How do we turn off all roaming, except email?

April 9, 2012 4:58 PM

I'd like an explanation for how to turn off all data while roaming, except for push email. This includes anything that the GPS might use as well. As for emails, I only want to receive the body of the email and not have the phone download any attachments without my permission. I'd either like a good link or instructions for both an iPhone 4S and a Samsung Galaxy SII (Android). Thanks very much.
posted by gman to technology (12 answers total)

I'm sure there is an app for that. I doubt you can do it just with the phone - they want you to consume data. But one of the app manager will probably let you specify which apps can access the network and which can't.
posted by COD at 5:15 PM on April 9, 2012

I'm posting this in the event that no one more knowledgeable chimes in:

On iOS, I think the thing you want to do is go under Settings > Notifications, then go to every item under "In Notification Center" and turn them Off except for Mail. You can then go under Location Services and turn that off too. Under Mail, Contacts and Calendars, you probably want to turn off Load Remote Images. I don't think the default Mail app retrieves attachments automatically, but I could be wrong. You might also want to turn iCloud off.

Also, go under Settings > General > About > Diagnostics & Usage and tell it Don't Send.

When individual apps run they decide for themselves whether they want to send data or not, so be careful about which apps you start.

I use an iPad with Wi-Fi only myself so your experience is likely different. Concerns about phantom charges are why I don't use, or want, a cell phone.
posted by JHarris at 5:58 PM on April 9, 2012

If you're really really concerned about data usage and don't mind not getting email notifications immediately, I hear you could turn off cellular data usage altogether under Settings > General > Network. Then you'll have to connect to WiFi to get mail notifications, but you can be certain that no cellular data is being used, and will probably save a bit of battery life in the process.
posted by JHarris at 6:01 PM on April 9, 2012

For the iPhone 4s:

Turn off cell data and roaming: Go to GENERAL > NETWORK >TURN OFF CELLULAR DATA AND DATA ROAMING.

Turn off Bluetooth: Settings>General>Bluetooth>OFF

Turn off Siri: Settings>General>Siri>OFF

Turn off location services (so Apps aren't trying to contact towers):Settings>Location Services> OFF

Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendars>Fetch New Data> Push>Choose increment

Not sure about downloading attachments though. However, for large items, usually somewhere around a 500k or higher, the attachment isn't downloaded. I have to click on it to make it download.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:07 PM on April 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

I don't believe that there is any way to turn off roaming except for mail on the iPhone despite the instructions above. Turning off cellular data and roaming will disable all data, including mail.
posted by TimeDoctor at 6:27 PM on April 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Turning off cellular data and roaming will disable all data, including mail.

Wifi is still active.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:53 PM on April 9, 2012

Brandon is correct, I was referring to cellular data.
posted by TimeDoctor at 1:02 AM on April 10, 2012

I've found Onavo Count great for controlling data usage on my Android. It's free, at least give it a glance.
posted by melt away at 3:34 AM on April 10, 2012

What about leaving cell data on, roaming off, Bluetooth off, location services off and pushing on? Won't be able to control whether attachments download though.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:36 AM on April 10, 2012

Brandon Blatcher: What about leaving cell data on, roaming off, Bluetooth off, location services off and pushing on?

Would having cell data on, but roaming off, allow for emails to come through?

A buddy suggested this app for the Android, but I'm not sure what they mean by "The only push mail application which allow you to be connected while roaming!!!", and I can't seem to get it to hook onto my work email servers, even though all the information is definitely correct.
posted by gman at 3:58 AM on April 10, 2012

Would having cell data on, but roaming off, allow for emails to come through?

Crap, probably not. Looks like jharris' info will get you closest to what you want for the iPhone. In addition getting the Dataman Pro App would help track data. You can set data limits and it'll send you alerts as you near that limit. Plus you can check which Apps are using wifi and/or cell data.

Turn off Geotagging under settings though.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:19 AM on April 10, 2012

If you don't get a better answer you may find this app goes some way towards what you're after http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/llama-automate-android-phone-location-profiles/.

As far as I can tell it operates at the level of the data connection so either all date is on or all data is off however there are other apps (listed as icons under 'Integration' here) which use Llama internally and possibly those apps may give you the control you want.

I've been using an Android phone for almost 72 hours now so take the above with that in mind.
posted by southof40 at 4:45 AM on April 10, 2012