How to prepare your phone for a long flight

In most cases, you don’t have to worry about whether your phone can connect to the internet, but long-haul flights remain one of those scenarios where you’re not guaranteed Wi-Fi. Airlines have gotten better at offering in-flight connectivity, but it’s often unreliable or expensive, and it’s certainly not guaranteed to deliver broadband-level download speeds while you’re on the road.

With that in mind, it’s a good idea to have your phone ready before your flight. Even if you think you’ll spend some time talking to family, sleeping, or browsing the headrest entertainment system in front of you, having a bunch of things to do on your phone can really help those hours in the air go by quickly.

Select your applications

You won’t necessarily want to have all the same apps installed on your flight that you do every day. For example, an upcoming trip might be a good time to try a read-it-after service like Instapaper, an e-book reader like Kindle, or a magazine app to make sure you always have something to read.

You can also consider the types of content you tend to skip—for example, audiobooks or podcasts. Think about what will keep you most entertained while on the air, perhaps instead of the social media apps you usually scroll through, and adjust your app library accordingly.

Cache your content

Many apps allow you to cache content for offline listening or viewing, especially if you’re paying for it. By making sure you have a good chunk of content saved locally on your phone before you take off, you don’t have to rely on a weak Wi-Fi connection or the entertainment options on board.

For example, Netflix lets you save movies and shows to watch: Go to My Netflix, then Downloads to see download suggestions or manually download titles. The same feature is available in the YouTube app if you pay for Premium, and you can access it by tapping Downloads on the You tab.

Find some games

Even if you don’t normally play games on your phone, you’ll be surprised at what a few hours spent in a flying can can do to your brain, and how addictive and fun some of the latest Android and iOS games can be.

We’ll skip detailed recommendations here, as a lot depends on your tastes and preferences, but you shouldn’t have a hard time finding suggested games in the Apple and Google app stores: opt for simpler and less demanding titles, as they’ll be kinder to your battery on the go.

Sync your devices

Make the most of those precious last moments of Wi-Fi, wherever you have it, by opening all the apps you know you’ll rely on before you get on the plane. That means you can do a final sync to match your apps with the data you have elsewhere and in the cloud.

This includes entertainment apps like the ones we mentioned, but also apps like Gmail and Google Docs if you plan on getting some work done or doing some admin on the fly. If you use your Kindle and Kindle apps in tandem, or listen to podcasts on multiple devices, there are other scenarios where one final sync can be useful.

Charge the battery

Your phone isn’t much use with a dead battery, so make sure you have enough juice to last you through your trip. This may require some planning around charging your phone overnight, at your hotel, or even at the airport if you can find a power outlet. You can also pack portable chargers in your carry-on. Put your phone on low-power mode or airplane mode (or both) to make sure the battery you have lasts as long as possible.