In an emergency, being able to call for help could be a matter of life or death. Though many of us likely won’t be caught up in such a serious situation, having strong cell phone coverage is always a good idea. Luckily, you can improve your signal on an iPhone or Android phone in the blink of an eye. It’s nothing complicated, either. You could boost your bars by doing something as simple as toggling Airplane mode or tweaking your network settings. To go from dropped calls to full bars, here’s what you need to know. Read more: iPhone 16: What We Know About the Release Date, Leaks and More.
Note: Although software across different iPhone models is relatively the same, Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel and other Android phones may have different software versions, so certain settings and where they are located might differ depending on device. For more, check out how you can use Google Maps when you’re offline and how you can maybe fix your internet when it’s down. The settings on your phone can help you get better cell service, but there are other tricks for improving your reception without even touching your phone’s software. Some cell phone cases cause more signal disruption than others. Turning your phone’s connection off and then back on is the quickest and easiest way to try and fix your signal woes. If you’re moving around from one location to another, toggling Airplane mode restarts the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular network modems, which forces them to find the best signal in the area.
Android: Swipe down from the top of your screen — to access the Quick Settings panel — and then tap the Airplane mode icon. Wait for your phone to completely disconnect from its Wi-Fi and cellular connections. It doesn’t happen instantly, so give it a good 15 seconds before you tap on the Airplane mode icon again. iPhone: On the iPhone, you can access Airplane mode from the Control Center, but that varies depending on which iPhone model you have. On the iPhone X and later, swipe down from the top-right corner to access the Control Center. On older iPhone models, swipe up from the bottom of the screen. Then tap the Airplane mode icon, which will turn orange when it’s enabled. Again, wait up to 15 seconds before turning it off. Left: Airplane mode on your iPhone. Right: Airplane mode on an Android.
Our phones are miniature computers, and just like computers, sometimes you can fix issues like network connection by simply restarting them. Android: Hold down the power button, or the power button and the volume down key (depending on your Android phone), until the on-screen menu shows up, and then tap Restart. If your phone doesn’t offer a restart option, you can simply tap Power Off to shut down your device, and then boot it back up with the power button. iPhone: On the iPhone X and older models, hold down the sleep/wake button and either one of the volume buttons and then swipe right on the power slider to turn off the device. Wait until it fully turns off, then press down on the sleep/wake button to turn it back on. Alternatively, you can do a force reset on your iPhone: Press the volume up button, followed by the volume down button and then press and hold the side button. Keep holding it in, after your phone’s screen goes black and until you see the Apple logo appear again. If your iPhone has a home button, hold down the sleep/wake button until the power slider is displayed and then drag the slider to the right. Once the device is turned off, press and hold the sleep/wake button until you see the Apple logo. Left: Restarting an Android phone. Right: Powering off an iPhone.