Tracking your flight is much easier if you are flying with unified airline and use iPhone.
The Chicago-based airline became the first US airline to enable Live Activity on its iPhone app on Monday. Live Activity is a feature that shows up on your lock screen and is essentially an update notification that keeps you informed of what’s going on (without having to open a separate app).
Want more specific airline news? Sign up for TPG’s free biweekly Aviation newsletter.
In United’s rollout, travelers can see a second-by-second flight status tracker on their home screen. Before you start boarding, you’ll see a countdown timer until boarding time, along with the confirmation code, flight status, and departure gate.
Once boarding begins, the live activity will display a countdown until departure time. It will also show your seat number. After the flight departs, the notification will switch to the live flight tracker.
During your journey, clicking on this notification will open your boarding pass in the United app. When it’s time to land, the notification will update your arrival gate and baggage carousel number.
Those with the top iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max will even enjoy unlimited access to their flight status thanks to the phone’s Dynamic Island, which appears when the phone is unlocked.
Regardless of which app is ahead, you’ll always see a countdown timer to your flight departure and your seat number on Dynamic Island. Tapping at the top of the screen will also open the United app for easy access to your boarding pass.
United says travelers check their mobile boarding pass and flight status nearly 800,000 times a day, so this neat new feature will help get timely updates and find details. Important flights become easier and faster.
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Live operation is a feature that Released in iOS 16.1, released in October. Since then, we’ve seen a number of travel companies, including Uber and Lyft, build custom Live Activities into their apps. However, this is the first time an airline has added something similar.
To take advantage of United’s new notifications feature, make sure your iPhone is running iOS 16.1 or later. Remember to update the United app through the Apple App Store.
United’s mobile app arguably the strongest of all US airlines. It’s packed with features and lets you manage your entire travel itinerary without picking up the phone or talking to the phone or an airport representative. You can even drop off your checked baggage and skip the queues at the airport with Shortcut to drop bagall accessible through the mobile app.
It’s great to see United roll out Apple Live Activities, even if the move comes almost nine months after the feature’s launch. When Apple announced iOS 16 last June, Live Activity was one of the top travel-focused innovations.
While many first-party apps were updated with Live Activity support from the start, third-party developers were not quick to implement this functionality. Now that United has built this support, it is hoped that other airlines will follow suit.
Until then, all eyes are on Apple, as the tech giant is expected to unveil the next generation of mobile software in less than two weeks at the Worldwide Developers Conference. annual.
Hopefully, more travel-focused upgrades are on the way.
