I made a fun guessing game for plane spotters; an app for your iPhone, with a voice-first interface.

I wanted to turn a little game that I play with one of my friends into a polished little experience for iOS.

Living under a flight path, we’d often have to stop talking when a plane goes overhead. We made a game of it; we’d guess where the plane was coming from, where it’s going, what airline, and the model (if we’re feeling really nerdy). Then, we’d check on FlightRadar24 later to see if we were right, and that was it.

I wondered if I could design, and build, a really lightweight prototype of this game experience for iOS; with a focus on quick invocation.

I designed a solution that would:

1. Get the user’s current location when invoked
2. Call a flight tracking API (including the user’s location etc)
3. Record the users guess (via voice)
4. Compare the results and score
5. Present a scorecard to the user

So I drew up a little process diagram, wrote a PRD, and designed a couple of screens. Then, I tapped Claude Code on the shoulder.

I got a prototype up and running in an afternoon. All you had to do was speak to Siri; “Spot a plane” to kick things off and scan the skies.

Then Siri would ask you to make your guess; and you’d reply. You could say it however you like, “A Qantas plane landing in SYD”, or “From Melbourne, a Jetstar flight”. Or even, “Singapore Airlines, wait no, Qantas, wait no actually Emirates…”

Once your guess was made, you’d get your scorecard. The actual flight on the left, and the guess written in handwriting on the right (pictured in the gallery below).

I wanted the scorecard to evoke vintage school golf scoring cards and putt-putt cards; going with a vintage distressed card with handwritten font for scores.

I’m working on the next set of features at the moment, including bonus points for rare routers, airlines, or plane types, and a way to store spotted planes and your scorecards (like a Pokédex!)

Spotter is coming to the App Store.

Spotter is a fun little guessing game for plane spotters, or people looking to pass the time while waiting for a plane to fly overhead.

Can’t wait for you to try it out and let me know what you think.