Mini Radar vs Overhead
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mini Radar
View live aircraft around you on a radar scope or in augmented reality. Get detailed information on each plane, customize your view, and set alerts for favorite aircraft. Ideal for aviation enthusiasts and curious minds.
- Live radar scope
- AR Sky View
- Aircraft details
- Customizable views
- Favorites and alerts
- Apple Watch support
- Dynamic Island integration
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Mini Radar shows the aircraft flying around you, live, on a clean radar scope. It's built on adsb.fi — a free, community-run ADS-B network. Volunteers around the world run small receivers and share what they pick up, and that shared feed is what you see. No account, no subscription, no ads. WHAT YOU GET • A live radar centered on you — or anywhere you search • Tap any aircraft for details: type, registration, altitude, speed, heading, squawk, and route (origin to destination) when available • Switch between a classic radar scope and a satellite map backdrop • Pinch, double-tap, or drag to zoom — from a few miles out to 250 NM • Color aircraft by type (commercial, private, helicopter, glider, military…) or by altitude, or switch on distinct per-type icons • North-up or heading-up — one tap on the compass button rotates the scope (radar or satellite) so the direction you're facing is up • A live contacts list and class filters, right on the scope • Sweep or pulse animation — your choice • A nearest-aircraft compass that always points to the closest plane POINT AT THE SKY • AR Sky View — hold up your phone and see the aircraft overhead, labeled in real space; pinch to zoom in ON YOUR WRIST • A standalone Apple Watch radar — zoom with the Digital Crown, tap a plane for details ALWAYS-ON GLANCE • Dynamic Island and Lock Screen tracking for what's overhead — your favorites, or any aircraft nearby, with a live bearing arrow FAVORITES & ALERTS • Star aircraft by tail number, callsign, or hex — they're highlighted whenever they appear nearby • Optional alert when a favorite comes within 10 NM of you (opt-in; uses background location only while it's turned on) SAVED PLACES • Save and name locations to jump between them • Choose what the radar opens to: your live location, the nearest airport, or a saved spot MADE TO READ EASILY • Colorblind-friendly palette • Light, dark, or automatic theme A NOTE ON COVERAGE Because the data comes from volunteer receivers, coverage is best where people are feeding and can have gaps elsewhere. Not every aircraft broadcasts ADS-B, and route lookups aren't available for every flight. Mini Radar is for curiosity and learning — not for navigation or any operational use. Want better coverage where you live? Anyone can become a feeder with a Raspberry Pi, an RTL-SDR dongle, and an antenna. There's a short how-to inside the app. Data by adsb.fi. Route information by adsbdb.
Overhead
Explore the sky with an augmented reality view that overlays aircraft, celestial bodies, and space events onto your surroundings. Track flights, identify stars, and get real-time sky event notifications.
- Augmented reality flight tracking
- Real-time star and planet identification
- ISS and celestial event forecasts
- Clear-sky prediction
- Live aircraft details and photos
- Airport mode with live arrivals/departures
- Learn to Spot aircraft identification guide
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Overhead is a flight radar and a star map in one AR view. Hold up your iPhone and every aircraft overhead appears at its true position, next to the Sun, Moon, planets, stars and the International Space Station. Sky events list ISS passes, eclipses, meteor showers and aurora watches for where you stand, such as the Geminids on 13 December and the Quadrantids on 3 January. Hold your iPhone up and the sky explains itself. Every aircraft overhead appears in augmented reality at its true position, with its airline, type, destination and often a photo of the exact airframe. The Sun, the Moon at tonight's phase, the visible planets, 1,600 stars and their constellations, and the International Space Station share the same sky, all placed by on-device astronomy. Overhead also predicts when a plane will cross the face of the Moon or Sun from exactly where you stand, and counts you down to the moment, shutter ready. • A photographic Moon and Sun: built from NASA imagery, lit for tonight's phase and tilted the way they appear in your own sky. • Clear-sky forecast: every dark hour scored for cloud, darkness and moonlight, with your best window to look up, and an optional heads-up before a clear evening. • Live aircraft with routes and photos: when a flight is visibly landing somewhere other than its filed route says, Overhead tells you. • Airport mode: pick any airport and fly over it in 3D, with every arrival and departure moving live. • Favorites and Focus: follow one flight with a find-it arrow, in the Dynamic Island and on your Lock Screen. • Sky sounds: every nearby plane becomes a 3D-positioned engine hum. Close your eyes and point at the sound. Best with AirPods. • Sky events: solar and lunar eclipses computed for your location, meteor showers, full moons and solstices. • ISS transit forecasts: Overhead works out, days ahead, the second the Space Station will cross the Sun or Moon from where you stand. • Ask Siri: "What's flying over me?" or "Will it be clear tonight?" • StandBy Moon clock for your nightstand. Apple Watch shows your next ISS pass. • Dark-sky mode: the full star map with the camera off, kind to your battery and your night vision. • Learn to Spot: an illustrated guide under Profile to 47 aircraft types, by nose, wings, tail and engines. Tick them off when you see them and earn rare-plane medals. Overhead Pro: yearly, monthly or lifetime Overhead is free to download. Overhead Pro adds: • Time Machine: set the whole sky to any date within a year. Stand under next month's eclipse tonight. • Event previews: see any sky event in your sky, right from its page. • Unlimited aircraft details and unlimited favorite airports. Every future Pro feature is included. Choose yearly (7-day free trial), monthly (3-day free trial) or a one-time lifetime purchase. Yearly and monthly renew automatically until you cancel in your Apple Account settings. Pro is shared through Family Sharing, and purchases can be restored from the Overhead Pro page. Terms of Use: https://celestial-beacon-site.lovable.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://celestial-beacon-site.lovable.app/privacy No account. No ads. No tracking. The sky is computed on your iPhone; live aircraft come from public flight feeds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mini Radar at none against Overhead's 3. Mini Radar also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 days) and ratings volume (11 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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
Both are free to download. Overhead sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Mini Radar asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Mini Radar against 5.0 for Overhead. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mini Radar has 11 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Mini Radar ships an update every 2 days, Overhead every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mini Radar | Overhead |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (11 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 11 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Grey80227563111 | Hemal Modi |
Customer experience
Mini Radar
Overhead
In-app purchases
Mini Radar
No in-app purchases
Overhead
- Overhead Pro Monthly3 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Overhead Pro Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Overhead Pro$24.99









