Q: iOS 7 - 3G toggle for iPhone 5

I just checked and i also don't have a 3G toggle. I'm on the Three network in the UK which doesn't have 4G yet, so no 4G toggle either.

I wonder why they decided to remove the toggle in iOS7. I don't think it's an option from the carrier bundle.

Does switching cellular data off help?

Hello,

So, can anyone explain me how can I get the 3g toggle back or another way to activate? My city has limited 4G coverage!

I'm mostly in the car and I need my 3g to work!

Thank you.

If there is a solution, it's not been posted here yet and Google can't find it.

I think this is something Apple should fix. In some cases (big events) 3G is unusable. No problem until now: switching off 3G enabled me to happily keep on messaging and mailing, using edge or gprs. Now you're cut off of the internet entirely...

The problem seems do be connected to the carrier bundle! If you use any carrier that don't support the 4G/LTE the 3G switch appears again!!! Tested in Italy with two company TIM (4G/LTE supported) and WIND (Only 3G) with the same iPhone 5 and using WIND I have the 3G Switch!!!

Ah, thank you  OniNemesis. Where I live 4G (at least  in frequency range suitable for my iPhone 4) isn't available yet, but my provider does offer 4G in other regions. So that might explain why my 3G toggle dissapeared and is replaced by a (useless) 4G toggle.

I wonder, if Apple aware of this. Do they read these forums? I can't imagine losing the ability to switch off 3G if you want to use gprs or Edge, is by deliberate design. It's a bug. I hope Apple is aware of it and fixes it with the next update ...

Hello, i just signed for sim only contract with 3uk and i have an Iphone 4. The disable/enable 3g has disappeared from the setting. Does anyone know if this can be reinstated? I have a contract with vodafone in Spain and both iphoen i am using are iphone 4 ...whn i use the spaniosh sim  the toggle is back again.

Can 3uk put the toggle back on my iphone?

Thanks

3UK are 3G only. They do not have a 2G network.

So they disable the button because there is no 2G with them.

It is upto the carrier.

In the carrier plist file there is a setting to display or hide the 3G toggle.

So it is upto the carrier.

With the advent of 4G carriers seem to be switching off the 3G toggle and only allowing a 4G toggle :-(

Complain to the carrier to update their bundle to allow the option back again.

That's what I have done.

This really infuriates me.

I understand if the carrier is 3G only like 3UK.

However my iPhone 5S is on Vodafone UK, now I only have  a Disable 4G toggle.

I don't have a 4G Tariff and the 3G coverage is not great, so I'd prefer to have a stronger signal on Edge than the battery drain while switching between poor 3G and strong 2G.

I know Apple like to simplify options to users, but this is just ridiculous.

I'm sure an Android based 4G device will allow you to select your preferred network band(s).

I know in iOS 6 they removed the toggle for every phone, then reinstated it due to popular demand. However, you'd be amazed how many folks don't know that a toggele even exists - even though its much easier to find than on android (I have both types of phone).

I live in an area with a very weak 3g signal (but strong 2g) so I feel its a a waste of battery having 3G enabled when I am at home with wifi.

As I said before,  i think the missing toggle is at least partly carrier related.

The carrier bundle contains a file carrier.plist.

The first section of that file contains carrier options and one of those is to disable the 3G toggle. This would have to be enabled to show a 3G toggle.

It may also be the 4G setting that is overriding something. However, I suspect carrier involvement somewhere. The same nano sim in an iphone 5 offers a 3G toggle, whereas in my 5s there is not a 3G toggle. The differences are down to cellular chipset and differences in the underlying OS drivers and carrier settings caused by the hardware differences.

I have contacted my carrier and am awaiting a response. I have also contacted Apple and posted a feature request via their website. Between them something should drop out in the fullness of time.

In the meantime my carrier offer an app that can route calls and text via wifi or cellular, so I can use my phone in airplane mode, with wifi on, and still get calls. Pretty neat and it seems to work when I am at home. Even bigger battery saving!

mad1at35 wrote:

 

I know in iOS 6 they removed the toggle for every phone, then reinstated it due to popular demand.

That is absolutely NOT true.

The presence of the 3G toggle is completely at the discretion of the carrier.

Thanks for the reply.

They did remove it until ios 6 Beta 2 (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1384498). And they also removed it from the final release of iOS 5 until 5.1 . I even vaguely remember emailing Apple's suggestions department about that one when I got my new 4S.

Anyway, I too have been saying previously that the Toggle is mostly at the discretion of the carrier (in carrier.plist). But interestingly I had an online suport discussion with an Apple tech support. He had to throw it up the chain and the answer came back that the iphone 5s cannot switch 3G off.

Now make of this what you please. I read it two ways. Either the tech support engineers don't know and gave an off the cuff answer or iOS 7 on the 5s does not have the feature to disable 3G enabled because everyone is all focused on 4G.

I have read if you have a 4G tarriff you only get the 4G on/off toggle not the 3G. I am using 3G only so I can't comment on that, but my sim is a 4G compatible one.

I am still awaiting a reply from the carrier. Maybe they can shed some light on the subject, though I'm not counting on it becuase carrier support is not always brilliant.

<Link Edited By Host> 

What they did with a beta is completely irrelevant. Beta software can't be discussed here.

Apple did not remove the switch. The presence of the switch is determined by the carrier being used.

You don't know what you're talking about.