It does not restart the phone itself. But on my last phone at least, it caused my background apps to shut down. I am still learning this new phone - it seems it likes to have more things running all the time and I have yet to figure out how to control that to save a little battery. Fortunately it has a customizable quick switches feature in the top drop down where Airplane mode still works, which at least gives me one thumb access to flight mode while still working.