iPhone users Can Now Get Live Data Even In Airplane Mode — Thanks To Flighty's Thanksgiving Update

There's some exciting news for Apple Inc.'s AAPL smartphone users. Flighty, a flight-tracking app, can now download real-time data using free in-flight Wi-Fi even when users' iPhones are in Airplane Mode. 

What Happened: On Tuesday, Ryan Jones, CEO of Flighty, took to Twitter and explained how the app is redefining Airplane Mode. 

Everyone’s asking how @FlightyApp’s Airplane Mode works:

1. Plane WiFi allows iMessage
2. Guess what else uses that protocol? new Live Activities
3. So, send LA updates (max 4kb payload!) and have app load *that* data

Presto! The app updates via Live Activities 😎

- by @ifrins pic.twitter.com/oThVYDBna7

— Ryan Jones (@rjonesy) November 21, 2022

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Live Activities in iOS 16.1 and iPhone 14 Pro are updated using the same mechanism that enables iMessages to operate for free on major in the U.S. Therefore, Flighty can update the Live Activity using the free airline Wi-Fi and pass the data to the full app, reported 9To5Mac.
Simply said, Flighty allows users to download real-time data while they are on a flight using the airline's free Wi-Fi. It, thus, eliminates the need to pay for a costly Wi-Fi connection while flying.

JetBlue, Delta, Alaska, Southwest and United in the U.S. allow free messaging via Wi-Fi. 

Additionally, Flighty is making the "Flighty Pro" subscription-free on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 — the biggest travel days of the year. 

Why It's Important: Before this update, Flighty could work offline and in Airplane Mode but only by using estimated instead of real-time data. Users could pay for in-flight Wi-Fi access and allow the app to fetch live data — although it was expensive, the report noted. 

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