Does airplane mode stop sharing your location? Answered

When airplane mode is enabled on a phone or a device like the computer or the smartwatch, it restrict some functions in the device more especially Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the cellular network service.

Probably i will say anything wireless in a given device.

Now we have one of the most important question being asked on airplane mode, and which is;

Does airplane mode stop sharing your location?

By default, airplane mode will stop sharing your location as it will automatically disable Wi-Fi and cellular data on a given device and also make the device to be in an offline mode.

Going further into the article it is commendable to know what airplane mode does in a device and also location sharing. 


Related Posts:


What does airplane mode do? 

Airplane mode is a feature which blocks the data transmitter and receiver signals on a phone or laptop for a limited time, preventing any data from being sent or received on a device. In other words, when airplane mode is enabled on a smartphone or the computer, the user won’t be able to make or receive phone calls, text messages, etc.

By default, airplane mode disables Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular network service and data, infrared (if available), and other features. However, even if your phone or laptop is in airplane mode, you can enable and utilize Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and infrared.

When your phone is in airplane mode, you can’t enable or use cellular network service. When a device is in flight mode, this is the only phone feature that is unavailable.

What does location sharing do

Location sharing help family and friends to share their location with one another and this is both applied on android phone and iPhone, and even on tablets. 

As long as you are sharing location with your friends or family, they can view your location and you can also view their location if they are sharing location with you as well. 

Now for location sharing to work properly, location services must be enabled on iPhone, while on android you must enable location. 

However, the most important is thar the phone, tablet, laptop, or the smartwatch must have an active internet connection through Wi-Fi or cellular data for location services to work properly.

Kindly note that you cannot view or track someone’s location if the person’s phone is offline or switched off, or probably has no active internet connection.

Someone can easily track you through calls or internet activity, by when the phone or device is offline or switched off it prove to be very much difficult. For location sharing on both android and iPhone, internet connection is very compulsory else you can’t be able to see your friends or family current location.

This takes us back to the question of the day. 

Does airplane mode stop sharing your location?

Airplane mode will automatically stop sharing location immediately it disables Wi-Fi and cellular network service on a given device.

Now the question will be how does the airplane mode stop sharing your location?

Immediately you enabled airplane mode on your device, it will automatically disable internet connection by disabling Wi-Fi and cellular data making the phone to be in offline mode. By so doing it has in turn stop your location from being viewed by those yo are sharing location with.

What you should know

For the fact that airplane mode stop sharing location, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t share your location when you have an active Wi-Fi connection on your phone. 

As you can enable Wi-Fi connection even when your phone is on airplane mode, this literally means that your location can be shared and viewed by those you are sharing your location.

Cellular data or cellular network service don’t work on airplane mode but rather Wi-Fi and Bluetooth does, so if you go ahead to enable Wi-Fi when on airplane mode, note that your location will be shared and seen.

So if you don’t want your location to be shared or seen by others, you don’t have to turn on Wi-Fi while on airplane mode. By so doing you have automatically prevented your friends and family from seeing your current location.

If your main purpose of airplane mode is to stop or prevent your location from being shared or seen by others, there’s a better way to do that other than putting your phone on airplane mode or offline mode which will prevent calls and sms text messages. 

How to stop location sharing

Below are the steps to stop location sharing on both android and iPhone. 

How to stop location sharing on iPhone:

On iPhone, open the settings app and scroll down to PRIVACY and open it.

The first option you will see is called Location Services, kindly open it as well. Now you will see that Location Services is enabled on your iPhone, please go ahead and turn it off just like on the picture below.

does airplane mode stop sharing your locationdoes airplane mode stop sharing your location

After you have disabled location services on your iPhone, you can also move over to location sharing and disable that as well.

Kindly open Share My Location and turn it off just like on the below picture.

How to stop location sharing

Once you have disabled location sharing and location services on your iPhone, you are good to go. All your family and friends you are sharing location with won’t be able to see your current location. 

