Smartphones these days comes with plethora of features and many times the user doesn’t tries to understand what a particular option is used for. The Airplane mode, also known as flight mode on smartphones is one such feature that is often overlooked most of the time but it can do wonders if used the right way. This feature can prolong your phone’s battery life and can free you from all calls and SMS’s. Let’s learn how to enable Airplane mode on your phone, and when and why should you use this mode.
Before proceeding forward, you must know that this option is referred as Airplane mode on some smartphones like iPhone, while on some smartphones, this option is known as Flight mode.
Airplane mode is more than just a way to use your phone during the flight. It can actually be used for various other purposes also such as when you are on low battery, when you don’t want to get interrupted from calls and text messages, when you want to let a child play games on your phone and more. Firstly, let’s take a look at how to activate this feature on iPhone (or iOS)and Android.
How to Activate Airplane Mode on iPhone
To activate Airplane Mode on your iPhone, simply go to Settings and the first item should be Airplane Mode. Tap on the switch to turn it ON.
Once you have activated the Airplane mode, your Wi-Fi and cellular connections are turned OFF which means that you will no longer be able to make or receive calls, texts, e-mails, or browse the Internet.
But just in case, if you want to access WiFi, then you can turn ON the WiFi to use Internet.
How to Activate Airplane Mode on Android
To activate Airplane mode on Android, tap on Settings and then on Wireless & networks. From here, you can tap on Flight Mode to turn it ON (On some Android phones, this option can read as “Airplane mode”).
Just in case if you are having Samsung Wave (BADA OS) phone, then go to Settings and tap on Flight mode to enable it.
Now that you know how to enable it, let’s learn when and in which scenarios can you use this Flight mode.
When & Why to Use Airplane Mode
During a flight: As the name suggests, after enabling airplane mode on your phone, you can use it for reading eBooks, listening to music, watch movies, play games and much more. You won’t be able to access anything that requires a data or WiFi connection when this mode is activated.
To save battery: Another scenario when you should definitely enable the Airplane mode is when you are running on a low battery. In such a case, to prevent battery drain, you can turn on this mode. If you don’t enable this mode, then your phone will keep on searching for cellular network which will consume battery. When you want to make or receive calls, just disable this mode.
When Kids play games: Kids will just keep on tapping at anything they finding interesting. They may start dialing numbers or start accessing the Internet which means you will be charged for whatever they do. That’s why, before handing your phone to the kids, enable the Airplane mode which will prevent them from anything that can hurt your phone’s bill.
To get some peace of mind: This mode is very useful if you want to stay away from calls and text messages and get some peace of mind. This is a great way to spend some family time without getting disturbed or if you want to just take a small break from your busy life. Get disconnected from your friends, work and other people and enjoy your personal life like you want to, instead of constantly checking your phone all the time.
Just in case you are wondering, you will get all your text messages when your disable this Airplane mode. So go ahead and use this mode to get some uninterrupted time, while using the media functions of your smartphone.
jeff says
Why not just turn the phone off?
Saqib says
Because then you would not be able to use your phone at all. No internet, music, videos, gaming, etc. Airplane mode enables you to do all this, minus calling.