The new update is a game changer for passengers who don't have a smartwatch, as the key information can be seen on their phone lock screens.
Traveling in the post-pandemic era within the aviation industry can sometimes be a little more stressful than usual. Having a game plan or at least some helpful way of getting required reminders before and on the travel day is crucial for an enjoyable experience. Fortunately for passengers, such a personal travel assistant exists.
Meet the App In The Air, a mobile application available on the Apple Store, Google Play, and the Galaxy Store. Designed for the modern flyer, the mobile application allows passengers to plan, book, track, and manage their travels and has over 7 million users worldwide. And following Apple's iOS 16 update this month, the mobile application released a new functional tool. Let's take a look.
Before the iOS 16 update from Apple, App In The Air was more of an Apple Watch favored application for its easy delivery of information through the smartwatch. All passengers had to do was bring up their wrists for a glance at critical travel information from the application. Unfortunately for iPhone users without a smartwatch, a glimpse of such information required unlocking the phone, taking up slightly more time and effort.
Since the iOS 16 update allowed for lock screen widget customizations to allow users quick access to crucial information from their favorite apps without unlocking the handset, App In The Air launched its iOS 16 widget. Once the widget is included on passengers' iPhone lock screen, they would only need to glance at their handsets to view the details of their trip in real-time.
The widget displays important information such as boarding start and end times, security wait times, which gate to go to, take-off times and flight durations, and the weather in their current and final destination, all without the need to unlock the handset and open the mobile app itself. The widget also allows passengers to start a count down to their trip from their lock screens, which is the perfect way to build excitement or act as a reminder.
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Even if passengers are not Apple users, they can still enjoy App In The Air for most of what it offers, minus the new widget. Besides the typical flight bookings and information tool, the mobile application also has features allowing passengers to search for the most eco-friendly flights for their trip and allows passengers to conduct automatic check-ins.
Baggage rules, Augmented Reality (AR) baggage scanners, flight status alerts, and even flight reviews of global airlines are available via the mobile app. And as though those tools weren't enough, App In The Air has a search and booking tool for hotels for optimal itinerary planning and even last-minute changes, such as if there are flight cancelations and passengers need to find a hotel.
And while it might not be such an important feature, it could prove to be fun with co-workers, friends, and family as App In The Air has a leaderboard feature. By gathering statistics for all flights flown, passengers can compete in a global leaderboard and a friends leaderboard, alongside obtaining achievement badges from countries visited and types of aircraft flown. In a way, App In The Air can become a sort of game when it is not urgently needed as a virtual travel assistant.
Have you ever tried using App In The Air? Would you try it for your future travels? Let us know in the comments!
Journalist - Charlotte is currently pursuing a full-time undergraduate degree majoring in Aviation Business Administration and minoring in Air Traffic Management. Charlotte previously wrote for AirlineGeeks. Based in Singapore.