In most things in life, I'm a stickler for the rules, even if I don't agree with them. But once in a while, a rule is so stupid, useless, countrproductive, or even dangerous, that I will violate it with impunity. The electronics rules while flying are one such example.

I put my phone in airplane mode, but not to protect the plane from deadly EM interference from that <1.4w output. I do it because leaving it on will drain the battery as it searches for signals, and because even if it worked perfectly, I don't want to make or receive calls while closed up in a metal tube with 136 other people.

But I do leave it on, so I can use the music player, and I also sometimes turn on my digital camera during takeoffs and landings.

As to tattling on others who leave their phones on - I have never done it, and would only consider doing it if the person was holding a phone conversation and bothering everyone around them.

Texting is usually silent. But some folks insist on leaving the click-click-click sound of their smartphone keyboards turned on, so when they send a text, it sounds like you've got a Predator in the seat next to you.

I only fly WN, and their standard spiel inclludes the line "anything with an on/off switch." Which is ignored, of course. And many who want to follow the directions are simply not aware enough of how smart phones work - they will put the device in silent mode or simply turn off the screen and think they're compliant.

WN also usually says something like "all the way off, not in airplane mode".