Do Not Disturb vs Silent vs Airplane Mode on Android: Know the Difference

Quick Tips

• On silent mode, you won’t be able to listen to sounds for calls and notifications. However, your device will vibrate, and light up the device for the same.
• On do not disturb, your device will neither alert you with a sound, nor light up the display and vibrate for notifications and calls.
• On airplane mode, your device will be disconnected all networks. However, you can manually enable and use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on Airplane Mode, but you won’t be able to access the cellular network.

What Is Silent Mode on Android

When you enable silent mode, you will not hear any alerts for calls, and any sort of notifications. However, you will still hear your device vibrate and light up the display for notifications. You will continue to receive the sound for alarms, though.

To enable silent mode, you can use the volume keys, and tap on the silent mode icon. Alternatively, you can go to Settings > Sound & Vibrations and enable Silent Mode.

In case you don’t want your device to vibrate on silent mode, you can adjust the settings for the same in the Sound & Vibration menu.

What Is Do Not Disturb on Android

When you enable Do Not Disturb, you won’t be able to hear any alerts for notifications and calls. Further, your phone will not vibrate or light up to show you any notifications. You can unlock your phone, and then see all the notifications you received while you were on DND. Do note that you’ll still be able to listen to alarms in DND.

Go to Settings > Sound & Vibration to enable DND. Alternatively, you can also enable DND from the quick settings menu.

You can also modify a few settings for DND. However, these options depend upon the Android device you are using.

On my Xiaomi device, I can allow calls for all of my contacts, or starred contacts when DND is on. I can also schedule DND, and choose to receive notifications for repeated calls. On a Pixel device, you can allow notifications from specific apps while you are using DND.

Also Read: How to fix Do Not Disturb turning on automatically on Android.

What Is Airplane Mode on Android

Airplane mode disconnects your device from cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth networks. You can still enable and use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in airplane mode. However, you won’t be able to use your cellular networks in airplane mode.

To enable it, tap the airplane icon in the quick settings menu. Alternatively, you can go to Settings > Network > Airplane Mode and enable the option.