Support

Need help, found a bug or have an idea? Email eastonlindsay.projects@gmail.com. It helps to say which iPhone and iOS version you’re using, roughly where you were, and what you were doing when the problem happened.

How to play

Choose what to guess: Origin (where it flew from), Destination (where it’s going; planes climbing after take-off are listed first) or Model (what aircraft it is).
Pick a plane you can see overhead, on the map or from the nearby planes list.
Make your guess: an airport, city or country, or a model such as A320, 737-800 or Dreamliner.
Reveal the answer. An exact airport, city or model scores most; the right country, or the right family of aircraft (say, a 737 when it’s a 737-800), scores less.
An exact guess parks that aircraft in that mode’s hangar. Each mode keeps its own scores and hangar.

Playing with friends

Tap the friends button (two people) at the top of the map, beside the Logbook. A game has its own scoreboard: the most planes found wins, with points breaking a tie. End the game from the map to see the final standings. Every game, pass and play or live, also adds to the all-time leaderboard in Logbook › Multiplayer.

Your name in every game is the one in Settings, and it can’t be changed during setup. If you change it in Settings, your past games and your place on the leaderboard follow you under the new name. If someone in a live game already has your name, a number is added to yours (“Sam 2”).

Pass and play: 2–4 spotters share one iPhone. Everyone types a guess, then the reveal scores them.
Live: 2–4 players, each on their own iPhone. The host taps Host a game and reads out its four-character code; the others enter it and tap Join game. No account is needed. The host picks each plane, everyone has 30 seconds to guess, and the other players’ maps follow the host’s.

Live game rules

Hosting or joining a live game means you agree to these rules. There is no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive players.

No offensive, hateful, sexual or threatening names or guesses.
No harassing, bullying or impersonating other players.
Don’t share personal details (yours or anyone else’s) in names or guesses.

Anyone who breaks these rules can be reported, blocked and removed from the game. We review reports and act on them within 24 hours, and may block a name or word from live games.

Someone in a live game is using an offensive name or guesses.

Tap a player in the live game to open a report email or block them. Send the email to submit your report. Blocking hides their name and guesses from your live view for that game. The host can also long-press a player to remove them. You can email eastonlindsay.projects@gmail.com with the game’s code, roughly when you played, and what was said. Live games are deleted from our server soon after they end, so please report within a day.

Common questions

There are no planes on the map.

Try zooming out or panning toward a nearby airport. Coverage comes from volunteers’ receivers, so some areas (especially at sea and in remote places) have few or none. If the chip at the top says the feed is unavailable, check your signal; the app retries on its own.

The route says “No public route match”.

Private and general-aviation flights often have no public route. When the server can’t work out where the plane took off from its track either, the round can’t be verified, and the app shows what the aircraft’s transponder code reveals instead (such as the country it’s registered in). In Model mode it is still scored from the aircraft type when that is known.

The map doesn’t start where I am.

The app needs location permission to centre the map on you. Tap the location chip at the top of the map, or go to the iPhone’s Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Guess That Plane and choose While Using the App. Your precise GPS position stays on your phone; flight-data and map providers only see the approximate area the map is showing.

How do I sync between my devices or move to a new phone?

In Settings, tap Sign in with Apple on each device with the same Apple ID. Your rounds, hangar and settings then sync automatically whenever the app is open and online. If both the iPhone and your account already have history, you can merge them or use the account’s. Signing in is optional, and it’s the only way to move your history between devices. Scores from the Guess That Plane website stay in your browser.

Each account can sync a few thousand changes a day, so a very large history may take until the next day to upload in full. The app carries on by itself.

How do I delete my account?

Settings › Account › Delete account. This permanently deletes your synced data from our server and disconnects Sign in with Apple. What’s on your iPhone stays; use Reset all data to remove that too.

How do I start again?

Settings › Danger zone › Reset all data. If you’re signed in, reset signs you out first; your account keeps its copy.

Credits

Live aircraft from the community networks adsb.lol (ODbL) and adsb.fi. Routes from the VRS standing data; aircraft details from ADSBdb. Origins of flights without a published route are read from the plane’s adsb.lol track and matched to airports from OurAirports. Map from OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data from © OpenStreetMap contributors.