FAQ

Yes. Join the MySkyDex Discord to share spots, ask questions, and hang out with other sky watchers: https://discord.gg/zCTmwnpADm

You can browse Sky Now as a guest. To collect aircraft, keep a Hangar, unlock Ghosts and earn XP, create a free account and sign in.

Home is your fixed look-up point. Once set, the server keeps watching that area on a schedule, even if your tablet is off. You will see what passed while you were away when you next open MySkyDex.

When you allow location on Sky Now, MySkyDex can also watch the sky around you while you travel. Near Home, it switches back to Home-only watching so you are not tracking twice in the same place.

Sky updates on a short schedule (about every few minutes). If you hear a plane overhead and it is not on the map yet, signed-in users can tap Near refresh on Sky Now. That checks about 2 km around your active look-up points only — not the full watch map — and you get two of those refreshes per day (UTC). It is separate from the automatic sky update.

Yes. On Profile or setup, search a UK postcode or place name, or use the device location button. Manual coordinates are optional.

When an aircraft is close enough to spot, it becomes claimable. Tap I SEE IT! for a full-colour Hangar collectible, or I HEARD IT if you heard it but did not get a visual — that creates a blue record in Heard with less XP. If you hear it first, you can still tap I SEE IT NOW! on the same pass (or a later one) to add it to your Hangar.

Ghosts are aircraft that passed claimable range without being heard or seen. They stay greyscale until you catch that same aircraft later. Hearing unlocks a Ghost into Heard; seeing unlocks it into the Hangar.

Rarity uses Passes over you: how many times that aircraft has finished a pass through your Watch or Spot areas. The first completed pass is Ultra Rare, then Rare (2–10), Uncommon (11–50), and Common (51+). The badge, filters, and aircraft detail all use this same count. Flyovers detected covers those appearances too; claimable and missed counters only track Spot-range passes.

Live sky data often starts as a hex code and callsign. MySkyDex then looks up make, model, registration and photos from public aircraft databases (with Planespotters as a fallback). Some contacts stay sparse if no public record exists.

Yes. If you run readsb, dump1090 or tar1090 at home, open Profile and tap Connect my receiver. MySkyDex gives you a short setup code; on your Raspberry Pi run the installer from myskydex.co.uk. Your Pi only makes secure outbound requests — no port forwarding. MySkyDex still decides approaches, claims and rarity; OpenSky stays as the fallback if your feed goes quiet.

No, and it is not trying to. FlightRadar24 is excellent for live maps. MySkyDex is about collecting, remembering, and making the sky above you feel like a game you can grow over time.

It was built for Zach, an 11-year-old who loves aeroplanes. It is for families, spotters, and anyone who wants a warmer way to keep what they see in the sky.

Yes. MySkyDex is a personal project. Create an account and start spotting.

Yes — and MySkyDex works best with them on. You’ll be offered alerts when you register and reminded when you sign in if permission isn’t granted yet. On Profile, turn on Overhead alerts: web push for background pings where supported; in-app banner and sound while MySkyDex is open; email as a fallback when push is unavailable or did not deliver. Choose “Send me both” only if you want email and push together. Alerts also cover Ghost hangar returns (repeat flyovers). Every channel uses the same aircraft icon (and sound when MySkyDex is open).

Signed-in users can restart the tour from Profile, or open Sky Now with the tour link there.