You can use Airplane Mode to turn off the wireless features on your device while you’re flying in an airplane.
How to Turn On Airplane Mode
- Open Control Center on your iPhone or iPod touch, or on your iPad, then tap the Airplane Mode button (which looks like, well, an airplane).
- On your Apple Watch, press the Side Button to open Control Center, then tap the Airplane Mode button. In watchOS 9 and earlier, swipe up from the watch face to open Control Center.
- You can set your iPhone and Apple Watch to mirror the Airplane Mode setting of the other device. Go to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, then tap General > Airplane Mode > Mirror iPhone.
- Turning on Airplane Mode turns off all radios except for Bluetooth. If you turn off Bluetooth while you’re in Airplane Mode, your device will remember that and will turn off Bluetooth the next time that you turn on AirPlane Mode.
How to use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in Airplane Mode
If the airline allows it, you can use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth while in Airplane Mode. You just need to turn them on separately.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
- Open Control Center from the Home Screen.
- Tap the Wi-Fi icon or the Bluetooth icon.
You can also go to Settings > Wi-Fi or Settings > Bluetooth.
On your Apple Watch:
- For Wi-Fi, press the Side Button to open Control Center.
- Swipe up, and tap the Wi-Fi icon.
You can also go to Settings > Wi-Fi. For Bluetooth, go to Settings > Bluetooth.
If you turn on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth while you’re in Airplane Mode, they’ll be on the next time you use Airplane Mode, unless you turn them off while in Airplane Mode.
(This how-to is based on my experiences and info on Apple’s support pages.)
