Does your phone really charge faster using Airplane Mode?

Being unable to use your phone due to a low battery is like losing a limb. OK, so maybe it’s not exactly like that.

But when your mobile device goes flat, you may experience physical pain, a belief that your phone still has power when it doesn’t, and have to completely change the way you live.

Fortunately, you can restore life to your depleted device with a good charging cable and a reliable power source. But sometimes you don’t have time to wait, and you may be wondering how you can speed up the replenishment process.

Ideally, you should switch your phone off completely to optimize charging.

If, however, you’re really in a rush and don’t want to deal with messy reboots, you can use Airplane Mode to reduce the amount of energy your mobile device consumes and allow it to charge faster.

Let’s discuss why the trick works and how to enable Airplane Mode on Android and iOS.

Why a phone charges faster in Airplane Mode

Airplane Mode disables all wireless communication protocols on your mobile device. In general use, your phone constantly searches for and maintains connections to cellular and WiFi networks.

If you’ve also got Bluetooth switched on, that’s another wireless protocol contributing to battery usage.

READ MORE: Is fast charging actually bad for your battery?

Wireless communications require a fair amount of energy to function. Granted, you’ll use a lot more power watching videos or fiddling around inside an app, but the difference with services like WiFi is that they constantly run in the background.

You may close all of your applications before you connect your charger, but those wireless protocols are still active and chipping away at your precious battery percentage.

That’s where Airplane Mode comes in handy. Switching the feature on reduces your passive power usage while your device charges. In some situations, the small but notable increase in charging speed could be exactly what you need.

How to enable Airplane Mode on Android and iOS

Follow these steps to enable Airplane Mode on your Android or iOS device:

That’s it. If you’d prefer to take the scenic route, you can also find the Android Flight Mode switch in Settings > Connections. In iOS, Airplane Mode appears in the main menu of the Settings app.

Airplane Mode is good for emergency charging

In general, enabling Airplane Mode while your phone charges isn’t necessary. If you’re not in a rush, simply connecting your device to a reliable power source will get the job done in a reasonable amount of time.

However, in an emergency situation—and emergencies do happen—enabling Airplane Mode is a quick and effective way to reduce energy consumption and lessen charging time.

If you do find yourself in a situation where a little extra battery juice could save the day, you now know an effective way to shave off some precious seconds.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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