Catching Up With The Times, Finally Have An iPhone

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blackbeard

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 13, 2015
706
0
In my early 20's...you would think I would have had a smart phone by now. However, I have always viewed a phone as a phone. While some prefer to text, if I can call and get it over with I would prefer it (not a texting speed issue it just seems a little ridiculous) While generally somewhat tech savvy, the iPhone is so new to me...making me feel a bit stupid. It's a 5s...can anyone give me tips on ensuring I don't use data when I'm sitting in the house...and give me a feel for what I can't avoid. As well as how I can get away with texting to another iPhone in Canada without being charged. At least now my pictures of my pipes for the forums won't be such crap quality :D I know I could google these things...but the iPhone changes every 3 hours, so I can't rely on it.
Thanks in advance!
P.S. I stopped Facebook when they finally gave the option to remove it instead of disabling it....who else remembers when AOL hit this point, became super intrusive, and was like a plague?

 

davet

Lifer
May 9, 2015
3,815
330
Estey's Bridge N.B Canada
Can't help you with an iPhone but I did figure out earlier today that a Sony Xperia is capable of flight. Will be shopping for one of those armoured flip phones tomorrow.

 

seacaptain

Lifer
Apr 24, 2015
1,829
7
You'll have to pry the flip phone from my cold dead hands.
In fact, if I didn't need it for work, I'd probably go back to a land line, with a rotary dial, just to annoy people.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
who else remembers when AOL hit this point, became super intrusive, and was like a plague?
Happens to all tech companies. Get big, hire a lot of people, then realize their business model is horse puckey and they have to squeeze more out of the sheep. Google and Amazon hit this point recently.

 

bcharles123

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 18, 2014
236
1
Welcome to the Dark Side. While not a geek or a power user I can help with a few basic things to keep in mind. The IPhone or any smart phone transmits and receives two ways.

This is important as they each cost a different amount!
1) the cell phone. This is the part that goes over the air to the cell tower. Phone calls and text always go this way. Verizon or att or whoever you have your service with. So many minutes or whatever. Data, like emails or Internet surfing can go over the cell phone too but you pay for each gigabyte.
2) wifi. This is the other way to connect for data. It is ALWAYS preferred for data if it's available. Your house, a hotel, the airport, Starbucks, etc. The reason this is preferred is it doesn't count against your cell phone data plan.
So when your out and about, and surfing, or emailing your using up data. When your connected to wifi you are not. Dont be too worried. An email or a post to this forum doesn't use up a lot of data. Watching videos from the Internet does. The gps on the iPhone is awesome but uses some data as you drive around. Again just be aware and connect to wifi whenever possible. In your settings menues you can set these things up to limit use too.
Now foreign travel is a nightmare. Again wifi no problem! But calls txt gps and anything not connected to wifi can cost thousands of dollars! Check with your carrier about texts to Canada. You may be better off sending emails over wifi. If that makes sense you'll be fine!
The I phone camera is great too. You can post directly to anyone and everyone ACCEPT here! That, my friend, is a a complete mystery! Have fun!

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,343
And that is why I have a Straight Talk Android. Forty-five dollars a month, and practically unlimited everything.

 

blackbeard

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 13, 2015
706
0
I'd probably go back to a land line, with a rotary dial, just to annoy people.

Let people come over...and I'm sure this would happen at least once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CElW5PXAmiM
One similar to this in the basement. Grandfather worked for the telephone company. Plenty of candle sticks/rotary dial.
91312_view%2002_02.jpg


 

michaelmirza

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2015
638
0
Chicago, IL
Minimize data usage by using Wi-Fi. Talking and texting don't use the same kind of data as internet usage does. If you want to text internationally for free, you and the person you want to communicate with can use an app called WhatsApp.

 

blackbeard

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 13, 2015
706
0
By turning off "Cellular Data" will it stop it entirely? Or is there things that sneak their way in? I believe I am starting to figure some of it out as I go. Thanks for the tip michael.
Also, seeing your avatar reminds me there are cigars in my humidor from Michael himself. Given to my father as he drove him around for a week. Somewhere there is pictures of my parents with him at the Kentucky Derby as personal guests. Think it will taste better since he bought it? Considering the other two I smoked....I believe so :D

 

bcharles123

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 18, 2014
236
1
Yes you can turn off cellular data. Again, just start playing around with these settings and keep an eye on things but don't worry too much.

