Improvements for flights with the iPhone: Apple Wallet sherlocks Flighty
Many users already insert their boarding pass into the Apple Wallet. In future, this will be much more intelligent – which attacks independent apps.
Flight functions in iOS 26: live activity, boarding pass, navigation at the airport.
(Image: Apple)
With apps such as Flighty or Mileways, iPhone users have a convenient way of tracking current flights: The apps also show real-time data, for example exact departure times from the gate or delays, for example for arriving planes with which you are supposed to continue your flight. There are also useful live activities that keep the data up to date at all times. But Apple also seems to be interested in these useful features. With iOS 26, some of them will be integrated directly into the operating system. It could therefore be that Flighty & Co. will soon be “sherlocked”, as it is called when Apple copies functions from third-party apps and makes them (almost) superfluous.
The Apple Wallet can do more
The Apple Wallet is the central point of contact for future flight functions. The boarding passes from the airlines' official apps are already usually stored there, so you can quickly show them on your iPhone or Apple Watch when boarding. The problem: until now, digital boarding passes have been static. This will change with iOS 26: they can now be customized “live”. To this end, Apple is planning to cooperate with major airlines. Lufthansa, Delta, American, United, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Air Canada, Jetstar, Jet Blue and Southwest have already been announced.
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In the future, all these airlines want to support live activities linked directly to the boarding pass, which will allow real-time tracking of the flight – including details of the gate and/or baggage carousel number. It will also be possible to share these with friends, family, and acquaintances. Apple is also integrating the new “Where is?” function for luggage from iOS 18 and navigation from gate to gate via the Maps app (for most major airports). Even standby lists and upgrade options will be included in the digital boarding passes.
Is all this “good enough”?
Whether the new boarding passes in Apple Wallet will have all the functions of Flighty & Co. is still unclear. The so-called Passport, for example, seems to be a unique selling point that graphically presents all previous flights. However, it can be assumed that the range of features is “good enough”, which may prevent some users from paying for a subscription to the third-party app in the future.
iOS 26 and watchOS 26 with the new boarding passes will be released in fall 2025. A developer beta is already available, followed by a pre-release version for the public next month.
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