Support

Why don't I see any planes?

PlaneLens shows aircraft that broadcast ADS-B and are heard by a volunteer receiver feeding adsb.lol (or OpenSky Network as a backup). Coverage depends on those receivers: it's best near cities and airports and can be thin in the countryside, over water or in the mountains. If the wall says Clear skies:

• Make the search radius bigger, or raise Max altitude in Settings. At the Ground setting you'll only see aircraft on the ground, and only if Include aircraft on the ground is on.
• Search for a busy airport, such as San Francisco International Airport, to check that the app is working.

Set a location means PlaneLens doesn't know where to look: allow location access, or turn off Use my location and search for a place. No signal means the flight data couldn't be reached; check your internet connection. PlaneLens retries on its own.

What does "Data limit reached" mean?

The free flight data services limit how often each internet connection can ask: adsb.lol allows 500 requests a day per network, and OpenSky Network, the backup, 400. Everyone on the same Wi-Fi, and sometimes many people on the same cellular network, shares those limits. PlaneLens asks once a minute while it's open, switches to OpenSky when adsb.lol's limit is used up, and when both are, waits quietly and shows the time flights come back. Switching to cellular or another Wi-Fi network gets a fresh limit.

A route or aircraft is wrong. How do I report it?

Routes come from adsbdb.com, a community database. Airlines reuse flight numbers and the data can lag behind, so a route can be missing or out of date. PlaneLens hides a route when the plane is nowhere near the path between its two airports, and catches some aircraft database mix-ups, but it can't catch them all. Aircraft types come from each aircraft's registration data.

Email us the flight number, the time and the place, with a screenshot if you can, and we'll look into it.

Why isn't my widget up to date?

iOS decides how often widgets refresh, and it limits how many refreshes each app gets, so a widget can lag behind the sky. PlaneLens asks for a refresh every 10 to 15 minutes, but iOS may wait longer. Tap the widget to refresh it, or open the app for the live wall.

• To add a widget, touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit → Add Widget, then choose PlaneLens: Small, Medium or Large. On the Lock Screen, touch and hold, tap Customize, then add the PlaneLens widget for the nearest flight.
• The widget uses the same place and settings as the app. If it says to set a location, open PlaneLens and choose one, or allow location access for the widget when iOS asks.

How do I change units, places and labels?

• Units: Settings → Units lets you choose feet or meters, knots, mph or km/h, and nautical miles or kilometers.
• Places: turn off Use my location in Settings, then search for any city, address or airport. PlaneLens keeps your last 10 places; switch between them from the location chip under the logo.
• Labels: swipe left on a place and tap Label to give it a short name, up to 20 characters, like Home or KAUS. Swipe left and tap Delete to remove a place.
• The wall: Settings → Wall sets the size (Widescreen or Mini), the style (Vivid, Monochromatic or Rainbow), the brightness and how long each flight stays up. Turn your phone sideways for the full-screen wall, tap a flight (or the wall) for its details, and swipe a flight right to hold it on the wall.

Does PlaneLens need my location?

No. You can search for a place instead. If you do allow it, your location is rounded to about a kilometer before it's sent to find nearby aircraft. See our Privacy Policy.