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
456
Congratulations.
It seems these days nothing is safe from smartphones, their apps, and the appholes that use them, and unfortunately, I too have become one of them.

 

blackbeard

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 13, 2015
706
0
I have a plan for calls, just don't think it includes text. I'll wing it I suppose. Pretty sad that I was able to hack my neighbors wifi and get his email, and a bunch of passwords but am having trouble grasping all of this. I didn't read them, but pointed out to him it wasn't secure, then fixed it...so don't take me as a horrible person. It was more of a....see if I can sort of thing.

 

jvnshr

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
Iphone 5S, I guess you have IOS 9 installed. What I love about IOS 9 is the search option in settings. A great option that I have wanted since the mobile phones were invented :)

 

michaelmirza

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2015
638
0
Chicago, IL
By turning off "Cellular Data" will it stop it entirely? Or is there things that sneak their way in? I believe I am starting to figure some of it out as I go. Thanks for the tip michael.
Also, seeing your avatar reminds me there are cigars in my humidor from Michael himself. Given to my father as he drove him around for a week. Somewhere there is pictures of my parents with him at the Kentucky Derby as personal guests. Think it will taste better since he bought it? Considering the other two I smoked....I believe so :D

I use Android instead of iPhone so the nomenclature may be a little different, but on my system turning off "mobile data" turns off internet but not calls or texts. I rarely see "data" used to describe anything but internet.
And dude, cigars from MJ?! That's nuts! So cool. He's a hometown hero of course.

 
Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
Congrats or Condolences, I'm not sure which to give. Now you can drop in the forum 5x a day and bid on pipes no matter where you are. We will save a seat for you at the pipe-aholics meeting.
If you see the 4G symbol on the top of your phone, then you're using data. Turning off your cellular data in the settings will stop all data usage. I stay on the internet on my iphone pretty much all day at work without wifi and it doesn't use much data. Streaming videos and music will eat it up very fast.

 

maxx

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 10, 2015
709
6
I'm 58. I went from flip phone to smartphone less than a year ago. I got an iPhone through Sprint with unlimited data. It's my only online access when I'm not at work, where I get on wifi with either a cheap Android tablet or the phone - mostly the phone. I actually rarely use it for a phone.
Besides the browser, it's the apps that make smartphones so cool. I just started getting camera apps this past weekend. For guitar players, there's some great iPhone apps: Bias and JamUp Pro . There's really good music streaming apps. MixerBox 3 streams YouTube music and works very well on the iPhone. I tried it on the Android tablet, and it's not as convenient. If you're interested in Astronomy, get the Sky Guide app, only available on iPhone and iPad. It's phenomenal.
For the German language, apps by Pons are good. I bought their Advanced Dictionary, which works offline. They have a free online dictionary that's pretty good and every word is available to hear spoken. The apps for Wikipedia, Amazon, Kindle, and B&H Photo are good. Same for eBay and PayPal.
The Yahoo mail app is good. I use the Microsoft Outlook app for my main email address from work, which goes through Google but isn't a gmail address. It's better than the Google app or the Apple mail app, at least it was prior to iOS 9. I haven't looked to compare since we got 9. Maybe I should because Outlook doesn't allow deleting trash or spam - I have to use a browser to do that.
For a weather app, check out Weather Live. It's beautiful. Apple's weather app isn't as good.
If you want a sophisticated sound level meter, look for SPLnFFT in the App Store.
WebMD Health Tools is an excellent reference app.
For an app for converting between measures, including money, look for Converter {infinity symbol}, likewise for Calculator: Website http://iphonecalculator.com

 

maxx

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 10, 2015
709
6
Just discovered Outlook now allows permanent deletion of spam and trash from inside the app. Hurray!

 

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
Settings>Cellular>Cellular Data set to off
Alternatively, you can leave Cellular Data on, but scroll all the way down to manually select which apps/functions draw cellular data when you're away from wifi. If you don't you'll get a prompt when you try to use something, like maps, for example.
Super Important!!!
On the Cellular Page, scroll all the way down and turn WI-FI Assist OFF.

This is a feature Apple snuck in recently that uses your cellular data when your wifi is spotty. It's a massive draw on your data plan.
As far as texting goes, it coms down to your data plan. I believe that every iPhone can text another iPhone free of charge using iMessage (your texts will be in blue). You can probably use microsoft hangouts to call people over wifi without using your minutes (if you have a restrictive plan). I don't know about texting people that don't have iPhones because it's never come up lol.
Good luck. Have fun.

 
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