Tag: Verizon Wireless

Track shared data usage for two with DataMan Pro

I installed DataMan Pro on my iPhone on January 2nd. While it was slightly uncomfortable ditching my unlimited (grandfathered) data plan from Verizon Wireless when I upgraded my phone, this app makes it a breeze to track my cellular data usage.

From left to right, and top to bottom:

  1. Current usage from this month
  2. Smart Forecast estimates usage for the rest of the month1, while the Balance displays how much cellular data I can use for the rest of the day.
  3. Stats: Usage by day
  4. Stats: Usage by hour
  5. Settings > Data Plan
  6. Settings > Data Plan > Add Usage
  7. Stats: Usage by month

Setup Tips and Observations

Data Plan — Review a few monthly statements. If your billing cycle starts on the same day every month, use the Monthly plan type. (e.g. 14th of the month)

For Data Cap, I just switched it from 1,000 MB to 1 GB (screenshot not shown) because 1 GB = 1,024 MB. Every bit helps!

Add Usage — To start accurately, log into the account with your service provider to verify your current data usage.2 Add the largest unit byte (whole number), then convert the decimal (probably from MB to KB) to add that last portion.

Multiple people — Amy and I share 2 GB of data, so we’re splitting that in half for each person.

Notifications — DataMan Pro includes push notifications at four configurable thresholds (called Usage Alerts). The defaults are 50%, 70%, 90%, and 100%.

Verizon Wireless can send email or text notifications when you reach certain preset thresholds (50%, 75%, 90%, 100%). I’m going to disable them because they reflect shared usage. We’re only concerned with individual usage.

In context, if I’ve used more data than Amy in a month, it’s up to me to ease up. She shouldn’t stress about it. 🙂

Turn off Percentage Badge — If you’ll primarily rely on push notifications, you probably don’t care to see the percentage badge on the app icon, so you can turn that off in Settings > Advanced.

Interesting trends — When I’m home for most of the day, which is usually the case, I don’t use much cellular data.

However, when I’m out and about, Rdio, Day One, and Tweetbot can use up quite a bit if I’m not careful.

I’ve since disabled cellular data for the following apps in iOS 7 (Settings > Cellular):

  • Rdio
  • Day One
  • App Store
  • Netflix
  • Newsy
  • Scanner Pro
  • TuneIn Radio

Quirks

I always forget:

  • Swipe left goes to Settings
  • Swipe up displays your data usage over time.

Conclusion

I’m blessed to be able to work from home with a fairly solid internet and Wi–Fi connection. When not traveling, I don’t need to pay another $10/month for another 2 GB of shared data.

DataMan Pro will help us stay strong or realize when it’s time to fork over some extra cash. I gladly paid $4.99 for DataMan Pro, and will buy a second copy for Amy’s iPhone.

  1. In other words, if I don’t change anything with my service provider or data usage habits (like disabling cellular data for certain apps), I’ll use too much data on my account. With Verizon Wireless, overage costs $15 per GB. ↩
  2. Note the timestamp. That doesn’t update in realtime, so you may need to check several times and make multiple adjustments with Add Usage until it matches up. After that, DataMan should match exactly with your service provider. Should. ;) ↩

Unexpected upgrade to iPhone 5s

We didn’t plan on upgrading my white iPhone 4S 64 GB because it wasn’t a priority. Then, Amy dropped her phone and most of the front screen was cracked. Wah wah.

I’ve been out of contract for awhile, so I was eligible for an upgrade.

I chose the silver iPhone 5s 64 GB, we finally merged our Verizon Wireless accounts, and switched to a less expensive plan — at the cost of my grandfathered unlimited data add–on.

Reviewing my billing statements from 2012-07-08 through 2013-12-27, I barely reach 1 GB of monthly usage.

  • Average: 428.9 MB
  • Max: 974.4 MB
  • Min: 206.635 MB

I installed DataMan Pro for real–time monitoring and alerts, and I’ll make sure I keep it under 1 GB per month.

For reference, here’s how we switched things over.

Note: I forgot my restore password and didn’t save it into my password manager, so I couldn’t just restore the data onto my new phone.

Old iPhone 4S

  1. Transfer all media in Photos onto my laptop. (I use Lightroom for my photos.)
  2. Ensure I have backup codes for all online services with two–factor authentication.
  3. Follow these steps from Apple: What to do before selling or giving away your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

New iPhone 5s

  1. Setup new phone — including Touch ID — and log into my Apple account for the various services.
  2. Reinstall apps, starting with the ones required for two–factor authentication. Sign into the App Store, then go to Updates > Purchased.
  3. Setup apps used for two–factor authentication.
  4. Setup other apps. Test.
  5. Reconfigure (read: silence) apps from Notification Center in Settings.
  6. In Settings > Control Center, turn off “Access on Lock Screen”. (Ignore if you’re cool with someone disabling your alarms.)
  7. Other configuration tweaks.

Upgrading to HTC Droid Incredible

Nineteen months with an LG Dare (dumb phone) is over. While I was considering waiting for the Apple iPhone coming to Verizon Wireless, I decided to go with the HTC Droid Incredible (Android OS).

I’m glued to Google Voice and my life is in Google Calendar. I also have a Gmail account, but my primary email account (IMAP) is through my web host, Media Temple.

Of course, open source software is big plus.

I’m aware of the awesome Apple iOS apps, but I also see lots of good ones for Android. I won’t necessarily install a lot of Android apps, but it’s nice to have the option.

Most importantly, I still don’t want to leave the Verizon Wireless network.

Over these next two days, I’m importing, consolidating, purging, and organizing my contacts into Google Contacts with tips from:

I’m also looking forward to:

  • a better camera phone, along with the ability to upload full-res photos to Flickr[1. The LG Dare resizes photos before sending.].
  • Pandora Radio (or Slacker Radio, suggested by a friend because of caching)
  • sync plain text files with Dropbox (e.g. future blog post ideas, reference)
  • access to Remember The Milk anywhere
  • the ability to write and post [on my blogs] from anywhere, without a desktop or notebook computer
  • Google Maps

Yes, I have an 10GB Apple iPod (3rd Gen). And a DSLR camera. And paper. And my Kindle.

At the end of the day, I’m just a geek.

Oh, I ordered the HTC Droid Incredible from AmazonWireless for $0.01 with free two-day shipping. They check your account upgrade date. Their purpose (my emphasis added):

AmazonWireless is a new website by Amazon.com that offers cell phones and wireless plans, easy shopping without rebate hassles, and FREE two-day shipping.