CabinLink

In-flight companion

Your flight, read straight from the manifest.

Supported in-flight Wi-Fi portals expose a flight manifest. CabinLink reads it and shows you what you actually look up mid-flight: where you are, how high, how fast, and how long until you land. It keeps working when the cabin signal does not.

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Available on

iPhone

iPad

Mac

Apple Watch

Apple Vision Pro

Building for an unreliable connection

Airline portals already expose useful flight data, but finding it and keeping it visible can be awkward. I built CabinLink to turn supported manifests into a native dashboard, with layouts suited to each Apple device.

The key decision was how to behave when the connection dropped. CabinLink preserves the last reading and makes its age visible. Stale data is marked explicitly, so an old position does not look like a live update. Feedback and optional support reports help me extend airline coverage.

A look inside the cabin

CabinLink is native across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. Explore iPhone Duo on its inner and outer displays, or choose the device you use.

CabinLink on iPhone — Route dashboard — Route dashboard
Your route and where you are on it, front and center.

CabinLink on iPhone — Metrics & weather — Metrics & weather
Altitude, speed, time left, and weather along your route.

CabinLink on iPhone — Offline fallback — Offline fallback
When the Wi-Fi cuts out, the last reading stays put.

CabinLink on iPhone — Airline selection — Airline selection
Guessed the wrong airline? Set it yourself.

CabinLink on iPhone — Unit preferences — Unit preferences
Metric or imperial, however you read a flight.

CabinLink on iPhone — Settings — Settings
Check your airline, portal and live update status.

Why CabinLink

Flight details at a glance, with native layouts and clear states for a connection that comes and goes.

Reads the cabin manifest

Connect to the plane Wi-Fi and CabinLink finds the flight data the airline portal already serves to its own map. No account, and supported networks usually do not require a paid Wi-Fi pass.

It starts with the map

The whole app is built around a real map: your route, both airports, and a small plane sitting exactly where you are right now.

Survives a flaky signal

Cabin Wi-Fi drops constantly. CabinLink keeps the last reading on the device, so the screen still tells you something instead of spinning.

What you get on the screen

The app decodes the raw manifest into one tidy snapshot and shows the parts worth reading. It stays quick even when the cabin connection is barely there.

The numbers you keep checking

Altitude, ground speed, heading, and how much time you've got left. Every reading is stamped with when it last updated, so you know how fresh it is.

Down to the tail number

Both airports and the path between them, plus the small print from the manifest when it's there: tail number, winds aloft, outside temperature.

Weather along your route

When an internet connection is available, WeatherKit adds current conditions along your route. Supported airline portals can also supply weather readings.

Refreshes at your pace

Set how often it polls the manifest. Loading, stale, and offline each look different on screen, so you're never guessing which one you're looking at.

Metric or imperial, your call

Read speeds and altitudes the way you actually think about them. If it reads the wrong airline off the network, fix it in a tap.

No account. No ads.

Flight readings stay on the device unless you choose to send a support report. MapKit and WeatherKit fill in the map and weather; there is no account system and no advertising.

Supported airlines

These all run on in-flight Wi-Fi that CabinLink knows how to read. Pick yours if the network keeps it vague.

American

Southwest

United

Delta

Alaska

JetBlue

Lufthansa

Aeromexico

Aer Lingus

Air Canada

British Airways

Cathay Pacific

GOL

Hainan Airlines

Iberia

Japan Airlines

JTA

Vietnam Airlines

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Australia

Frequently asked

Do I need to buy Wi-Fi for it to work?

Usually not. CabinLink reads the flight manifest that supported in-flight networks hand out for free, often before you've paid for anything. An internet connection lets it add current weather, and it saves the last reading either way for when the signal drops.

Which airlines are supported?

Manifests from the major in-flight Wi-Fi providers, which covers carriers like American, Southwest, United, Delta, Alaska, JetBlue, Lufthansa, and British Airways, among others. If it reads the network wrong, you can set the airline yourself.

Which devices does it run on?

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro, all from one native SwiftUI codebase. Each version is shaped around its screen size and input model.

Does it track me or show ads?

No to both. There's no cross-app tracking and nothing sold to advertisers. Diagnostics or feedback only go out if you choose to send them.

Take it on your next flight

Free on the App Store. Grab it before you fly, connect to the cabin Wi-Fi, and it takes things from there.

Download on the App Store Contact support Accessibility Attributions

Reached #70 in the US Mac App Store’s Travel chart · June 2026

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