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iPhone - not really in airplane mode?

S

seadragon

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 10, 2009
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I've noticed this a few times now in recent months...

I always put my phone in airplane mode (radios off) every night and plug it in to charge on my nightstand. I did this last night as usual and there were no waiting notifications (red circle on app icons). Upon waking up the screen this morning, there were 2 app updates waiting. Sometimes there are emails waiting. This is all while still in airplane mode.

Clearly this means the phone's radios are not really off as they should be.

Anyone else notice this behaviour? Is Apple lying to us?
 
Not sure how this could happen when Air Plane Mode is supposed to be as follows:

Cellular: Your device will stop communicating with cell towers. You won’t be able to send or receive anything that depends on cellular data, from voice calls to SMS messages to mobile data.

Wi-Fi: Your phone will stop scanning for nearby Wi-Fi networks and attempting to join them. If you’re already connected to a Wi-Fi network, you’ll be disconnected.

Bluetooth: Airplane mode disables Bluetooth, a wireless communication technology most people associate with wireless headsets. But Bluetooth can be used for many other things, including keyboards and mice.

GPS: Airplane mode also disables GPS-receiving functions, but only on some devices. This is a bit confusing and inconsistent. In theory, GPS is unlike all the other technologies here—a device with GPS turned on is only listening to GPS signals it receives, not transmitting any signals. However, some aircraft regulations do not allow the use of GPS-receiving functions for whatever reason.
 
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seadragon said:
I've noticed this a few times now in recent months...

I always put my phone in airplane mode (radios off) every night and plug it in to charge on my nightstand. I did this last night as usual and there were no waiting notifications (red circle on app icons). Upon waking up the screen this morning, there were 2 app updates waiting. Sometimes there are emails waiting. This is all while still in airplane mode.

Clearly this means the phone's radios are not really off as they should be.

Anyone else notice this behaviour? Is Apple lying to us?
Click to expand...

Never witnessed this behaviour. I switch my iPhone 7 to flight mode every night and never receive any emails, texts, calls, app updated etc until flight mode is disabled again the next morning.
 
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seadragon said:
I've noticed this a few times now in recent months...

I always put my phone in airplane mode (radios off) every night and plug it in to charge on my nightstand. I did this last night as usual and there were no waiting notifications (red circle on app icons). Upon waking up the screen this morning, there were 2 app updates waiting. Sometimes there are emails waiting. This is all while still in airplane mode.

Clearly this means the phone's radios are not really off as they should be.

Anyone else notice this behaviour? Is Apple lying to us?
Click to expand...
Perhaps you just didn't notice the notifications before you put the device in airplane mode.
 
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Thanks for your replies.

I'm a bit OCD about notifications icons and would definitely notice if there was any when I put it in airplane mode. I always check for and clear or otherwise take care of notifications (updates, unread emails etc.) whenever I see them. Plus, this has happened a few times now.
 
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seadragon said:
Thanks for your replies.

I'm a bit OCD about notifications icons and would definitely notice if there was any when I put it in airplane mode. I always check for and clear or otherwise take care of notifications (updates, unread emails etc.) whenever I see them. Plus, this has happened a few times now.
Click to expand...
Then I guess your iPhone is still on. Perhaps the Feds got a warrant to perform surveillance on you. That's why you're still getting notifications. ;)
 
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Volgin said:
Then I guess your iPhone is still on. Perhaps the Feds got a warrant to perform surveillance on you. That's why you're still getting notifications. ;)
Click to expand...

LOL... thats a possibility I suppose!
 
Volgin said:
Can you leave it in airplane mode for a full 24 hours? Then you could check with your carrier to see if your phone received or transmitted any data.
Click to expand...

Great suggestion... I may try this. I also have an Apple AirPort Extreme base station. I wonder if there is a log I can pull to see if my phone was connected to wireless overnight.
 
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Significant1 said:
Are you on IOS 11 beta?

Because in IOS 11 airplane mode no longer turn off WiFi and BT automatically.
Click to expand...

Thanks... I'm running 10.3.3.

That's strange though about iOS 11. What's the point of airplane mode if it doesn't turn off the radios? Is it a bug?
 
I've never noticed this issue. I may try to turn on airplane mode and monitor my data in and out.
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seadragon said:
Thanks... I'm running 10.3.3.

That's strange though about iOS 11. What's the point of airplane mode if it doesn't turn off the radios? Is it a bug?
Click to expand...
Try turning off wifi and bluetooth and then turn on Airplane Mode. I know that you can activate wifi while in airplane mode. So perhaps sifi can still be active if you engage airplane mode.
 
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There is software called ibackupbot for itunes. There you can see realtime every action that happends on your iphone. you could try to see what is the problem there.
 
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I think the reason that Airplane mode no longer turns those off is that airlines no longer require phone to be powered off but only not do cellular data so airplanes that have WIFI people can use phones all but calls. So it is making it "easier" for people.
 
CTHarrryH said:
I think the reason that Airplane mode no longer turns those off is that airlines no longer require phone to be powered off but only not do cellular data so airplanes that have WIFI people can use phones all but calls. So it is making it "easier" for people.
Click to expand...

Also believe it or not most people use airplane mode on an airplane....
 
CTHarrryH said:
I think the reason that Airplane mode no longer turns those off is that airlines no longer require phone to be powered off but only not do cellular data so airplanes that have WIFI people can use phones all but calls. So it is making it "easier" for people.
Click to expand...

Givmeabrek said:
Also believe it or not most people use airplane mode on an airplane....
Click to expand...

I think that many people use airplane mode more frequently as a means of cutting off communication to and from their phone for other reasons rather than because they are flying.
 
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