MAC TREAT #147: Use an iPhone Like an iPod touch While Abroad

This past weekend, I took a trip up to Montreal. As I approached the Canadian border, I received an alarming text message on my iPhone. It was AT&T offering a friendly reminder that if I continued to use my iPhone in Canada as vigorously as I do in the States, they would bleed my wallet so dry I wouldn’t have enough money to make it 1/10th of the way back home. Well, they didn’t put it exactly like that, but with roaming data rates at $15 per megabyte, it’s easy to see how I interpreted it as such. I had been cruising to Pandora on 3G up to that point, and sensing I couldn’t afford to keep streaming, I quickly did the math. An average song is three to four minutes long, and at roughly one megabyte per minute of audio, suddenly we were talking $45-$60 per song. Holy Cupertino! That’s a lot of dough!

Thankfully, Apple assumes that the average Steve doesn’t want to pay these ludicrous rates, and as such they have built a host of options into iOS 4 specifically designed to minimize—and eliminate—data usage while roaming. One of these options even transforms your iPhone into an iPod touch, in terms of network connectivity. The first few options are located under Settings > General > Network. The first option in this menu allows you to disable 3G access on your handset. Toggling this off while abroad won’t disable your data—in fact it will only serve to make it slower. Turning Cellular Data (the second option on the list) off, however, will cut off your phone’s data entirely. You will still be able to make and receive calls and texts, but apps that rely on the Internet will cease to function. The final option in this menu governs Data Roaming. This is turned off by default, and it is a good idea to leave it off—unless you want to accrue a lot of additional charges.

While data roaming charges are certainly the steepest of the bunch, calls and texts are not exactly cheap while abroad either. A final step you can take to avoid additional billing is to disable the phone aspect of the iPhone completely by turning on Airplane Mode. By enabling and disabling these respective features, you’ll essentially go dark and be unreachable. However, if you’d like your device to function on Wi-Fi where it’s available, you can enable it and Airplane Mode simultaneously through the Wi-Fi menu. Though Airplane Mode turns Wi-Fi off by default, simply visit Settings > General and turn the switch back on. I used this exact setup extensively to make cheap Skype calls to local restaurants and businesses from my hotel’s network.

Obviously this is a great way to save money while traveling, but it’s not exactly recommended in all instances. While turning off data is a nice money-saving tip, it is advisable to leave the phone component of your device on should you need to be reached in case of emergency. Just remember that streaming Mega Piranha —yes that’s a real movie—over Netflix should probably wait until you get back home.