You’re sitting in your designated airline seat, waiting till the very last minute to disconnect from the digital world around you; you hear the engine start to roar and you know it’s time to hit that little airplane icon in your settings menu – Airplane Mode activated and that’s it… life as you know it comes to a drastic halt. But why do we bother hitting that Airplane Mode function? What’s the point?

What is Airplane Mode and How Does it Work?

Well, most mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets are equipped with this Flight Mode facility that shuts down all Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular and data connections on the device. This is done to decrease the chances of interference between the device and the sensor equipment found on commercial planes travelling to and from our business or holiday destinations. Have you ever placed your phone near a plugged in speaker? Feedback right? Well, that ‘feedback’ is an interruption in the sound waves of the speaker and a similar thing happens when you’re soaring up high in the sky. Not the brightest of ideas.

How to Turn On Airplane Mode

Activating your Flight Mode feature is pretty easy; all you need to do is jump onto the settings section of your smartphone or tablet and swipe your toggle to cut off all signals for cellular data. Some flights are now equipped with WiFi on board, so the contradiction seems rather prevalent here. But it’s not! When you turn on Airplane Mode, you can still activate your WiFi signal; it’s a different sort of wave pattern and does not disrupt flight signals in any way.

It is clear to say that if the flight you’re on does not offer WiFi, turning on the WiFi on your phone will not result in much; you’re pretty high up in the clouds, there’s not going to be any sort of signal up there. Airplane or Flight Mode might also be a good option for you to adopt during meetings or interviews or even while you’re in a lecture.

Seeing as clicking Flight Mode cuts off inward calls; you won’t be disrupted by a loud ringtone in the middle of a presentation, but you might very well want to refer to your notes on Google Drive, access a video for reference or login to a portal as recommended by your professor. Sure a WhatsApp call can filter through, but ensuring you’re on Silent Mode and Airplane Mode when you need to be a little more serious can help smooth things along a lot easier.

Some other reasons to hit Airplane Mode include battery saving perks, faster charging abilities, momentary disconnect from the digital swarm of information, a peaceful sleep and even a step away from our phone for a few minutes a day. Airplane Mode cuts off the majority of connections to the outside world, it’s a facility with pros and cons that may help you manage some time pressing situations.

So the next time you’re in a meeting you wish to remain attentive in, why not turn Flight Mode on your phone, you could find yourself gaining a lot more than you bargained for!