# A running app for airplane mode

> Steady Pace runs fully in airplane mode: GPS still works, and the app needs no signal, login, or data. Track pace and distance with every radio off, for battery and for privacy.

Airplane mode does not switch off GPS, so you can still track a run with every other radio silent. Steady Pace is built to run exactly like that, which is good for your battery and even better for your privacy.

**The short answer:** Steady Pace works fully in airplane mode. Airplane mode turns off cellular, wifi, and Bluetooth, but GPS still receives from satellites, so the app can compute your pace, distance, and route with no signal at all. It needs no login and no data, and it makes no network connections in the first place, so running with the radios off changes nothing about how it works. You get accurate tracking, longer battery, and a phone that is transmitting nothing about where you are.

## Airplane mode does not turn off GPS

This surprises people: switching a phone to airplane mode disables the radios that send and receive over networks, but GPS is a receiver. It listens to satellites and broadcasts nothing, so it keeps working with everything else off. That is why a navigation app can still place you on a map on a plane. For running, it means you can track pace and distance with the cellular and wifi radios fully silent.

Many running apps still will not cooperate, because they lean on the connection for a login, a sync, or loading content. Take that away and they stall, even though the GPS underneath them is fine. The tracking still works; what fails is the app's dependence on the network.

## Why Steady Pace works in airplane mode

Steady Pace never uses the connection, so removing it changes nothing. There is no account to log in to, no run to sync, and no content to fetch. For this app, airplane mode works as well as any other way to run it. Battery lasts longer, because the cellular radio is one of the hungriest parts of a phone and airplane mode rests it. Privacy improves, because with the radios off the phone is not transmitting your location to anything, on top of the app already sending nothing.

|  | Steady Pace | A connection-dependent app |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tracks in airplane mode | Yes, fully | Often stalls at login or sync |
| Uses GPS with radios off | Yes | Yes, if the app will start |
| Battery impact | Lighter, radio rested | Heavier if it keeps retrying |
| Transmits your location | No, and radios are off too | Once a connection returns |

Airplane mode disables the phone's radios while GPS keeps receiving, and because Steady Pace never uses those radios anyway, it runs the same with them off while saving battery and adding privacy.

- [Works offline](https://steadypace.ca/blog/running-app-that-works-offline): The broader case for an app that needs no signal.
- [No network connections](https://steadypace.ca/blog/running-app-that-makes-no-network-connections): Why the connection is never missed.
- [What a data leak looks like](https://steadypace.ca/location-privacy): 87 real, cited incidents, and why no signal means nothing sent.

**Does GPS work in airplane mode?**

Yes. GPS is a receiver that listens to satellites and transmits nothing, so it keeps working when airplane mode disables the cellular, wifi, and Bluetooth radios. A run tracker can still measure pace and distance.

**Will Steady Pace track a run with no signal?**

Yes, fully. It needs no login, sync, or data, and it makes no network connections, so airplane mode changes nothing about how it works.

**Does airplane mode save battery on a run?**

It helps. The cellular radio is power-hungry, especially when searching for signal, so switching it off with airplane mode leaves more battery for GPS and the run itself.

**Is running in airplane mode more private?**

Yes. With the radios off, your phone is not transmitting your location to any network, and Steady Pace sends nothing regardless. It is the quietest way to track a run.


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Source: https://steadypace.ca/blog/running-app-for-airplane-mode
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/steady-pace/id6773682525