If you're traveling, airplane mode remains a handy method for switching your phone's cellular connection off with a single tap. Unfortunately, it usually disables all wireless connections, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi — essential tools if you're on a modern plane. Although Google fixed its Bluetooth headaches back in the days of Android 11, using a plane's built-in Wi-Fi network while in airplane mode still requires you to manually switch it back on. Thankfully, that's finally changing, and it all starts with Pixels.
Seemingly connected to this week's Feature Drop, Pixel users have started seeing a new pop-up message when triggering airplane mode, according to 9to5Google. With these changes, supported devices will leave Wi-Fi on whenever airplane mode is reactivated once the action is completed for the first time. Effectively, Google is giving its users the option to keep Wi-Fi on or off by default just by triggering it once, sticking with the decision made from there on out.
According to the linked support page, Bluetooth duplicates this functionality, staying enabled even if you aren't already connected to earbuds or other supported devices like wearables. It's a small change, but one that should allow Pixel devices to be a little smarter about how they manage their various network settings. Considering how essential communication is — even when 30,000 feet in the air — leaving your Wi-Fi settings alone is an excellent step forward for Android.
It seems this feature is somehow tied to the December Feature Drop. I'm not seeing it active on a Pixel 7 Pro running the November patch, but it did appear on a Pixel 7 with yesterday's update installed. You'll need to enable airplane mode before turning Wi-Fi back on to get the notification. This doesn't seem to be a Pixel-exclusive feature — the support page specifically mentions Android phones — so presumably, it's bound to hit other devices sooner rather than later.