The article is crap, but it is correct in that you don't need to use airplane mode. I would, however, advise to still use it purely to preserve battery life of your device as otherwise it will very aggressively keep scanning for networks and drain it.
Yep. I do wish there was a toggle for the cellular radio by itself (rather than just mobile data). It's annoying to have to go airplane mode then turn WiFi and BT back on.
On Android you do have that toggle
I don't but I'm running an older Lineage OS.
Is it in the quick actions on the notifications pulldown?
And if you turn wifi back on once, it'll tell you that it can remember and always leave Wi-Fi on if you want.
Don't even have to find the setting
Like this? (Android 14)
Meh - flights have USB ports now if your battery is low.
But that’s just a waste of electricity then? And battery health?
Unless you're really into flying the effect is minimal
It also costs you nothing to disable it. And if everyone keeps it disabled for all their flights, it’s not minimal anymore. So I don’t really see the problem here.
Imagine the savings if all of those people just didn't fly! lol
That doesn’t change that disabling cellular makes a difference, so I don’t see your point.
Just because something’s not perfect, doesn’t mean it can’t make a difference.
It just makes such a tiny, insignificant difference that it really doesn't matter one way or the other.
All the comments about technical details and practical details...
Are we forgetting that when dealing with millions of people, plus bureaucracy, in a potential death risk, it's worth being slow and cautious about relaxing former safety rules.
That was my understanding, that once upon a time it was legitimately feared that mobile phones could caused accidents (and thought they had indeed caused one). So, besides the other issues people have highlighted in the comments, to walk back from the safety rule of turn-them-off is a slow process.
Commercial air travel is not known for going, "ah, it's probably fine, don't worry;" except in the case of emergency exit door bolts.
Also, I'd like to add:
You don't need to use airplane mode on airplanes
... Please do follow the rules, and do what the cabin crew ask you to do. Otherwise, even if you don't directly endanger the plane, you make it harder for them to do their jobs and keep everyone safe.
I never fly anyways!
"You have a reminder set for 5pm today," my phone said.
"A reminder? What is it?" I asked.
"It's a notification to ensure you don't forget something, but that's not important right now," the phone replied.
Then I remembered I'd left it in Airplane! mode.
I think it's still worth doing so your phone isn't rapidly trying to connect and disconnect from nearby cell towers as you ascend and descend. Maybe there's already protections in place for this case but it makes sense that it could add a lot of unnecessary strain on certain cell towers.
How to use WiFi in plane if you put your phone in airplane mode? nonsense.
Airplane mode is no longer about shutting down all wireless communication. It's been for some time.
Now it's shutting down the cellular connection only, wifi and bluetooth stay on.
My phone allows me to independently choose Wi-Fi and Bluetooth state separately from the cellular state.
Then why flight attendant says "switch your devices to flight mode"? It was a week ago in domestic european flight.
I was on a domestic flight in Europe two months ago and there was no such announcement. They were probably just being nice and saving you some battery.
But there is absolutly no reason to turn it off because of any saftey concerns with the plane.
I always have my phone on. No one can tell me to turn it off as it's my right
The article is crap, but it is correct in that you don't need to use airplane mode. I would, however, advise to still use it purely to preserve battery life of your device as otherwise it will very aggressively keep scanning for networks and drain it.
Yep. I do wish there was a toggle for the cellular radio by itself (rather than just mobile data). It's annoying to have to go airplane mode then turn WiFi and BT back on.
On Android you do have that toggle
I don't but I'm running an older Lineage OS. Is it in the quick actions on the notifications pulldown?
And if you turn wifi back on once, it'll tell you that it can remember and always leave Wi-Fi on if you want.
Don't even have to find the setting
Like this? (Android 14)
Meh - flights have USB ports now if your battery is low.
But that’s just a waste of electricity then? And battery health?
Unless you're really into flying the effect is minimal
It also costs you nothing to disable it. And if everyone keeps it disabled for all their flights, it’s not minimal anymore. So I don’t really see the problem here.
Imagine the savings if all of those people just didn't fly! lol
That doesn’t change that disabling cellular makes a difference, so I don’t see your point. Just because something’s not perfect, doesn’t mean it can’t make a difference.
It just makes such a tiny, insignificant difference that it really doesn't matter one way or the other.
All the comments about technical details and practical details...
Are we forgetting that when dealing with millions of people, plus bureaucracy, in a potential death risk, it's worth being slow and cautious about relaxing former safety rules.
That was my understanding, that once upon a time it was legitimately feared that mobile phones could caused accidents (and thought they had indeed caused one). So, besides the other issues people have highlighted in the comments, to walk back from the safety rule of turn-them-off is a slow process.
Commercial air travel is not known for going, "ah, it's probably fine, don't worry;" except in the case of emergency exit door bolts.
Also, I'd like to add:
... Please do follow the rules, and do what the cabin crew ask you to do. Otherwise, even if you don't directly endanger the plane, you make it harder for them to do their jobs and keep everyone safe.
I never fly anyways!
"You have a reminder set for 5pm today," my phone said.
"A reminder? What is it?" I asked.
"It's a notification to ensure you don't forget something, but that's not important right now," the phone replied.
Then I remembered I'd left it in Airplane! mode.
I think it's still worth doing so your phone isn't rapidly trying to connect and disconnect from nearby cell towers as you ascend and descend. Maybe there's already protections in place for this case but it makes sense that it could add a lot of unnecessary strain on certain cell towers.
https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-statements-5g
How to use WiFi in plane if you put your phone in airplane mode? nonsense.
Airplane mode is no longer about shutting down all wireless communication. It's been for some time.
Now it's shutting down the cellular connection only, wifi and bluetooth stay on.
My phone allows me to independently choose Wi-Fi and Bluetooth state separately from the cellular state.
Then why flight attendant says "switch your devices to flight mode"? It was a week ago in domestic european flight.
I was on a domestic flight in Europe two months ago and there was no such announcement. They were probably just being nice and saving you some battery.
But there is absolutly no reason to turn it off because of any saftey concerns with the plane.
I always have my phone on. No one can tell me to turn it off as it's my right