Keep WiFi on when turning on airplane mode

THEPRFCT10

Well-known member
Jul 1, 2011
1,008
16
38
Just like the title says I'm trying to figure it out if there's a way to keep the Wi-Fi turned on when I select airplane mode seems a bit strange when I turn on airplane mode it turns off my Wi-Fi
 
That's been the behavior of the Airplane Mode toggle for as long as I can remember. When you turn it on, it automatically shuts off all radios (cell, wi-fi, and Bluetooth). You always have to manually turn wi-fi or Bluetooth back on while in Airplane Mode.
 
Think about it - "airplane mode" means "be able to use a phone on a commercial airplane which, until recently, had no wifi onboard. So airplane mode turns off anything that might interfere with the plane's navigation system, including wifi. (You wouldn't want the plane to suddenly think that the ground under you was "straight" and it was flying "up", would you?) Now that planes are tested for wifi susceptibility, and only those not susceptible to interference at 2.4GHz or 5GHz (and all the subharmonics and nose associated with wifi) have wifi onboard. There are still planes (any plane that doesn't have onboard wifi) that haven't been tested (and probably never will be - it's a tremendously expensive process), so you should keep wifi off on those planes. One touch - airplane mode - does that.

Some time in the future, when every new plane will be tested and any problems fixed before it comes off the assembly line (and that's one of the problems - every single plane has to be tested, not just one test for that model), so phones will change and wifi won't get turned off in airplane mode. (Bluetooth, being on the same band of frequencies as 2.4GHz wifi), probably won't either.

So all airplane mode will be doing is turning off the phone (talk, text and mobile data), and that would be due to the fact that from 35,000 feet you're going to be hitting a lot of towers with the same strength, and the cellular system just can't handle that. (One day, there will me a microcell on planes, so you connect to that, and it communicates with the ground by some other means - then "airplane mode" will be named something else - like "radios on/off" - because using a cellphone at a blasting site (and some other situations) is always going to be dangerous.
 
You sound like you know a lot about airplanes! Sooooo is there a setting to keep WiFi on when selecting airplane mode? Apple does....
 
Dude I know I can do that but that wasn't my question.

I'm puzzled as to why this is important? Pull down the control panel, tap airplane mode, tap wifi, exit. It can't take a half-second for that second tap...
 
You sound like you know a lot about airplanes! Sooooo is there a setting to keep WiFi on when selecting airplane mode? Apple does....

The answer is no. Perhaps the designers didn't feel this was necessary, but you can always give feedback to Google and/or Samsung to let them know you think it would be helpful or important.
 
Guys my point was simply to see if there was a setting where turning on airplane mode only turns off mobile data but keeps the Wi-Fi on because most airplanes now have Wi-Fi when I enter airplane mode I would like to keep the Wi-Fi on and yes I can tap it to turn it back on but that wasn't my question
 
Guys my point was simply to see if there was a setting where turning on airplane mode only turns off mobile data but keeps the Wi-Fi on because most airplanes now have Wi-Fi when I enter airplane mode I would like to keep the Wi-Fi on and yes I can tap it to turn it back on but that wasn't my question

It would have helped a lot if you had just asked this straight out. We would have all said "no".

As it was we thought we were answering your original question as posed.
 
The entire purpose of airplane mode is to disable all radios, which includes Wi-Fi as well. Right now, I'm guessing there just isn't much demand to want Wi-Fi left enabled. Yes, there is Wi-Fi on some planes but it's not universal nor does it always work well when it's there. The last round trip I took, only 1 of the 6 planes I was on had Wi-Fi, and I couldn't get it to connect. So for me, I am fine with airplane mode as it is.
 
I'm surprised to hear all you guys arguing against it --most airplanes on most Airlines now are installing Wi-Fi if you've been on airplanes that don't have it they will eventually have Wi-Fi this is one item on Apple where I appreciate it because you can actually customize it so that when you turn on airplane mode it will either keep Wi-Fi on or turn it on if it was off
 
Maybe it'll be a feature that Google (or a manufacturer) adds in the near future.
 
I apologize I just can't think of a way to be more clear with my original Post and question
Your post (#10) was far more clear as to what you were looking for. And I don't believe anyone is "arguing against it". Saying that you can't do something doesn't mean I'm against it.

I'm just not seeing this as a huge issue though, just tap two icons instead of one. Yes Apple may allow this and perhaps Android will add this in the future.

It seems to me tapping two icons instead of one seems like a quick and easy workaround.
 
Your post (#10) was far more clear as to what you were looking for. And I don't believe anyone is "arguing against it". Saying that you can't do something doesn't mean I'm against it.

I'm just not seeing this as a huge issue though, just tap two icons instead of one. Yes Apple may allow this and perhaps Android will add this in the future.

It seems to me tapping two icons instead of one seems like a quick and easy workaround.
Understood thanks.