The main functionality is GPS-based tracking at 30,000 feet without Wi-Fi, which is not as easy as it sounds. At that altitude, GPS signals are only available via satellite, and capturing them while flying at 900 km/h over the middle of the Atlantic is a real challenge.

Because of this, the app prioritizes GPS for accuracy, but I also created different fallback mechanisms to keep the experience as close to reality as possible. For example, simulating flight routes from takeoff, connecting point A to point B, and interpolating time data with any GPS signals available. On top of that, the app integrates flight information, so when you enter your flight number you also get details like the gate, terminal, and flight status (I use an external API for this).

Challenges in this project

The main challenge was making the app function reliably and precisely at cruising altitude with no Wi-Fi, using only the iPhone’s GPS. Handling the limitations of satellite GPS at such speeds and distances forced me to get creative with fallback systems that still felt credible and useful.

What I "Learned"

This is a project I truly enjoy building as a side project. I’m a huge aviation fan, and combining that with code has been a passion of mine. I learned how to communicate directly with the native sensors of the device, which was fascinating. But I also realized that the hardest part of this project is not technical at all—marketing. Mamma mia, that’s difficult!

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