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Airplane Mode Abroad

L

lilface

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 2, 2013
87
26
Pennsylvania
I'm traveling abroad next week, and I would like to keep in touch with a few people during my travels. My question is, if my iPhone is in Airplane mode, do iMessages still work IF I have access to wifi?

Obviously, if I have no wifi access I'm assuming that doesn't work.

Thanks!
 
zorinlynx

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,170
17,692
Florida, USA
Keep in mind that turning on Airplane mode disables GPS. It's annoying as hell if you want to use Maps.

The best way to prevent all cellular communication is to set a SIM PIN, reboot your phone, and just not enter the PIN. Cellular radio will stay completely off, but you will still have Wifi, GPS, and Bluetooth. Another plus is if your phone is stolen they can't do anything on your cellular account with your SIM card!

Just don't forget the PIN you set. It can be a pain to reset it with your provider if you do.
 
Gav2k

Gav2k

macrumors G3
Jul 24, 2009
9,216
1,608
lilface said:
I'm traveling abroad next week, and I would like to keep in touch with a few people during my travels. My question is, if my iPhone is in Airplane mode, do iMessages still work IF I have access to wifi?

Obviously, if I have no wifi access I'm assuming that doesn't work.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

No need to set airplane mode just do the following...

Set your data roaming to off

And set iMessage to not send as SMS
 

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Last edited:
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Gav2k said:
No need to set air plain mode just do the following...

Set your data roaming to off

And set iMessage to not send as SMS
Click to expand...
Your phone would still then spend time looking for and perhaps finding some signal that you might not want, and some calls or text messages might come through (since you only have data roaming off) possibly resulting in charges. Perhaps if you also or instead turn off voice roaming, but even then it might still be looking for a cellular signal.
 
Last edited:
ChittagongBoy

ChittagongBoy

macrumors member
Aug 23, 2011
72
35
Roaming

zorinlynx said:
Keep in mind that turning on Airplane mode disables GPS. It's annoying as hell if you want to use Maps.

The best way to prevent all cellular communication is to set a SIM PIN, reboot your phone, and just not enter the PIN. Cellular radio will stay completely off, but you will still have Wifi, GPS, and Bluetooth. Another plus is if your phone is stolen they can't do anything on your cellular account with your SIM card!

Just don't forget the PIN you set. It can be a pain to reset it with your provider if you do.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this tip, will convey to my colleagues who travel outside the US racking up un-intentional roaming charges. Much Appreciated.
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
PDFierro said:
But even Verizon iPhones have SIM cards these days.
Click to expand...
Yup, pulling the SIM would work with a Verizon phone as well as far as turning off cellular, just as locking the SIM with a PIN would (after a restart).
 
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