Turn off cellphone (SIM) radio

How do I turn the cellphone (SIM) radio on an Android phone?

The radio consumes a lot of power (30-70%), especially when the phone is idle. Sometimes I only need to use other functions (e.g., clock, web browser), and make the battery last as long as possible.

"Airplane mode" does this but also turns off the WiFi (close to, but not exactly what I need).

Topic cellular-radio battery-life android

Category Android


Once you've put the phone in Airplane/Flight mode, you can manually re-enable WiFi. (On my phone at least) this leaves WiFi on and the phone radio disabled. It does involve a couple more clicks but I think it achieves what you're after.

A quick look round the market showed a few apps that manage this setting for you, for example the "Airplane Mode Wi-Fi Tool" and "Airplane Autoswitch". Either of these may streamline the process slightly.

Airplane Mode Wi-Fi Tool QRCode:
Airplane Mode Wi-Fi Tool

Airplane Autoswitch QRCode:
Airplane Autoswitch


I have been using Juice Defender to good effect for a while. It turns off battery-sucking functions and turns them on occasionally to allow for syncing and is highly customizable.

About

Geeks Mental is a community that publishes articles and tutorials about Web, Android, Data Science, new techniques and Linux security.