The ones worth answering before you spend anything.
Do I need an account, or an API key?
No. Open a board and it works — every city ships with its timetables
bundled in, and the live feeds it uses need no key. There is an optional sign-in,
and it does exactly one thing: carries your Spotter log between your own devices. No
board, view or feature depends on it.
Is there a server? Will it stop working one day?
There is no backend. The whole thing runs in your browser and talks
directly to the transit agencies' own public feeds, so there is no subscription to
lapse and no server of mine to go down. If your browser and the agency's feed are
both up, your board is up.
My city isn't on the list. Is it useless to me?
Not entirely, but be realistic about it. Planes overhead and Amtrak
work anywhere in the US — type your address and they follow you. Local trains and
buses do not: each city board is built against that agency's own feeds and timetables,
so a city with no board has no local transit. If you want yours added, ask.
What happens when the internet drops?
Scheduled times keep working — the timetables are bundled into the page,
not fetched. Live vehicle positions and arrival predictions stop, because those come
from the agencies in real time. The board says which it is showing rather than quietly
presenting stale data as current.
What can I run it on?
Anything with a reasonably modern browser: a tablet, a smart TV, a
Raspberry Pi, a spare laptop, an old Facebook Portal. It is a web page — there is no
app to install and nothing to keep updated.
Where does my location go?
Into your browser's local storage, and to the transit and aircraft APIs
when asking what is near you — which is unavoidable, since that is the question.
There is no tracking and no analytics on this site, and the address your board
is pointed at never leaves your device. One deliberate exception: if you sign in to
sync the Spotter, the sightings you chose to log are stored so they reach your other
devices — and a sighting records where you saw it. Nothing syncs unless you sign in.
What does the licence actually cover?
One payment of $19, up to five devices, no renewal. It covers every city
board including ones added later, the sky view, the split-flap departure board, the
Grand Tour and the Spotter app.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes — open any city above and see for yourself.