can my iphone still be tracked on airplan… (2024)

IdrisSeabright

165,833 points

Keep in mind that your mother will most likely be able to tell you've put your phone in Airplane mode. This may cause her a lot of worry. She may even panic and call the police. Can you imagine how much trouble you'll be in if that happens? Even if she only knows you circumvented the tracking, you'll probably still get into trouble.

If my child were to do that on a phone I paid the bill for, there would be some very dire consequences.

beatsareme

12 points

Skydiver119

53,441 points

You put it in airplane mode it's not a phone anymore. you turn off all the antennas and basically you're carrying around an expensive MP3 player.

Speaking as someone that's probably old enough to be your mom....well if you don't do something your mom will disprove of, what does it matter if she knows where you are? Maybe if she knows she can trust you she will take off the app. Someone knowing where you are could save your life some day.

jonty_b

189 points

Hi,

Yes, putting your phone into Airplane mode will stop this as Airplane mode prevents your phone from being able to connect to the network. You could also disable wifi/mobile data or location services, this will also prevent the tracking.

Hope this helps!

Jonty 🙂

Lawrence Finch

208,570 points

You are living with the common misconception that GPS tracks you. It doesn't. GPS satellites broadcast their location information. Your phone RECEIVES these broadcasts, goes through some very complex calculations, and determines your position. Your phone does not send any information to GPS satellites.

Before GPS, navigators depended on "celestial navigation" - they found their position by using a sextant to compare the position in the sky of known stars at specific times. By measuring the azimuth and elevation of several stars they could calculate their position. They did not transmit any data to the stars. GPS is the same concept, except instead of using the known position of stars it uses the known position of satellites.

beatsareme

12 points

RobbBorm

4 points

Before GPS, navigators depended on "celestial navigation" - they found their position by using a sextant to compare the position in the sky of known stars at specific times. By measuring the azimuth and elevation of several stars they could calculate their position. They did not transmit any data to the stars. GPS is the same concept, except instead of using the known position of stars it uses the known position of satellites.

As a long-time science teacher, I am impressed by this analogy. Well explained!

Ronda Wilson

42,656 points

Why would you not want your mom to know where you are?

I'm sure it's a great comfort to her to know your whereabouts, and you don't have to be bothered with phoning home to check in.

Guypersonman

9 points

Lawrence Finch

208,570 points

IdrisSeabright

165,833 points

beatsareme wrote:

GPS is linked into the same network as the one you use to connect to the “internet” when you are away from WiFi.

Cellular data is how you connect to the internet when you're not using WiFi. GPS has nothing to do with cellular data. Location services are NOT turned off in Airplane mode.

The question remains, how am I able to track a satellite and my global position with access to this data network?

Using GPS does NOT require a data connection.

If you're using a mapping/navigation app that downloads the maps themselves on the fly, you need access to a data connection to do that. And, for apps like Find My iPhone to know where you are, the phone has to transmit that information to the servers using either WiFi or cellular data.

IdrisSeabright

165,833 points

beatsareme wrote:

Try this: Use Apple Maps to get directions somewhere and press start. Then, turn on airplane mode, and guess what? It still tracks your exact GPS location and continues to give you perfect directions. How is that possible, when airplane mode is supposed to turn off all internet connectivity?! Apparently Android users aren't the only ones getting tracked even when airplane mode is on..

Airplane mode hasn't turned of GPS on the iPhone in couple of years. However, that doesn't have anything to do with the question that was posed in this thread. In order to track a phone using Find My iPhone (or other services), the phone has to connect to either a WiFi or cellular data network in addition to having location services turned on. If the phone can't connect to a network, it can't be tracked.

GPS satellites are not tracking you. You're tracking the satellites. Then, the phone calculates where you are based on the position of those satellites relative to you. GPS has nothing to do with the internet.

TildeBee

31,923 points

Who bought your iPhone?

Was it your money, or your Mom's?

Vikala

4 points

IdrisSeabright

165,833 points

Vikala wrote:

Hey! Exactly, how is this possible? I was lying awake thinking about how in bali I was able to bring up the map and then turn wifi on and I could still use it and it knew where we were. There must be someother tracking device in it! This is exactly why I jumped on the net to see if anyone else noticed that.

You were able to find where you are on the map because the phone has a GPS receiver. It receives location information from satellites.