When they try to see your location on their device, what they will be seeing will be No Location Found.

If you don’t entirely want to disable location services and location sharing on your iPhone, you can disable location services on the message app, map, and the find my app. 

To do so;

  • Open the settings app and scroll down to privacy and open it. 
  • Open location services and scroll down to Messages and open it. On ALLOW LOCATION ACCESS, set it to never.
  • Press back and head over to MAPS. 
  • Open MAPS and set ALLOW LOCATION ACCESS to Never.
  • Press back and head over to Find My and set ALLOW LOCATION ACCESS to never.

When you have done these things, no one will be able to see your location even if location sharing and location services is enabled on your iPhone.

So instead of putting your phone on airplane mode just to prevent your location from being seen and shared by friends and family you are sharing location with, kindly turn off location services and location sharing on your iPhone, or set location services on Messages, Find My and Map app to never.

How to stop location sharing on Android:

  • To stop sharing location on android, simply pull down the notification bar. 
  • You will see the option that says Location, go ahead and turn it off. 
  • Once you have done that no one will be able to see your current location. 

Does airplane mode turn off location on find my iphone?

Airplane mode doesn’t necessarily turn off location on find my iphone but it will prevent the find my iphone from updating to the current location but only if there is no active Wi-Fi connection.

As airplane mode will automatically put your cell phone or device on offline mode, internet connectivity will be prohibited unless you decide to turn on Wi-Fi after enabling flight mode on your phone.

Since airplane mode prevent internet connection, this will in turn prevent your location from getting updated to the current location or address. In most cases what the person will see is No Location Found or never ending updating location.

Does airplane mode turn off location services on android?

Airplane mode does not turn off location services on android but rather location services will not function as airplane mode will automatically put the phone in an offline mode. 

Location services will still be on but it won’t function unless you have an active Wi-Fi. This is the same with iPhone as location services requires a strong internet connection in order to function.

Does airplane mode turn off gps iphone?

The simple answer is no. Airplane mode does not turn off gps on iPhone but rather it turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the cellular network service and data.

Your GPS will still be enabled even if you turned on airplane mode as airplane mode doesn’t affect GPS. Now where the problem lies is for the GPS to function and without an internet connection GPS is quite useless especially when it comes to tracking someone.

Does airplane mode turn off gps on android?

Kindly note that airplane mode does not turn off gps on android as the flight mode doesn’t affect GPS. But in order to have the GPS function very well, you have an active internet connection like Wi-Fi or cellular data.

Does airplane mode turn off gps on apple watch?

Airplane mode doesn’t turn off gps on apple watch or affect it either. You can use GPS on your Apple watch on airplane mode without any issues unless you want to track someone and see the person’s location.

Then in this case you need to have an active Wi-Fi on your Apple watch or LTE connection.

Can someone see your location on airplane mode with WiFi?

The simple answer is yes. Someone can see your location on airplane mode with WiFi as the Wi-Fi provides internet connection to location services which will update your location to those you are sharing location with on your device.

If you don’t want your location to be seen on airplane mode, please don’t bother to turn on Wi-Fi even though it will restrict you from receiving text messages from iMessage, whatsapp, android rcs chat, Skype, Facebook messenger, and others or receive calls from facetime, etc.

Related Questions

Is your location still shared on airplane mode?

Your location won’t be shared unless you have an active Wi-Fi connection which will provide internet connection and in turn makes your location to be shared and seen by others.

Does airplane mode freeze your location?

Airplane mode will freeze your location by making your device to be in offline mode. But remember if you enable Wi-Fi afterwards while on airplane mode, it won’t freeze your location.

Lastly before I go, does airplane mode stop sharing your location? By default, airplane mode will stop sharing your location as it will automatically disable Wi-Fi and cellular data on a given device and putting the device in an offline mode. 

About Kennedy

I'm Amaechi Uchenna by name, a mobile tech enthusiast who love writing articles about tips and tutorials especially relating to gadgets.

Leave a Comment