© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Google is reportedly working on a new feature called ‘Connected Flight Mode’ which will automatically toggle Airplane Mode on Android devices.
According to a recent patent filed by Google, ‘Connected Flight Mode’ will enable ‘Airplane mode’ whenever it detects you are on a flight and disable it when you are back on the ground. However, unlike the current implementation of Airplane mode which automatically disables all radios, the new feature can automatically toggle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The patent also suggests that the feature can configure Wi-Fi settings to match the type of connection the flight accepts. It can also disconnect from the network if it detects that the device battery is low or when the network quality is poor. Another thing to note here is that when your device enters ‘Connected Flight Mode’, certain functionalities such as background app refresh and updates will be unavailable.
Google reveals that the feature works by taking several factors like trip history and airport Wi-Fi into consideration and determines if you are inside a plane by recognising things like changes in pressure and noises. The feature can also turn on various radios excluding cellular networks depending on the flight stages.
However, it is unclear if ‘Connected Flight Mode’ will ever make it to Android devices since companies like Google file a ton of patents, but only a handful of them ever see the light of day.
