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According to

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1355

airplane-mode on the iPhone shuts off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ...GPS.

My understanding is that GPS-devices only /receive/ GPS signals, they don't transmit anything, so I don't understand why this needs to be shut down. [Of course, if the iPhone is running at all, then /it/ is emitting some RF, but I don't see why receiving GPS signals should cause an additional problem for the airplane.]

I tested on an iPhone 3GS (IOS 6.1.3): Enabled airplane-mode, then turned-off the phone. Rotated the phone 180-degrees. Turned it back on (with airplane-mode still enabled). The compass-app still seemed to find North.

Would someone be willing to do an independent test of this?

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  • Experienced this same behavior in Cades Cove, TN where there is no cell service and iPhone 6 in airplane mode. Google maps could still pinpoint location.
    – user128027
    Commented May 15, 2015 at 21:45

6 Answers 6

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Yes, airplane mode shuts down the radios that amplify all antenna circuitry. Compass isn't affected by airplane mode other than not being tuned by GPS location. Your observed relative changes will be mostly unaffected but absolute accuracy could suffer between one and ten degrees on much of the globe.

Of course the GPS signals still hit the iPhone case and antennas, just the hardware doesn't do the work to fix a location from those signals while in airplane mode. (Nor does e software do any processing of the location updates which is a big part of the functionality for many people as opposed to the hardware side of the radios being idle / off / silent)

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  • Ta; I didn't realize the 3GS has a Magnetometer chip; IIUC, the 3G did not. Is it fair to say the following?: There is no conceptual reason for GPS to be shut-down in airplane-mode. Then, while flying cross-country, you could see your longitude, latitude (tho' you wouldn't have maps, unless downloaded before the flight) and altitude without emitting any more RF that simply by having the iPhone powered-up. But there might be a cost-savings reason, if it would make the chip-set more expensive to have the capability of shutting down part of it??
    – gentsquash
    Commented Aug 12, 2013 at 2:41
  • → gentsquash: you already correctly tested it. "Yes Compass isn't affected by airplane mode".
    – athena
    Commented Aug 12, 2013 at 6:20
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    → gentsquash: you are right, there is no technical reason to shutdown a GPS chipset which is just a receiver and antenna, since the emitter will not be shutdown. The emitter is a flock of satellites and their 1.575 GHz is sprayed on the whole earth through every airplane, through every vehicle, through every human being.
    – athena
    Commented Aug 12, 2013 at 6:36
  • The local oscillator of radio receivers emit a small amount of RF. Even though the tiny amount emitted by a current GPS is not likely to interfere with anything, that was the technical reason due to cheap old radios from decades ago.
    – hotpaw2
    Commented Aug 13, 2013 at 0:37
  • As of iOS 8.3 this is no longer the case. GPS does now work in Airplane Mode.
    – Nic Hubbard
    Commented Feb 5, 2016 at 22:16
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I think Airplane Mode disables the hardware chips. GPS and 3G/LTE are on the same chip. I would say, Airplane Mode also disables GPS.

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  • 1
    Yes it does. Location service isn't accessible on Airplane Mode.
    – Matthieu Riegler
    Commented Aug 11, 2013 at 22:21
  • Does it also disable the compass on your iPhone? [Location service might need additional information, e.g, a cell-tower or a map.]
    – gentsquash
    Commented Aug 11, 2013 at 22:30
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The existing answers are now outdated. Since iOS 8.2, you can still use the GPS even in flight mode.

Apple's statement says:

If you have a device with iOS 8.2 or earlier, Airplane Mode will also turn off GPS.

Source: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204234

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  • I confirm NickG updated statement. GPS continues to work in airplane mode. Tested on iPhone 5s and SE with iOS 8, 9 and now 10. It may take longer (up to several minutes)to get the first fix but has full performance afterwards. It even works in an airplane when the iPhone is close to a window.
    – Roland von Bremen
    Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 8:57
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The compass uses the Magnetometer/Gyroscope which doesn't require antennas (just a chip). So yes it still works in airplane mode.

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No, GPS only appears to be disabled in the native Apple Maps app. Using another map app such as Google Maps, you are still able to determine your location even with airplane mode on, wifi and bluetooth off.

Tested in iOS 8.3

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0

Yes, airplane mode disables GPS

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