Your shiny new iPhone may be your pride and joy and it’s not difficult to see why. This is an incredible piece of adaptive technology, which has turned what was once a simple mobile phone into an all-encompassing device that serves many purposes. Can you cast your mind back to your pre iPhone days? Such are the diverse range of an iPhone’s uses that you will soon find you are using it far more than frequently than your old mobile phone.  So there are a few things worth taking into consideration with regards to incurring extra costs that your new iPhone uses might demand.

Data Allowance charges

Your iPhone contract will come with a stated data allowance each month and once you exceed this, then you will need to pay for additional data usage. Given that your iPhone may need to access the Internet several times a day, or even several times an hour for users who are seldom away from their phone, your data allowance can quickly be used up and you then start to rack up additional costs.

But don’t panic!  It doesn’t take long to realise that there is a simple solution to avoid these excessive costs by using Wi-Fi wherever convenient.

The beauty of Wi-Fi calling

It is relatively simple to understand how Wi-Fi calling works on an iPhone. When you access a service, app, or make a call, your phone requires an internet connection and will search for the cheapest way to do this. Generally speaking, this is through a Wi-Fi connection as you would have at home with a wireless router on a broadband system. If your iPhone can access this connection, then it will use this to complete the task asked of it, without using up your data allowance. If Wi-fi is not available, then it will use an alternative connection, like 3G, which requires the use of your ‘data’.

While this means that at home we can use Wi-Fi on an iPhone to make cheap calls, download new items or stream videos, we must be aware that when outdoors, these actions will use up our data allowance.  Unless we can find somewhere with available Wi-Fi!

Where to find Wi-Fi

Finding these Wi-Fi hotspots could not be simpler, you can download a useful app from the iPhones store called Free Wi-Fi Finder, that will locate where you can pick up free Wi-Fi in your local area or indeed if you are further afield anywhere on the planet.

Keeping costs down 

Using free Wi-Fi is the perfect way to keep your usage costs down. By utilising the power of the Internet, the app ensures that it can upload and download items to your device as cheaply and effectively as possible, without reverting to more expensive services that can eat up your monthly allowance and incur additional costs. You can cut costs even further by downloading apps from communications companies that offer fantastic low call rates, such as those offered by leaders in the industry, like Rebtel and Skype.

The great news is that more and more public areas, restaurants, libraries, coffee shops and plazas offer Wi-Fi freely to customers. Indeed, the question iPhone users need to ask themselves is not ‘where should I use my iPhone?’ but rather ‘Where shouldn’t I use my iPhone?”

Your iPhone is a fabulous machine and using it is a real joy.  Just remember the importance of Wi-Fi versus your data allowance so you can enjoy the myriad of different features your device has to offer without getting frustrated at data usage rates from your phone service provider.