How to set airplane mode to turn off after a specified period?

[kenatsun]

Often I need to put my phone in airplane mode to keep it quiet during a meeting. And often I forget to turn airplane mode off when the meeting is over, which means I miss important calls and messages.

So I'd like to be able, when I manually turn airplane mode on, to instruct it to automatically turn airplane mode off after, for example, 90 min, or at a specified time, such as 11am. Is there an Android feature, or an app, that makes this possible?

Note: I'm NOT asking for a "scheduler" that turns this mode on or off repeatedly, like every day, at the same time. My use case is that each time I turn airplane mode on, I can (if I wish) tell it when to turn off automatically.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! You might able to do that with Tasker

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[kenatsun]

From what I've read about Tasker, Tasker can't control airplane mode in Android versions above 4 or 5 (I forget which), unless you root the phone. Is that true? If it takes rooting, that's way above my pay grade.

Thanks for the reminder about signing in – it was only after i posted my Q that I realized I wasn't already signed in. Oops.

 

[B. Diddy]

No problem, I made you the owner of this thread.

I'm not directly experienced with Tasker, so I'm not sure about the rooting question. It does sound like something that would require rooting, since it's dabbling with essential system functions like the cell radio. Let's see if anyone has any experience with it.

 

[VidJunky]

Yeah over the years there has been this back and forth between Tasker and Google. There for a while it wasn't allowed to turn on and off the GPS. I think it is still banned from turning on and off NFC. I kind of remember the Airplane Mode thing but not what OS version.

You don't say what OS version you're using but I can tell you that my current Tasker on Android 10 will allow Tasker to turn on and off Airplane Mode. Similar to the GPS toggle I mentioned Android/Google only did that for a year or two and then it came back. If you want to try it Tasker used to offer a free trial if you went to their webpage, not the Play Store. If I remember correctly it was 15 days. I think the Play Store currently offers 3 hours for a refund. It may not be that long but either way if this is your first experience with Tasker that may not be long enough. If all you intend to do with it is this one task getting a paid app may not be the way to go anyway. Tasker has its own little learning curve which can be very steep depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. Alternatively there are some free Automation apps on the Play Store. One that I tried was kind of plug and play. So it already had all of these scenes, tasks and triggers laid out as boxes and all you had to do was string them together in a logical statement. Not as flexible as Tasker but much simpler.

Another alternative would be Bixby if you have a Samsung. I really haven't dug too deep into Bixby but this seems like the type of thing it would be able to do.

 

[Javier P]

Maybe a workaround while you dig deeper in Tasker or Bixby could be using Do Not Disturb. You can set it to 'Ask every time' you turn it on. This way when you enable it from the quick settings panel you can select the duration.

 

[kenatsun]

I'm trying 'Do Not Disturb' first, since that sounds the easiest. But when I tap "turn on now", the popup shown in Javier's post does not appear. Am I tapping in the wrong place?

My phone is a Galaxy S7 running Android 8.0.0

 

[mustang7757]

He has different phone so when you pull your notification panel down and see the toggle for DND long press it and it will take u to it's settings

 

[Javier P]

Ugh, I think that option only started with Android 9.

https://support.google.com/android/...ons-back-on,pick-which-interruptions-to-allow

 

[mustang7757]

It would look similar to this on my Note 20U

 

[Javier P]

In recent Samsung devices the 'Ask every time' option can be selected if you tap 'For how long?'

 

[mustang7757]

In recent Samsung devices the 'Ask every time' option can be selected if you tap 'For how long?'

Yes

 

[kenatsun]

I'm thinking that Javier's suspicion is right that the 'Do Not Disturb' option he recommended is not available in my Android 8.0.0. And apparently a Galaxy S7 can't upgrade to a new Android version beyond 8.0.0. Right?

So I think next I'll explore Tracker and Bixby as VidJunky suggested. I'll report back here when I have results.

 

[mustang7757]

I'm thinking that Javier's suspicion is right that the 'Do Not Disturb' option he recommended is not available in my Android 8.0.0. And apparently a Galaxy S7 can't upgrade to a new Android version beyond 8.0.0. Right?

So I think next I'll explore Tracker and Bixby as VidJunky suggested. I'll report back here when I have results.

Yeah I'm agreeing with that , also Bixby routines not available on older Samsung so probably Tasker

 

[kenatsun]

I've found a free app named "Simple Silent Timer" that can turn off 'Do Not Disturb' at a specified time or after a specified interval. And (unlike the native Android feature that does this) it works on my Android 8.0.0.

Ah, but that surfaces a requirement I failed to state up front: When I'm at home, my cell connects via Bluetooth to my house phones, so I can make and receive calls to/from my cell phone over any of the house phone handsets. And incoming calls ring on the house phones as well as on the cell. So when the cell is in 'Do Not Disturb' mode, incoming calls ring all over the house. The only way to stop that is to disable the Bluetooth connection. That's accomplished automatically by Airplane Mode, but Do Not Disturb mode doesn't do that.

So I've got an adequate solution for timed silencing when I'm not at home, but still seeking one for when I'm at home.

 

[mustang7757]

I've found a free app named "Simple Silent Timer" that can turn off 'Do Not Disturb' at a specified time or after a specified interval. And (unlike the native Android feature that does this) it works on my Android 8.0.0.

Ah, but that surfaces a requirement I failed to state up front: When I'm at home, my cell connects via Bluetooth to my house phones, so I can make and receive calls to/from my cell phone over any of the house phone handsets. And incoming calls ring on the house phones as well as on the cell. So when the cell is in 'Do Not Disturb' mode, incoming calls ring all over the house. The only way to stop that is to disable the Bluetooth connection. That's accomplished automatically by Airplane Mode, but Do Not Disturb mode doesn't do that.

So I've got an adequate solution for timed silencing when I'm not at home, but still seeking one for when I'm at home.

Have you looked into tasker?