Manage That iBill! Tracking Your iPhone Usage
The iPhone can prove to be an addictive little bit of technology, providing you with instant access to your email, text and picture messaging, map information, and even games, GPS guidance and much more. If you’re not always near a Wi-Fi hotspot and tend to spend a lot of time on the phone or internet or sending text messages, you can easily rack up a big bill at the end of the month. We’ll give you a few tips in this article on keeping an eye on your usage to avoid a nasty surprise when your cell phone bill arrives.
Star codes to request account information
Star codes are service codes that can be dialed from your iPhone - as well as other cellular phones and even landlines depending on the service provider - that start or cancel a special service, such as call forwarding, and to request account status information. If you’re an AT&T user in the U.S., there’s an easy way to find these codes directly on your iPhone - go to Settings/Phone/AT&T services where you’ll see this screen of available short codes:
Tapping on the View My Minutes line will show you a status message like this:
You will then receive a text message from AT&T giving you information on your minutes used in your current billing period:
Tapping on the Check Bill Balance line will prompt the sending of a text message showing your current balance, due date, and the last payment received:
One very useful code that is missing from this menu is the data code that will show you how much wireless data you’ve used (on AT&T’s EDGE or 3G cellular data network, not Wi-Fi usage, which is not tracked or billed through AT&T or any carrier). This code is *DATA# (or *3282#) and it will show data and SMS/MMS usage in the current billing period.
AT&T always cautions that the information you see using these codes or even when logging in online to view your account may not always be up to date, so keep this mind whenever you request this information.
In case you’re wondering, the text messages that AT&T sends to you in response to the entry of these star codes are all free – they will not be deducted from your messaging plan balance (and you won’t be billed for them if you’re not on a messaging plan).
While the star codes we mention here are specific to AT&T, your carrier may use them as well though you should contact your carrier’s customer service department to verify this.
Online account management
Another way to see your current usage is to log in to your account through your carrier’s online account management portal. Below are links to these portals for several iPhone carriers around the world. More links can be found on this page on Apple’s site:
- AT&T (U.S.)
- Rogers (Canada)
- T-Mobile (Germany)
- Vodafone (Australia)
- Orange (France)
- 3 (Hong Kong)
- TIM (Italy)
AT&T recently upgraded their OLAM (Online Account Management) system to provide more information at a quick glance:
While this method definitely takes more effort than entering a simple star code on your iPhone, you can drill down to get more detailed information on your usage as well as make changes to your plans.
Apps
AT&T users in the U.S. can make use of a free app provided by AT&T that allows even easier access to account information on the go. The AT&T myWireless Mobile app can be found here (link opens iTunes) and allows AT&T subscribers to view current usage information, bills and even make payments and more.
There are similar apps for iPhone users in other countries available in the App Store, too. Phone Usage is one such app for Optus, Virgin, TPG and other carriers in Australia. For O2 month-to-month users in the UK, there’s Mobile Allowance. For T-Mobile users in the Netherlands, there’s Belstatus. [EverythingiCafe.com does not endorse these apps - these links are provided as examples of usage tracking apps only.]
Search the App Store using search terms like your carrier’s name and “usage” and “tracker” to see if there’s one available for your carrier and country.
Have any other tips to help iPhone users keep track of their usage? Feel free to submit them in the comments section below!
