Apple brings native flight tracking support to iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan

An unannounced feature rolling out in Apple's upcoming iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan operating systems will let users view up-to-date airline flight status, as well as a preview of projected flight paths, using specially crafted data detectors.

Discovered by a Reddit user on Wednesday, Apple's new flight tracking feature is already functional in the latest iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan beta builds, though data detectors are for now limited to Mail, Messages and Notes.

As seen in the GIF image below, when iOS 9 beta detects a flight number, in this case Delta #2182, it transforms the text into an actionable link connected to data pulled from an offsite server. A long press on said link brings up options to preview flight information or copy text.

Information consists of flight numbers, current flight status, departure and arrival times, relevant airport terminals and an animation of the flight's path presented in Apple Maps. Status is clearly defined at the top-right, with options including "Early," "Delayed" and "Landed," while departure and arrival times are shown at the bottom with to-the-minute accuracy.

The same information can be found in OS X El Capitan, but instead of a long press, users access flight data with a right click.

Apple is expected to release iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan this fall.