Bloody Iphone bill for £224!! Apps running in background apparently!!

[MadameCastafiore]

Luckily provider said I had 'Bill Shock' and has scrapped the extra charges - guy on phone who talked me through hyperventilating at the size of the bloody bill said I should install an Ap Killer but I can;t find one of these and now am terrified of using bloody phone for fear of running up hundreds of pounds worth of bill!

o what the hell is free and what isn;t - home - apparently free, if I am at a hotel and they have free wifi - does that mean it is free??

AM really really confused!

HELP PLEASE

BUMPAROONI

What sort of contract are you on? I never go over my limit every month and I always have millions of apps running in the background!! My provider also texts me if I go over and limits the bill to £40 extra max.

Were you abroad? Free wifi in a hotel should be free.

Have you made in-app purchases?

I don't know what one of those is?

I don't really know what I am doing with it to be honest!

You need to talk to your carrier (O2, orange, Vodafone, that kind of thing) and ask them what the charges were for.

Have you been out of the country?

Orange Business Contract - guy said I shouldn't go over what was free so I don't understand what has gone on.

Looked at rightmove whilst we were away at hotel but hotel said they had free wifi.

When there are two ways to access the internet iPhones don't always choose the right one.

Things like Facebook or Twitter or even your email go back and look for updates even when you are not using them. So they will use the foreign phone network to see if anything has happened and you will get charged lots.

To stop them doing this you need to go to settings > general > network > data roaming and make sure it is OFF. When I am abroad I turn off cellular data and 3G while I am at it just to be sure. This means that the phone will only touch the foreign phone network if you make or receive a call or a text.

What is included in your contract? I presume it's the download limit you've gone over if they're saying it's apps running in the background. You can change your settings to stop in app purchases.

Double click the round button at the bottom of your phone and the apps that are open should appear in a line at the bottom of the screen. Press and hold one app icon and they should all start jiggling. Press the black cross to close the apps.

There's no way looking at once should have put you over your limit.

Thanks Trills - I have turned off cellular networks and bluetooth and roaming - doesn't look like I have a 3G thig I can turn off.

They should really sit you down and tell you all of this - I nearly threw up when I saw the bloody bill!!

This is great help though so thank you.

wifi is free unless you log on (e.g. in a hotel) and tell them who you are.

If it just connects automatically without a password it is free.

I don't use an Iphone. On my HTC you can go to "settings" and switch off access on things like the Sat Nav and weather forecast. I would have thought the supplier who sold the phone would have a Help Desk that could tell you how. You can also switch off and on "Wifi" and "Mobile" (which is the chargable one, and very expensive if you are in a foreign country, including Jersey, Guernsey, IoM)

What trills said. I also turn off 3G and data roaming when I'm abroad.

Were you abroad?

Go to settings.
Click on General
Click on Network
Switch data roaming and cellular data network to Off.

Now the apps that require Internet connection and the Internet browser on the phone will only work if you are on a wi fi network (wi fi is always free, unless a message pops to ask for a log in. )

Now you will not get the shock charge. The charges are because you have used the cell phone network( data roaming) to access the Internet, instead of a wi fi. ( a wi fi is a box transmitting Internet wirelessly from a broadband router. You probably have this at home or at work? )

you need to change your contract to one with a higher limit for free use of Internet. Or alternatively only use the web browser when you are connected to a wi fi(if you change the settings like I described, you will not be able to access Internet when there are no wi fi available. Tis means you will not get another big bill )

Hope that helps :)

What are in ap purchases?

Sorry to sound like a dummy.

I was asked for a password to connect to my home sky wifi thingy - does this mean I am charged for that?

You are all being so helpful - thank you so much.

No no password in the hotel.

In App purchases probably aren't the problem, don't worry about them.

You were overseas, the phone didn't have the data roaming turned off, it was busy chattering away to the internet and you end up with a huge bill.

If somewhere says it has free wifi you can't presume that your phone will just use it. Sometimes, as people have said, you need to enter a password or some other information for it to work. The iPhone should only be using the WIFI if the little wavey WIFI strength icon at the top is illuminated. If it's not then you're using your phone connection and if overseas that is going to be expensive.

Haven't been overseas and hotel in middle of new forest so think they weren't too concerned as people couldn't get that close to hotel unless yu were a guest.

Right just to clarify - have turned everything off that I can. I have 3 lines shaped like a fan at the top of the screen - is this what I should be looking for??

What about when when there is like a round circle thingy with it going round - is that the expensive one??

3 lines like a fan mean it is connected to wifi. presumably your home wifi.

The 3 lines shaped like a fan is wifi. So basically not using your mobile allowance at all.

The other ones which will appear in the same place are 3G, E and a small dot (circle). These go in order of speed and using the Internet whilst these signs are on WILL use your mobile allowance.

The "round circle thingy" which goes round should be on the right of your screen and is showing you it's downloading something.

If you've not been abroad then I'm surprised you've got such a large bill. Which mobile company are you with and what tarriff are you on? I suspect you've got one with a very very low amount of data bundled for free.

In addition, most iphone apps are forced to stop when they are in the background, unlike Android phones. At first I thought this was a bonus for Android but on balance, I like the iphone way of doing things.

The reason is that unless you are using the application (eg. Facebook/YouTube) then chances are, it's not consuming any data or battery power whilst sat in the background. Unlike Android which seems to do what the hell it likes and chews up my battery/data allowance downloading stuff I've no idea it's doing.

My point is that since it's an iphone, chances are it's proper usage that you've made rather than a rogue app. There's no point in looking at app killers or in app purchases. As Badger says, it's not how iphones work.

To switch out of any running apps click the big button at the bottom twice in quick succession. This will bring up all the open apps in a line at the bottom, hold one down until a little cross appears in the top corner. Then touch each app you want to close. To return to the home screen press the bottom button again.

If youve not been abroad then . you need to find out what's included in your contract as there's no way your bill should be that high with apps just running in the background!!!

round circle going round means it is downloading a refresh, or updating. It will do this e.g. if it is collecting your email or the weather. This can be over wifi if the fan is showing, or over network. The rotating thing shows for both.

Have you got the instruction book?