When travelling outside of Canada it is very easy to go over your data included in your travel package. The top things to be cautious of is streaming video, streaming audio, application downloads, sending and viewing photos, navigation apps and web surfing
Below are some of the recommended things to do before leaving the country.
Turn off Wi-Fi Assist
Wi-Fi Assist will Automatically switch to the cell network for data if it detects an inconsistent Wi-Fi signal. To turn off this feature
• Tap the Settings app
• Tap Cellular & scroll to bottom
• Move the slider to Off on the Wi-Fi Assist
Turn off Background App Refresh
Your apps can run in the background, carrying out whatever tasks are requested with this turned on cause huge amounts of data to be used. To turn off this feature
• Tap the Settings app
• Tap General
• Tap Background App Refresh
• Move the slider to off
You can decide to let some apps use cellular data and not others. This is great if you want to use a maps app or check for a crucial email. Be warned, though: even just checking email a few times in another country can lead to a extra large bill. That said, if you want to allow some apps to use cellular data when roaming:
• Tap the Settings app
• Tap Cellular
In the Use Cellular Data For: section, move the sliders to Off/white for the apps you don’t want to use data. Any app whose slider is green will be able to use data, even roaming data.
Be sure to properly close apps when you’re not using them as they still might be running in the background and thus, possibly using up data
Press the Home button twice in quick succession. This will bring up the list of running apps. To close an app you swipe upwards on the thumbnail to dismiss it.
Data plundering apps and services
Video/Audio chatting apps like Skype might save you money on your voice minutes but the data charges can easily add up to thousands of dollars.
The types of website you visit will have an impact on your data usage.
The more rich content there is on a website, (flash, video, high-resolution images etc.) the more data you’ll end up using = the more money it’ll cost you.
Apps that use a lot of video content (Youtube, Vimeo, Netflix, online-TV etc.) will all consume data faster than you can imagine.
Apps that use a lot of audio streaming (on-line radio, Apple Music, etc.) will do less damage than video apps, but still enough to cause a serious “bill shock” when you get back home.
GPS navigation apps like Google maps will need to download maps to navigate – and this can end up costing you a bit. If your app allows you to pre-download maps of a certain area and store it, we suggest using this option as it will save you the need to download this with your data or purchase a app like Garmin that does not require data to work.
Keep track of the data you have used – Reset your usage tracker to zero when you arrive at your destination. This will allow you to keep track of how much data you have used, to help estimate the data charges that you are incurring so you do not have any surprises when your bill comes.
To reset the tracker:
• Tap the Settings app
• Tap Cellular & scroll to bottom
• Tap on Reset Statistics
Turn off data roaming
You can avoid data roaming charges on your Apple iPhone by disabling the function altogether and using Wi-Fi instead. To turn off data roaming, select Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options Under Data Roaming, select OFF.
When this setting is turned OFF, you will no longer have access to data services (email, web browsing, App Store, etc.) over a mobile network and data roaming charges will not be incurred. This does not affect text or voice usage.
Use Wi-Fi instead of mobile data
To avoid data roaming charges, use Wi-Fi for email, web browsing and other data services. Please note that Wi-Fi may not always work as a substitute for data roaming. Your iPhone may switch to a mobile network if the Wi-Fi signal is weak or if you leave the Wi-Fi coverage area, thus incurring data roaming charges. Ensure data roaming is disabled if you want to use Wi-Fi only.
Turn off the ability to fetch data
To help control the flow of data to your iPhone, you can disable the phone’s ability to fetch new data.
To do this, select Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data. Under Push, select OFF. Under Fetch, select Manually.
With these settings, you will have to manually check email and sync contacts and calendars. Data will no longer be pushed to your iPhone automatically.
Data roaming charges will apply when you choose to manually check email or sync contacts and calendars over a mobile network.
Other tips
To further improve your roaming experience, you should:
- Make sure your device is in “automatic carrier” mode. On your iPhone, select Settings > Carrier and turn on Automatic. The iPhone will automatically search for and connect to one of our partner networks (this can take up to 5 minutes).