To receive live ADS-B traffic on the Drone Pilot ADS-B app, you need an ADS-B receiver that is running pilotADSBos. You can purchase one from pilotADSB.com — fully optimized for Bluetooth communication and ready to fly out of the box — or build your own, or use one you already own or bought elsewhere. If you build your own or buy elsewhere, the unit needs to be based on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ or Pi 4B with at least a 1090ES SDR radio. Optional but highly recommended are a USB GNSS receiver, dual SDR radios, and a pressure or AHRS sensor. All of our receivers ship with a BME280 pressure sensor for correct altitude separation values. Not ready to buy? The app includes a full library of recorded ADS-B data so you can explore every feature before committing to any hardware.

Android: version 8.0 (Oreo) or higher, with 10 or higher recommended. Bluetooth ADS-B connectivity requires Bluetooth 4.0 BLE support, which is standard on all modern Android devices. iPhone and iPad: see the App Store listing for the current minimum iOS version.

Yes — the app is fully optimized for both phones and tablets. A larger tablet screen gives you a bigger map view, which many drone pilots prefer when monitoring airspace during a flight. The interface adapts automatically to your screen size.

Yes — Drone Pilot ADS-B is available for iPhone and iPad. Download it on the App Store. The Android version is on Google Play. Your subscription is handled by whichever store you download from.

Not today — your drone controller already shows you your drone, and Drone Pilot ADS-B is focused on the airspace around you as the pilot. That said, we're building Remote ID (RID) support that will show your drone's position on the map — and not just yours, but other drones in the area too. More news on that soon. In the meantime you can import your flight route or mission perimeter via KML to see your planned boundary against any approaching air traffic or listed obstacles.

The app provides both audible voice callouts and on-screen visual alerts so you can keep your eyes on the sky and your drone. Every alert is highly specific and fires according to the rules you set — the callout tells you the direction, altitude, and distance of the aircraft or object of concern. You can fully customize alert rules, distances, altitude thresholds, and which aircraft to mute individually.

No — live ADS-B traffic comes directly from your receiver via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and requires no internet. However, internet is highly recommended for the best experience. Features including weather radar, TFRs, LAANC zones, wind data, and the background map all require an active internet connection. Our pilotADSB Receiver supports Bluetooth, which keeps your phone on its normal cellular or Wi-Fi connection so all features work seamlessly. See our setup tutorials for configuration options.

ADS-B traffic reception works worldwide — the 1090 MHz frequency is a global standard. The app supports both feet and meters to accommodate pilots everywhere. Some features currently provide data for the USA only, including LAANC zones, weather, wind, obstacles, power lines, and pipelines. We are actively working to add international data for these features as it becomes available.

Quite a lot! Without a receiver you can still access the background map, weather radar, TFR alerts, LAANC authorization zones, obstacle layers (towers, power lines, pipelines), and the search tool — all with just an internet connection. You can also use our built-in library of recorded real ADS-B flight sessions to see exactly how the app behaves with live traffic, test your custom alert rules, and explore every setting before your receiver arrives.

Yes — provided it is the right hardware and it is running our firmware. Drone Pilot ADS-B is guaranteed to work with an ADS-B receiver based on the Raspberry Pi 3B+ or Pi 4B running our free pilotADSBos, including hardware sold as a Stratux. What makes a Stratux a Stratux is really the firmware on the SD card. Stratux is an open-source platform with several versions available online, and the core functionality is broadly similar. However, we built pilotADSBos from the ground up, and while there are some similarities, the operating system is completely different. The app requires our free OS, which is available for download on the BYOD page.

Four ways, and you can switch between them at any time:

1. Bluetooth — the simplest, and it leaves your phone's internet connection untouched.
2. Wi-Fi, using a router or hotspot sitting between your phone and the receiver.
3. Your phone's own hotspot, with the receiver joining it — this keeps your phone's internet service live.
4. The receiver's own hotspot, with your phone joining it. No internet on this one.

We spent a lot of development time getting Bluetooth right between the app and the pilotADSB Receiver, and it works very nicely.

Our receiver ships pre-built, pre-tested, and pre-configured — ready to use in 60 seconds. It runs our custom pilotADSBos firmware, which enables Bluetooth GDL90 (so your phone stays on cellular for maps, weather and everything else), optimized SDR gain settings for maximum range, and reliable internet passthrough. Every unit is tested before shipping. It also includes a full year of the Drone Pilot ADS-B app subscription — a $99.99 value at no extra charge.

No. The receiver must be running our free pilotADSBos, which adds the seamless Bluetooth integration the app depends on. You can buy a pre-flashed 8GB SD card from us, or flash the image yourself. Swapping is simply a matter of changing SD cards — and if you ever need to run the Stratux OS again, power the receiver off and swap the card back. See the BYOD page for download and flashing instructions for pilotADSBos.

The app is free to download and includes a full one-month free trial. A payment method is required to start the trial, and you are not charged during it — cancel any time before it ends and you pay nothing. If you don't cancel, your subscription starts automatically at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. If you purchase a pilotADSB Receiver, you receive a full year of the app included free — a $99.99 value, activated automatically the first time you connect, with no subscription and no payment method required.

Yes — your subscription covers up to 3 active devices under the store account you bought it from, whether that is your Google Play account or your Apple Account. This means you can run the app on your phone, tablet, and a spare device simultaneously under a single subscription.

Subscriptions are managed through the app store you bought them from. Android (Google Play): open the Play Store app → tap your profile icon → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions → Drone Pilot ADS-B → Cancel. iPhone or iPad (App Store): open Settings → tap your name → Subscriptions → Drone Pilot ADS-B → Cancel Subscription. Your access continues until the end of the paid billing period.

Never. Your GPS location is processed in real time on your device and is never stored on our servers or shared with any third party. We do not run ads and we do not sell user data. Read our full Privacy Policy for complete details.

Yes — through our community forum. All support questions are handled in our pilot community forum rather than by email. This way every question and answer is visible to all users, other pilots can help each other, and solutions are searchable so the next person with the same question finds the answer instantly. Our team monitors the forum actively and jumps in where needed.

Our Tutorials page provides step-by-step video guides covering every feature in the app — from initial setup and receiver connection to advanced alert rules, recording, and playback. We also have a detailed Troubleshooting guide for common issues.

Check our Troubleshooting guide first — it covers the most common issues with step-by-step fixes for connection problems, GPS issues, map not loading, and more. If you are still stuck, post in our community forum with your device model, your Android or iOS version, and a description of the issue. Our team and fellow pilots monitor the forum actively and we fix reported problems fast.