Receive MMS on a low data plan?

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Receive MMS on a low data plan?

I'm currently making the jump from Android to iOS, and one of the issues I've bumped into is receiving MMS on low-data plans. I understand the MMS requires cellular data. I only get 250MB/month, which is fine for my needs. On Android, if you receive an MMS without data turned on, you simply get a notification that an MMS is waiting. You can then flip cellular data on, download the message, then turn data back off.

It looks like iOS does not do anything like that? Obviously I don't have enough data to just leave it on all the time. Does anyone have suggestions on how to receive MMS on cell plans with low monthly data?

iPhone 6, iOS 9.2, Ptel $20 plan

Posted on Dec 16, 2015 6:26 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 16, 2015 6:51 AM in response to EStish14

Talk to your carrier, but MMS is a different type of communication from cellular data.

The plan should be spelled out clearly for the usage of SMS/MMS/Data.

MMS does require 3G or LTE to be turned on, but it will work without using any data against your 250MB cap.

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Answer 2

EStish14 Author

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Dec 16, 2015 7:56 AM in response to chattphotos

Thanks for your response. My concern is more that other applications will eat up data in the background, unless there's a way to shut that down? Like even if data is enabled, not to be using any of it?

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Answer 3

Dec 16, 2015 4:34 PM in response to EStish14

The iPhone works to keep things running smoothly, so there's really not a practical method for limiting data.

You can turn on/off cellular data on a per-app basis, except for system services and iMessage...

Talk to your carrier and see about getting a better deal on data.

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Answer 4

EStish14 Author

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Dec 18, 2015 1:15 PM in response to chattphotos

thanks for the reply. The carrier is prepaid and only offers preset packages. There is a $25/month plan with unlimited 2g data. Maybe that's the better bet at this point.

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Answer 5

Oneil24

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Dec 18, 2015 1:49 PM in response to EStish14

hey bro both of my iphone are off can link the same email to them and get the imessage on both of them?

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Answer 6

Dec 22, 2015 6:41 AM in response to EStish14

hi,

250 MB/month is plenty if you do not use video or audio streaming on the go (youtube, facetime,...), and if you do all your updates via wifi.

go to settings/mobile data and disable all apps that you do not need on the go, eg disable youtube, but leave maps on. you can leave facetime on, too, if you make your calls auio only. at the very end of the list, disable wi-fi assist (very important - this is a data killer, especially on 4G!).

go to settings/icloud. disable photos.

go to settings/itunes + app store. disable use of mobile data.

when not in use (eg at night), your phone might disconnect from wifi and use cellular instead. good idea to save data is to either disable mobile data at night, switch to flight mode or switch off your phone completely.

this way, 250 MB will be enough for one month. except: you have friends that send you lots of data via imessage. since you cannot really block these, a couple of days with 30 photos or videos each can bring you in trouble...

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Answer 7

EStish14 Author

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Dec 22, 2015 6:42 AM in response to mdesignffm

Very helpful, thanks! I should be switching in the next week, so I'll give it a try.

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