We've been heads-down building for a while: dark mode, heatmaps, circling helicopter detection, installable as an app, and more. Here's a catch-up on what's new on CopterSpotter.com

The map now auto-switches between light and dark mode based on sunrise and sunset, or you can pin it to whichever you prefer. We also added a heatmap layer that shows where flights concentrate across the region.

Meet CircleBot. It automatically detects circling helicopters & flags them on the map. Anyone can add context to a spot: radio calls, news links, info about what is going on, anything useful. Directly inspired by John Wiseman's groundbreaking advisory circular bots (lemonodor.bsky.social)

We now surface events related to helicopter flights, like police activity through AlertDC or major events hand-posted by our moderators, so you know why the sky just got busy. We also monitor the White House schedule, so you can see when Marine One departures and arrivals are expected.