Is there a Data Only Mode? Verizon minds want to know.

[Pomeless]

Seeing that I am planning on getting my first iPhone with Verizon I recognize that there is the simultaneous data & phone drawback. I am especially looking forward to using GPS apps such as iMapMyRun+. Naturally I wonder if there is a setting inherent to iOS that will allow for uninterrupted data. In other words I don't want to be in middle of recording a run when a phone call comes in and thus lose my recording.

So...
Is there such a setting in iOS?
Or...
Is this a setting that would/could be controlled within an app?

Thanks for your insights.

 

[TheShinyMac]

So much for buying an i"PHONE"
there is no option.

 

[Pomeless]

So much for buying an i"PHONE"
there is no option.

Trust me the phone will get more that enough use! I hope there is a "Flotation" app for when I feel like chucking it in the river. I'm not to sure how all these things work I am sure there are big differences when it comes to the iPhone. The reason I ask is that I currently use the built-in VZ Navigator and it has been a great little tool on my dumbphone. Calls do not interrupt that built-in program however when I am playing a live Texas Hold Em game and someone calls..... there goes my hand. Oh well... maybe I framed my question it wrong. Not so much a Data Only Mode as a Non Interrupt Mode.

Thanks for your insights....

 

[kuebby]

I wouldn't be surprised if once the VZW iPhone comes out someone makes on app so you can turn off the phone/SMS service to get unlimited data because of situations like the one you described.

Obviously there isn't one yet because 1. it's not necessary with AT&T and 2. the VZW one isn't out yet.

 

[xraydoc]

My experience with a Verizon Droid Incredible:

SMS will not interupt data and can be sent/received while on a call.

A call will pause data until the call is ended, but to prevent this, one can forward calls to another number. If you forward to a Google Voice number, you'll get an email with a transcript of your message(s). Your phone won't even ring if you don't want it to.

You will never miss a call because you're using data. Calls get priority. This, in my experience, is the exact opposite of AT&T's EDGE system where active data will cause your calls to be missed.

I think, though I've never verified (never bothered), that data will continue until you actually answer the call. So, if you don't answer, your data session will continue. I'd have to double check this, though.

For me - and I only speak for myself - the lack of data while on a call has never been a problem. Emails will pop up as soon as you hang up, and since texts go through anyway, I've never had it be an inconvenience.

 

[saving107]

I wouldn't be surprised if once the VZW iPhone comes out someone makes on app so you can turn off the phone/SMS service to get unlimited data because of situations like the one you described.

Obviously there isn't one yet because 1. it's not necessary with AT&T and 2. the VZW one isn't out yet.

At least not without Jailbreaking, 3rd party apps (from the App Store) are not allowed to interact with the core functionality of iOS in a way that will be disruptive. Apps that are available in the App Store, once downloaded, live in whats called a Sandbox.

The Application Sandbox
For security reasons, iOS restricts each application (including its preferences and data) to a unique location in the file system. This restriction is part of the security feature known as the application’s sandbox. The sandbox is a set of fine-grained controls limiting an application’s access to files, preferences, network resources, hardware, and so on. Each application has access to the contents of its own sandbox but cannot access other applications’ sandboxes.

http://developer.apple.com/library/...de/RuntimeEnvironment/RuntimeEnvironment.html

Apple will not approve an app that can turn off the phone functionality of the iPhone.

 

[kdarling]

To add to that excellent reply from xraydoc, some Verizon phones have an option menu where you can set if you want incoming voice calls to override data or not.

I have no idea if the CDMA iPhone has that option. It'll be something to look for.

Btw, GPS apps that don't need to get maps from the internet (and/or cache the data like Google does) should continue to operate while you're on a call.

 

[Rajani Isa]

kdarling has a good point there - maybe try getting in touch with the devs of iMapMyRun+ and ask if they know how it will work if data is interrupted/becomes unavailable?