LifeHack: Airplane Mode
My new favorite feature on my smartphone is Airplane Mode. I got my first smartphone in April 2012 when I upgraded from an old school “dumb” phone, probably the lowest model on the totem pole to a Droid smartphone. It took me until this summer (2012) to realize one of the greatest features of an internet-connected phone is Airplane Mode.
My lovely wife and I were about to head to Sicily for our honeymoon and Verizon didn’t have coverage in Europe. I called and talked to a Verizon rep about what to do with my phone overseas and she told me to use Airplane Mode to still use my phone as a camera on my trip without the internet or phone service trying to connect. Woah!
Also, I soon discovered my battery life increased about five-fold, if not more, since all of the apps on my phone weren’t connecting to the internet and dragging down my batter life.
I soon also discovered a smartphone will charge much faster in Airplane Mode because it isn’t constantly connected to the internet. Airplane mode is also wonderful when I want to leave my phone on, but not be constantly interrupted by emails and text messages. It helps me get work done because I am not checking it every few seconds to see if I have a new notification.
TL;DR:
- Your phone will charge faster
- Your battery will last longer
- You can still use your camera overseas when you don’t have service
- It’s a nice way to keep distractions to a minimum
