WiFi *on* in airplane mode - as designed?!

It's working as designed e.g. Use Airplane Mode on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support :

Airplane mode turns off the wireless features on your device so that you comply with airline regulations.

...

If the airline allows it, you can use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth while in Airplane mode. You just need to turn them on separately. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can turn on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth with Control Center. Open Control Center from the Home screen and tap or . You can also go to Settings > Wi-Fi or Settings > Bluetooth. To use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your Apple Watch, just turn off Airplane Mode.

If you turn on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth while you're in Airplane mode, they will be on the next time you use Airplane mode, unless you turn them off while in Airplane mode.

Airplane mode is simply a quick way to turn all 3 radios off at once. Wifi, cellular and Bluetooth.

Once off, each can be turned back on independently, or all at once by disabling (turning OFF) Airplane Mode.

Airplane mode turns off all wireless activity (cellular, wifi, bluetooth) in one go, but (as the link says) some airlines allow you to use wifi and/or bluetooth and you are therefore be able to turn them on individually without coming out of airplane mode (which, on cellular devices, keeps cellular 'off').

Since the original iPhone in 2007, airplane mode has always worked this way. There is nothing new at all in the behavior of iOS 11 in this regard. Users have always had the ability to re-enable just wifi or bluetooth once airplane mode was switched on. Many if not all other smart cellular telephones do the exact same thing.

If the FAA was not alight with it, they’d have spoken out about it a decade ago.

Ability to turn Wifi back on after airplane mode activated has been in iOS for just ever !

Similarly you CAN do the same with Android powered phone - The prime radio to be turned off are the Mobile GSM 3G/2G transmitters.

WiFi is NOT the concern and many airlines provide WiFi onboard today and many more adding it all time - its saving airlines millions to remove IFE equipment in weight maintenance and reduced fire risks whilst adding an additional revenue stream to their bow.

BTW the radio interference risks are overblown anyway and a number of European and US carriers have installed simple suppressors and received FAA/EASA exceptions on specified aircraft that allows airplane mode to be completely switched off in cruise with GSM telephone calls enabled as well

I’ve had iPhones as my only telephone since 2008 and you could always re-enable the individual radios for wifi and Bluetooth after airplane mode was invoked. What was new back around iOS 8 was that the GPS receiver also remains active in airplane mode.

It never made sense to power GPS off anyway since it doesn’t transmit anything at all, but earlier versions of iOS did power it off in airplane mode. Which made off the grid hikers, boaters and so forth annoyed 😁

I don’t understand why you think it’s a bad design. If any regulators had any issues with they’d have enacted rules to ban all manufacturers from doing it. As I mentioned I don’t actually know of a smart phone that doesn’t let you individually re-enable wifi and/or BT once airplane mode is switched on, be it an iOS, Android or Windows smart phone.

I think it started that way in 11.

There's no problem.

From the screen it does not really turn them off, you have to go to the settings to do that.

You can have with cellular service on with or without wifi connected and you can have

airplane mode the same by manually selecting it. It aids in connecting to the cloud but more importantly for me for wifi calling. I use wifi calling with bad cell coverage OR when I am out of the country, I also use it to surf the web and use social media like FB.

I just tested my iPd Pro (11.) by setting it to airplane mode. Everything (including wi-fi) was disabled.

Try resetting the iPad by holding the power and home keys down until the Apple logo appears.

That answer you got is, IMHO, incorrect.

Barry

Given that the risk is associated with fly by wire is theoretical in nature and low risk cross wire radio interference and simple suppressors have resolved the issue sufficiently to satisfy the FAA and EASA on specified Boeing and Airbus equipement albeit in the cruise i will willing to attest that its overblown

Again those risks are associated with GSM Spectrum transmittions and not all radio frequencies.

Indeed in the large fleet of Boeing classic frames using solenoids rods and cables actuator almost certain never existed in the first place. Airbus equipment were more probably more vulnerable all the long.

BTW have a degree in avionics myself.

it is not overblown

my son is an aviation engineer

As far as I can remember it's always worked like it does in iOS 11 e.g. on my iPhone (iOS 9.3.5), Airplane mode 'on' and both wifi and bluetooth 'on' :