Comparison

Skyty Wall vs MODE 1090

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Skyty Wall

Features
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Skyty Wall turns any spare iPad, iPhone or Mac into an ambient flight board — a live display of the aircraft overhead, rendered in the style that suits your room. Others sell €500 LED panels or €3,000 split-flap walls. Skyty Wall is pure software on hardware you already own. €4.99, one payment, forever. THREE THEMES AT LAUNCH • LED — Amber dot-matrix on black with bloom and scanlines. Homage to the classic airport flight wall. Free tier. • Split-flap — Cream flaps on dark wood. Every character flips when the list changes. Vestaboard homage. Premium. • Minimal — Cream paper, editorial serif, hairline dividers. High-contrast and quiet — for rooms that prefer understated. Premium. LIVE DATA, REAL FLIGHTS Skyty Wall pulls real-time ADS-B data from adsb.lol (no hardware needed — just internet). 8-second refresh means you see flights enter and leave your radius as they happen. Tap any aircraft to see its airline, route, and type. KIOSK-READY FOR THAT OLD IPAD Mount an iPad on the wall, set the radius around your home, and leave it running. Skyty Wall keeps the screen on while the board is visible, hides its own chrome after five seconds, and handles network drops gracefully with stale-data indicators. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No analytics. No third-party SDKs. Your saved locations sync via your own iCloud — we never see them. That's a design decision, not a privacy promise to renegotiate later. PREMIUM — €4.99 LIFETIME • All three themes, on every device you own • Focus mode — one flight, huge. Auto-follow the closest or pin a specific callsign • Directional "window mount" filter — only watch the slice of sky the device is facing • Unlimited saved locations • Flight enrichment — airline, route and aircraft type on every row • Live Activity on iPhone — closest aircraft overhead on your Lock Screen • All widgets (S, M, L) with route and aircraft type • Custom accent colour per location • Family Sharing included One payment. No subscription. No in-app nags. Free tier stays free and useful (one location, LED theme, basic widget) — Premium unlocks the rest. DEVICES • iOS 17+ • iPadOS 17+ (primary surface) • macOS 14+ (window modes for ambient desktop display) • Universal Purchase — buy once, runs everywhere ABOUT THE MAKER Skyty Wall is made by the same team behind Skyty, the offline GPS flight tracker for passengers. Skyty is for people in the air; Skyty Wall is for people on the ground, looking up. hello@skyty.app

About

MODE 1090

Features
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Know what's flying overhead. Track aircraft live, point your iPhone at the sky and turn real sightings into your own aircraft collection. Start with live radar, scanning and collecting for free. No account needed to get started. YOUR SKY, LIVE • See nearby aircraft on a clear radar with altitude, speed and aircraft photos when available. • Explore the interactive flight map, browse the list of nearby aircraft and watch aircraft arriving at or departing from an airport. • Switch between aircraft silhouettes, ATC data blocks and a minimal radar view. SCAN IT. COLLECT IT. • Point your iPhone at an aircraft to find out what you're looking at. No photo upload needed. • Collect real sightings across aircraft types, airlines and registrations. Add notes and revisit your scan history. • See your collected aircraft on the map, complete daily missions, earn XP, level up and unlock achievements. • Share the hobby with friends and compare your progress. GET CLOSER WITH MODE 1090 PRO • Rotate, zoom and explore available 3D aircraft models and liveries. • Search live aircraft worldwide by callsign, registration or ICAO code, then follow a flight on the map. • Discover flight routes when available, save more aircraft favorites and revisit flight history. • Keep airport spotting in view with Live Activities on supported iPhones, where available. • Enjoy radar without the inactivity pause, spoken aviation callouts in English, custom radar colors and app icons. • Export your sighting notes for use beyond the app. ON YOUR PHONE, TABLET AND WRIST Enjoy spotting on iPhone and iPad, with a live radar on Apple Watch. With an optional account, you can sync your collection for free between iPhone and iPad. You can also export your collection data. No ads. Camera images stay on your device. Flight coverage, routes and model availability vary. MODE 1090 is for plane spotting and observation, not navigation or flight operations. MODE 1090 Pro is an optional subscription. It renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Privacy: https://mode1090.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Support: https://mode1090.com/support

Screenshots

Skyty Wall4 screens
MODE 10904 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: MODE 1090 at 5 against Skyty Wall's 3. MODE 1090 also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Skyty Wall sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and MODE 1090 sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Skyty Wall ships an update fortnightly, MODE 1090 weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Skyty Wall versus MODE 1090: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSkyty WallMODE 1090
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size83 MB201 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKim EngelsAlexander Stolte

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Skyty Wall

One-time1
  • Skyty Wall Premium$3.99
2 purchases

MODE 1090

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Annually$34.991 Year

Questions

Is Skyty Wall free?
Skyty Wall is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MODE 1090 free?
MODE 1090 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Skyty Wall or MODE 1090 have ads?
Neither Skyty Wall nor MODE 1090 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Skyty Wall or MODE 1090?
Skyty Wall ships an update fortnightly, and MODE 1090 weekly. Most recently, Skyty Wall was updated on October 11, 2026 and MODE 1090 on October 16, 2026.

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