# How can I tell which iphone apps use the internet?



## cheekymac (Feb 20, 2009)

I am thinking of changing my phone plan because the data plan is just too expensive even though some of the apps that use the net are fun.

There are some apps that are obvious that do (email or safari) and others that don't (calculator) but there are others that are hard to tell. I would still have wi-fi but I want to make sure there is a 100% way to tell if an app uses the internet so that I don't get charged when not in a wi-fi area. 

What do I look for?

Thanks


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Feb 21, 2009)

There isn't a universal indicator of what apps use the internet and what apps don't.  You're pretty much left up to figuring that out by what the app does, as you said -- email and web apps access the internet... games that post high scores to the internet... apps that include maps from Google access the internet... and so on.

You can prevent internet access by either turning off networking or putting your phone in "Airplane Mode."  This is pretty much the only sure-fire way to ensure that an application does not access the internet.


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## fryke (Feb 21, 2009)

Of course you then lose the same ability for Safari and Mail. With flight mode, you even lose phone connection, of course.


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## cheekymac (Feb 21, 2009)

ElDiabloConCaca said:


> There isn't a universal indicator of what apps use the internet and what apps don't.  You're pretty much left up to figuring that out by what the app does, as you said -- email and web apps access the internet... games that post high scores to the internet... apps that include maps from Google access the internet... and so on.
> 
> You can prevent internet access by either turning off networking or putting your phone in "Airplane Mode."  This is pretty much the only sure-fire way to ensure that an application does not access the internet.



Thanks, testing in airplane mode will help. By turning off G3 and wi-fi I am still connected to the slower internet connection?

So if I am blocking the internet the app will work it it won't? (may give me a message)

I will miss GPS and a couple others but $64 a month is too much and I can cut it almost in half by getting out of a data plan. I am just afraid of getting charges if I use the net unknowingly.


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Feb 21, 2009)

Technically, the GPS portion of the phone should still work -- true GPS doesn't involve network activity.  But while GPS will be able to pinpoint your position, displaying that information on the phone requires network access... for example, Google maps application could probably pinpoint you on the earth without network access, but actually displaying the map underneath the pinpoint requires that a map or maps be downloaded from Google (network access... dangit!).

There is no way to disable the 3G/EDGE network without also disabling the ability to use the iPhone as a phone.  You can turn off 3G and fall back to EDGE, but this has no effect on permitting or blocking network access -- it's just switching to a slower network.  The "network" that a phone call on the iPhone uses is the same network that is used for other types of data (internet, email, etc.).  Cut off one and the other goes with it, for the most part.

I do believe the only way to prevent network activity is to put the iPhone in Airplane Mode, or turn it off entirely.

If you're looking to prevent ridiculously high data rates while _roaming_ (say, traveling from AT&T's network to the Orange network in Europe somewhere), there is an option to prevent data other than phone calls from using the network.  It's under Settings > General > Network > Data Roaming... set it to off, and only the phone works.  Unfortunately, you must actually be outside your network, and you cannot use this feature within your own network -- so you can't prevent data access while retaining phone access unless you're in another provider's network.


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## cheekymac (Feb 23, 2009)

ElDiabloConCaca said:


> Technically, the GPS portion of the phone should still work -- true GPS doesn't involve network activity.  But while GPS will be able to pinpoint your position, displaying that information on the phone requires network access... for example, Google maps application could probably pinpoint you on the earth without network access, but actually displaying the map underneath the pinpoint requires that a map or maps be downloaded from Google (network access... dangit!).
> 
> There is no way to disable the 3G/EDGE network without also disabling the ability to use the iPhone as a phone.  You can turn off 3G and fall back to EDGE, but this has no effect on permitting or blocking network access -- it's just switching to a slower network.  The "network" that a phone call on the iPhone uses is the same network that is used for other types of data (internet, email, etc.).  Cut off one and the other goes with it, for the most part.
> 
> ...




Thanks for the info. That's good to know about roaming. It's a regular data plan (plus voice mail and so on) which comes to $64.07 a month without a data plan $37.33 (Canadian with Fido). But if I am using say GPS for example and am using the maps, if I go out of a wi-fi area and G3 kicks in I will get charged. There was one day before I got the data plan that the card was in the phone, I didn't even use the apps and got a $88 charge! Which they did remove! Thank goodness cause that almost gave me a heart attach. But that is what I am worried about with going to a non data plan and something sneaking in that I didn't know was using the internet.


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