SimpleAvWx

Frequently asked questions

Can I use SimpleAvWx for flight planning?

No. SimpleAvWx is not an FAA-approved source of weather or flight information. Use it for a quick look, then get an official briefing from a source such as 1800wxbrief.com or aviationweather.gov. See the Terms of Use.

Where does the weather come from?

METARs and TAFs come from the NOAA / National Weather Service Aviation Weather Center. D-ATIS and RVR come from FAA feeds. The hourly and 10-day outlook comes from Apple Weather. Radar comes from the National Weather Service and the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, and lightning from NOAA's GOES satellites. Weather goes through the SimpleAvWx server first, so it can be a few minutes behind the original source.

Where do flight positions and delays come from?

Flight and delay information comes from FAA System Wide Information Management (SWIM) feeds, processed by SimpleAvWx. It is not official FAA information and may be delayed, incomplete or unavailable during outages. Do not use it as the sole source for flight-safety, law-enforcement or legal decisions. Aircraft enrolled in the FAA LADD program are not shown. Owners can request LADD listing at faa.gov/pilots/ladd. Planned maintenance and outages are posted under Service notices.

Why is an airport square gray?

Gray means there's no current METAR for that airport, or the report is missing what's needed to set a flight category. Not every airport reports weather. In Low Data Mode, airports outside My Trip stay gray until you tap them.

Why is there no TAF, D-ATIS, or RVR for my airport?

Only some airports issue TAFs, and only some publish D-ATIS or RVR. Search results show which of these each airport has.

What's the difference between My Trip and My Airports?

My Trip is for the airports on your current trip. My Airports holds everything else you've saved. Double-tap a square to move it between them. See Airport Grid.

How do I delete an airport?

Long-press its square and tap Delete, or open it and choose ⋯ → Delete Airport. To delete several, use ⋯ → Select Airports.

Why does the “Not For Navigation” warning come back?

The app asks you to acknowledge the warning again from time to time as a reminder. Tap Agree to continue.

Do I need to allow location access?

No. Location is only used on the map (Near Me and showing where you are), and it never leaves your iPhone. Notifications are optional too. They're used only for delay alerts. You can change this any time in the iPhone Settings app → Privacy & Security → Location Services → SimpleAvWx.

Does SimpleAvWx collect my data or show ads?

There are no ads, no analytics, no tracking, and no account. To get weather, the app sends airport codes and airport search text to our server, which keeps them with your IP address in its logs for 14 days for security and operations, then deletes them. If you track flights or use delay alerts, the app also sends flight codes, tail numbers, and airports to our server to look them up. Your location never leaves your iPhone. Your saved airports sync through your own private iCloud, which we can't access. See the Privacy Policy for exactly what is sent where.

How much data does it use?

Weather reports are small text files. The radar map uses more because it downloads map images. Turn on Low Data Mode in Settings to download weather only for My Trip and the airports you tap.

Which devices does it run on?

SimpleAvWx is for iPhone.

Does SimpleAvWx show delays or EDCTs?

Yes, for the flights in your imported schedule. Ground stops, ground delay programs, airspace flow programs, and EDCTs appear under each flight in the map's flight panel, with an optional notification. EDCTs need My Airline set. It's informational only. See Delays & EDCT.

Why didn't I get a delay notification?

SimpleAvWx checks only while it's open on screen, and only for the sequence shown in My Trip. It can't notify you while it's closed. Also check that notifications are allowed in the iPhone Settings app → Notifications → SimpleAvWx.

Which airlines work with flight tracking?

You can choose any of 16 airlines as My Airline: American, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue, Frontier, Hawaiian, Allegiant, Sun Country, SkyWest, Republic, Envoy, Endeavor, PSA, and Piedmont. Without an airline, you can still follow an airplane by its tail number, or look up any current flight by its flight code (for example AAL1927) or tail number. See Flight tracking.

How long are saved flights kept?

A flight you track is saved on your iPhone after it ends. If you don't tap Save, it's deleted after 10 days. Saved flights stay until you delete them. See Saved flights.

Something's wrong or missing. How do I tell you?

Please contact support. Include the airport code and the time (UTC) if it's about a weather report.

Where the data comes from