iPhone in Airplane Mode

Yes, if you are only using it as a camera .

You can use WiFi while in airplane mode. Just manually switch WiFi back on. We do it with our iPhones when abroad.

Just an FYI. There is no need to turn airplane mode off to connect to WiFi. Once in airplane mode either toggle WiFi on and off as needed or just leave it on if you want.

You can use wifi in airplane mode. I do this often in Europe and Mexico to save data. Very helpful feature.

From the Apple support site, not very helpful by itself but you can also search the user community for much deeper explanations.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204234

I leave my iPhone in Airplane mode so Verizon doesn’t charge me for the $10 daily international fee. I use WiFi and Bluetooth when I’m in range.

My husband and I left our iPhones in airplane mode for the 3 weeks we were in Italy. Turned on the WiFi when available without having to leave airplane mode. No problems, no charges. Probably doesn't make any difference to this topic, but we have AT&T.

Yes, if you don’t have an international data plan this is a good idea. Just be sure to download as much as possible while on WiFi to make the phone useful. You can still use WiFi and the offline phone features, like camera, clock, books and notes you download ahead of time, and many apps. If you download your languages ahead of time, you can also use google translate offline.

As others pointed out, WiFi works on airplane mode. So does GPS so if you download a map (in an offline app or on google with WiFi) the blue dot marking your location still moves in real time. GPS is not cellular data so you won’t be charged for using it.

Depending on your carrier look into charges to use the phone to call/text/use the Internet. In an emergency you may want to do this.

One does not “ALWAYS” have to have airplane mode on at all times. If your data plan is sufficient enough to handle turning AP off for a need to get info when WiFi isn’t available, do so! But, don’t forget to turn it back on when done with whatever you needed to look up.

I often leave cellular data switched off when I'm out touring, but rarely put the phone in "Airplane mode" unless I'm actually on a plane. Some data activity occurs in the background, so I want to ensure that I don't go over my limit.

My other half goes this route. I'm the one who keeps my phone on with a calling/data plan.

Can't speak for Apples, but we do so for our Android phones for many of the same reasons plus to save battery life. If the phone isn't searching for a tower it saves a lot of battery power. Until the last couple of years we traveled Europe without international service and kept our phones in airplane mode the entire trip. Would use Wi-Fi if there was a safe connection.

Put my iPhone in Airplane mode when I get on the plane going to Europe. Turn airplane mode off when I step off the plane back in the US. I manually switch WiFi and Bluetooth on as needed without ever touching the airplane mode switch. Works great.

I keep my iPhone in airplane mode 100% of the time while overseas regardless of whether I’m using Wi-Fi or not. I also turn off cell data as an extra step in case I turn off airplane mode by mistake.

When your phone is on airplane mode, Wi-Fi certainly works.

Airplane mode conserves battery power:
http://concourse.gogoair.com/airplane-mode-saves-battery-power-air-ground/

...when you’re in an area where you don’t get a good cell signal, your
phone constantly searches for a signal. This searching uses battery
power and is one of the things that can deplete your phone’s battery
very quickly.

For many trips, we went even further -- had our carrier put phones (android) in "vacation mode" so there was NO chance of running up phone bills. Used hotel Wi-Fi to keep in touch with family at home.