What is Infinite Flight, and is it a good flight simulator?
Infinite Flight is a mobile flight simulator for phones and tablets. Yes, it is a good flight simulator if you want serious flying on portable hardware: navigation, procedures and airliner-style operation. It is not as deep, moddable or hardware-friendly as the leading desktop sims, so expectations matter.
What exactly is Infinite Flight?
Infinite Flight is a mobile simulator for iOS and Android. It sits between a casual flying game and a full desktop simulator: serious enough for navigation, approaches and cockpit routine, but simplified to work on a touch screen.
Its strength is convenience. You can load a flight quickly, practise circuits or instrument procedures, and fly without a gaming PC or dedicated controls. Depending on the edition you use, wider aircraft access, live services and network features may require a subscription. We cover the app in more detail in our fuller review of Infinite Flight.
Is Infinite Flight a good flight simulator?
Yes, if you judge it as a mobile simulator. No, if you expect the depth, add-on ecosystem and hardware support of a desktop platform.
| Choose Infinite Flight if you want… | Look at a desktop sim if you want… |
|---|---|
| Flying on a phone or tablet with almost no setup | A full cockpit workflow with larger displays and dedicated hardware |
| Quick practice for circuits, approaches and basic IFR flow | Deeper aircraft systems, failures and third-party add-ons |
| Portable online flying and shorter sessions | VR, home-cockpit use, modding and the best visuals |
We see one mistake repeatedly: people compare a phone app directly with Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane on a full PC and assume one of them must be 'wrong'. They serve different jobs. If you want a desktop benchmark, our answer on what X-Plane is good at shows where the gap opens up.
Is Infinite Flight realistic enough to learn from?
It is realistic enough to teach useful habits, but not enough to stand in for high-end desktop simulation or real-world instruction.
- Useful for: scan discipline, speed and altitude control, traffic patterns, basic IFR flow, approach setup and autopilot use.
- Less convincing for: deep aircraft systems, abnormal procedures, complex FMS logic, home-cockpit muscle memory and maximum visual fidelity.
A mistake we see constantly is treating a tidy mobile approach as proof that the same procedure will feel the same in a study-level desktop aircraft. The checklist flow may transfer; the workload and systems detail often do not. If maximum realism is your only goal, our guide to the most realistic flight simulators explains why desktop platforms still lead.
What are the usual downsides, and how do you fix them?
The usual frustrations are small-screen workload, twitchy control input, heat and battery drain, and confusion over which features are included in which edition.
- Reduce control sensitivity and use trim if landings feel jerky. Many complaints about 'bad physics' are really over-controlled pitch inputs.
- Fly on a tablet if you can for IFR. A larger screen makes the instrument scan and approach setup much easier than on a phone.
- Check your mode or subscription before assuming aircraft, airspace or online features are missing because of a bug.
- Close background apps if you see stutters, heat build-up or battery drain during longer flights.
- Use it for the right task. Short practice flights, circuits, approaches and procedure rehearsal suit it better than expecting a fully moddable sim platform.
A common disappointment is buying Infinite Flight for long-haul airline immersion, then discovering that a mobile device is still a compromise for very long sessions. It can do that style of flying, but it is at its best when convenience matters as much as fidelity.
Should a beginner start with Infinite Flight?
Yes, a beginner can sensibly start with Infinite Flight, especially if the alternative is buying a PC, controls and add-ons before learning the basics.
It teaches attitude control, pattern work, navigation flow and simple cockpit management without a big upfront commitment. Once you want deeper systems, heavier aircraft procedures, external hardware or better visuals, stepping up to a desktop sim makes sense. Our guide to getting started with a flight simulator helps you judge when that jump is worth it.