Airplane mode has advantages whether you’re 35,000 feet in the air or on the ground.
Nearly all of our gadgets have built-in airplane mode, ready to activate when we board a plane. It’s seldom useful when you’re not flying (unless you really don’t want to be called). Why would you intentionally unplug from the internet? For your Nintendo Switch, there are two reasons: battery life and loading speed.
An internet-dependent gadget, the Switch Wi-Fi is required to download updates, play games online, and check-in with friends. That said, you probably don’t do those things most of the time. Unless you only play online, you’re probably alone and playing something you can play offline.
Connecting to the internet drains battery life—and not just when you’re using it. While it’s understandable that visiting the eShop, downloading updates, or joining an online game with a friend would drain your battery, there’s a lot more going on while your system is set up.
Your Switch is continuously searching for updates, checking to see if pals are online, and sending push alerts so you may buy new goods. It also does all that when in Sleep mode, so unless you have it docked all the time, you’ll have less battery life when you wake it up. Turning on Airplane mode when you don’t need the internet stops all of that.
Turning on Airplane mode has more than simply power saving benefits. Many games, even ones that don’t require one, seem to check for one before starting. If you are not in range of wifi but have wifi activated, this might slow down the loading process.
Airplane mode disables the internet check, allowing your game to start faster. According to this Reddit post, Super Mario Odyssey’s “play with disconnected Joy-Cons” screen moves quicker when Airplane mode is activated. This feature of Airplane mode may encourage you to use it even while your Switch is docked or charging.
One caveat: If you pay for Nintendo Switch Online, which includes cloud saving, losing a few seconds of load time or a few minutes of battery life may not be worth it. If you need to use the Joy-Cons while detached, you’ll need to manually enable Bluetooth from System Settings > Airplane Mode > Controller Connection (Bluetooth).
How to enable Airplane mode on Nintendo Switch
Hold the Home button to open Quick Settings to enable Airplane Mode. Select Airplane Mode and press A to enable it. Airplane mode may be enabled under System Settings.
