7 Android apps I open before every flight

Your phone can make your flight less stressful, easier, and more fun, but only if you prepare in advance. Trying to set everything up last minute—or while you’re on your flight—is a disaster waiting to happen. These apps, including entertainment, information, and essential documents, are the apps I always open before every flight.

Get the important documents first

Wallet: confirm your boarding pass, ID, and travel documents are accessible

Traveling always involves a handful of documents: your ID, your tickets, and maybe your passport. Whenever I travel, I always make sure to double-check all of these things in advance.

Airport networks are notoriously spotty, and the last thing I want is to realize I don’t actually have my plane tickets loaded into Google Wallet correctly. Whether you’re using an iPhone or an Android, open your wallet app and verify that your pass is saved for offline use. If you use digital IDs, do the same for your digital passport or ID.

As an added precaution, I screenshot everything really important and upload it to my cloud storage in advance, just in case an app decides to glitch out at the wrong time, or I lose my primary device and need to use a backup.

Check your airline app

Modern airlines all have dedicated apps that keep you updated on your gate, flight times, and other essential details. However, there is one unfortunate snag I run into relatively frequently: push notifications can be a bit unreliable.

7/10

SoC

Google Tensor G4

Display

6.3-inch Actua display

RAM

8GB

Storage

128 or 256GB

The Google Pixel 10a is a barely updated version of the Google Pixel 9a, with a slightly brighter screen and an upgrade from Gorilla Glass 3 to Gorilla Glass 7i. Google has shaved the remaining few millimeters from the camera bump, making it completely flat. Unlike prior versions of the Pixel a series, this model year does not share the same Tensor processor as the mainline Pixel 10.

Push notifications often lag or fail entirely, which has left me walking toward the wrong gate when I’m already barely on time. Now, I always open the airline app manually to verify my current gate and check for any other important changes.

While you’re in the app, verify your seat assignment (which changes too often for my liking) or check for any last-minute upgrade availability. Some apps even allow you to pre-order food or access lounge information, which is a nice—albeit small—convenience.

Load up your entertainment

Don’t assume the plane has the entertainment you want

The movies and shows available on a flight are always a bit hit or miss, and in-flight Wi-Fi is not reliable enough that I’m going to trust 8 hours of entertainment to it.

Regardless of what streaming services you use, make sure to download enough content to get you through your flight before you reach the airport. If you wait until you’re on the runway, you’re stuck hoping that 5G will be fast enough to deliver a few gigabytes of content to you and at least a hundred other people on your flight doing the same thing.

I usually opt for a mix of audiobooks and TV to ensure I can switch when I inevitably get bored of binging the same show after 4 hours.

Grab a relaxation app for when entertainment is too much

If flying makes you anxious, or you’re going to be on a particularly long flight, you should grab some kind of relaxation app. It doesn’t need to be guided breathing or meditation—even a white noise or brown noise generator will do.

When you don’t want to watch TV, listen to music, or an audiobook, it is nice to have something else to turn on to drown out the ambient noises of your flight.

Just remember to download the specific sessions or sounds in advance so they work correctly in airplane mode.

Download a game

There are times when no show, movie, or audiobook grabs my attention. In those moments, I’m always glad to have a game or two on my phone to distract me. I’ve been slowly replaying Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic over the last year or two. I basically only play it while I’m flying, so it has lasted quite a while!

I’d stick to offline games, since Wi-Fi on flights can be spotty or non-existent, but there are dozens of great options out there.

There are some great utility apps

Most in-flight infotainment systems can also give you information about your flight’s status, but I prefer to use a third-party application for that instead. It gives me more information to keep me occupied. Flightradar24 and FlightAware are both good options.

Because they provide real-time data for flights, I’ve occasionally been able to spot that my flight is going to be delayed before my airline app officially lets me know. It also gives me a chance to take note of any interesting locations I’m flying over, which gives me a way to pass the time when I’m on a particularly long, boring flight.

For those who get nervous during the flight, these apps often provide turbulence forecasts and route maps. Knowing exactly where you are and what to expect from the weather ahead can make those sudden jolts less alarming.

Phyphox turns your phone into a tiny physics lab

If you want to make the entire flight more interesting, you should install Phyphox. Phyphox app turns your phone’s internal sensors—the accelerometer, barometer, and gyroscope—into scientific measurement tools.

You can track the cabin pressure changes as you ascend and descend, measure the jolts from turbulence, or figure out how quickly your plane is accelerating during takeoff.

It’s a great way to engage with the physics of flight rather than just staring at the back of the seat in front of you.

The routine takes less time than boarding and pays off for the entire flight

Always double-check apps related to your documents first, entertainment second, and utility apps as a bonus. This entire routine takes me about 8 minutes total, which is usually less time than I spend waiting for my boarding group to be called.