Unlock your devices in 3 steps
Change GPS location on Android easily
Feb 21, 2025 • Filed to: Virtual Location Solutions • Proven solutions
Airplane mode is a feature available on all smartphones and other electronic devices that stops the signal transmissions from the devices. Also known as flight or airplane mode, this feature will disconnect the wireless functions, including cellular connection, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
The feature's name says that it was introduced to cut off any radio transmission during the flight to avoid any communication interference. However, the feature must be enabled while taking a flight, and if you need to be disconnected from the signals, you can even use the feature outside the plane.
If you have enabled airplane mode on your iPhone or Android device and think it will also block your GPS location, you are wrong. Know why airplane mode does not turn off GPS location and other ways to avoid getting tracked with or without Airplane Mode.
As we mentioned above, while you put your phone on airplane mode, the cellular radio, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is disabled, but not the GPS location.
The GPS works on a different technology where the signals are received from the satellite and are not dependent on the network or cellular services. So, when the airplane mode is enabled, the GPS location is not turned off.
Yes, if you have not disabled the GPS feature, your location can be tailed on an Airplane mode as the flight mode only disables the cellular connection and Wi-Fi. So, it can be concluded that Airplane Mode is no solution for stopping the GPS tracking on your phone, though there are other workarounds available for this.
The GPS feature of your phone, besides assisting you, is also a way any person or third-party app can keep track, which can hamper your privacy and be annoying. So, for privacy or any other reason, if you are looking for ways to prevent your phones from being tailed, check out the solutions for iDevices and Android below.
To hide the location on your iPhone and iPad, below listed are the steps.
Step 1. Open the Control Center on your iDevice, iPhone 13 for example. (For iPhone X and above models, swipe down from the top-right, while on other devices, swipe from the bottom of the screen)
Step 2. Enable the Airplane Mode or turn off the Wi-Fi and Cellular icon.
Step 3. Next, you need to disable the GPS radio. On some of the devices, there is a separate setting for this. Go to Settings > Privacy> Location Services. The list of the apps using the location services will appear. Move the toggle at the Location Services to turn it off.
The process to turn off GPS location on Android devices may vary from device to device and brand to brand. Still, the commonly used steps for turning off the location are listed below.
Step 1. On your Android phone, swipe down on your screen to open the options list.
Step 2. Search for the Airplane icon and click on it to turn on the Airplane Mode.
Step 3. Next, open the App Drawer and then choose Settings > Location. Turn off the Location.
No, it cannot be traced when an iPhone or any other phone is switched off. For example, when an iPhone is switched off, its GPS is not activated, and thus it cannot be traced.
No, the Find My iPhone feature does not work in Airplane mode because the location services need a network connection, and thus in Airplane mode, the device is offline, and it isn't easy to track the device.
Life360 is a helpful app for tracking your friends, family, and other people. This app tracks your GPS location and displays it to all the selected members in a circle. When the airplane mode on your device is enabled, the network will be disconnected, and thus Life360 will not be able to update your location to the members in the circle. Therefore, during airplane mode, Life360 will not update your site.
So, it can be concluded that Airplane Mode disconnects you from the cellular network and Wi-Fi. Therefore, to stop getting traced, you need to disable your location services along with the airplane mode. If you have other problems, welcome to explorer in Dr.Fone. You could always find a solution in Dr. Fone.
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