Is the aircraft data real?

Yes. It comes from the adsb.lol community ADS-B network — real transponder positions of military and special aircraft, refreshed on a schedule.

Why does it use a pipeline?

The ADS-B source is key-less but isn't readable directly from a browser, so a small background script fetches it and saves a snapshot the saver can load.

Does it track every plane?

No — it focuses on military and special aircraft. The Flight Radar saver covers civilian traffic around airports.

No keys anywhere. The pipeline uses a free community feed; the saver just reads the saved snapshot.

Yes — free, no download, in your browser.

Military Aircraft Spotter Screensaver

Name: Spotter Screensaver
Author: Afterglow

The Spotter screensaver is a live world map of military and special aircraft in the air right now — callsign, type and altitude — sourced from the open ADS-B community network through Afterglow's background pipeline. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.

How the Spotter screensaver works

A background pipeline pulls military and special aircraft from the adsb.lol community ADS-B network, which is key-less but can't be read directly by a browser, and saves a small snapshot file.

The saver loads that snapshot and plots each aircraft on a world map as a small triangle pointed along its heading.

Aircraft carry a short motion trail and are labelled with their callsign; a live count and ticker list types and flight levels.

The snapshot refreshes on a schedule so positions stay current.

A worked example

Triangles crawl across the map — a C17 over the Pacific, a HAWK trainer over Texas — each tagged with its callsign and flight level, with the ticker reading off types as new aircraft appear and others land.

Settings & tips

Aircraft color sets the marker and trail color.
Background sets the map backdrop.
Run automation/run.py milair on your pipeline machine to refresh the snapshot.

Frequently asked questions

Is the aircraft data real?: Yes. It comes from the adsb.lol community ADS-B network — real transponder positions of military and special aircraft, refreshed on a schedule.
Why does it use a pipeline?: The ADS-B source is key-less but isn't readable directly from a browser, so a small background script fetches it and saves a snapshot the saver can load.
Does it track every plane?: No — it focuses on military and special aircraft. The Flight Radar saver covers civilian traffic around airports.
Does it need a key?: No keys anywhere. The pipeline uses a free community feed; the saver just reads the saved snapshot.
Is it free?: Yes — free, no download, in your browser.

← All World Live screensavers