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iPhone 4S |OT|

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I did not know that AT&T got rid of the 200 Text Messaging plan (probably because I didn't get informed by them).

I thought I still had it when I got my 4S but my friends said that they couldn't get texts from me and I couldn't get texts from them either.

Went online today on AT&T's website and I didn't see a option for texting on my phone. The only option available was the unlimited mobile to mobile text plan so I choose that to see what would happen. After I chose it, I was able to send texts to my friends. So I called AT&T and asked what happened to the 200 messaging plan and why I didn't have it on my phone. The lady said that they no longer offer it but that she could grandfather me in to it. I chose to do that though I asked her why the grandfather option wasn't avabile when I went online and she again said that it was due to the plan not being available anymore which may be true but we all know the REAL reason (they want me to pay more).

I've went online and seen many say that they couldn't text with their 4S phones and I'm assuming that it's due to them having the 200 text message plan and AT&T not giving an apparent option/choice for them to have it grandfathered in. What's even worse is that the only way to get it back is to call support since you can't choose to be grandfathered in on the AT&T website.

Very sneaky AT&T.
 
Bgamer90 said:
I did not know that AT&T got rid of the 200 Text Messaging plan (probably because I didn't get informed by them).

I thought I still had it when I got my 4S but my friends said that they couldn't get texts from me and I couldn't get texts from them either.

Went online today on AT&T's website and I didn't see a option for texting on my phone. The only option available was the unlimited mobile to mobile text plan so I choose that to see what would happen. After I chose it, I was able to send texts to my friends. So I called AT&T and asked what happened to the 200 messaging plan and why I didn't have it on my phone. The lady said that they no longer offer it but that she could grandfather me in to it. I chose to do that though I asked her why the grandfather option wasn't avabile when I went online and she again said that it was due to the plan not being available anymore which may be true but we all know the REAL reason (they want me to pay more).

I've went online and seen many say that they couldn't text with their 4S phones and I'm assuming that it's due to them having the 200 text message plan and AT&T not giving an apparent option/choice for them to have it grandfathered in. What's even worse is that the only way to get it back is to call support since you can't choose to be grandfathered in on the AT&T website.

Very sneaky AT&T.
Click to expand...


That's strange. Both me and my wife are on the 200 plans. And she just upgraded to her 4S, and he even asked us when upgrading if we wanted that again, and she said yes. She's able to get text messages still as far as I know.
 
RDreamer said:
That's strange. Both me and my wife are on the 200 plans. And she just upgraded to her 4S, and he even asked us when upgrading if we wanted that again, and she said yes. She's able to get text messages still as far as I know.
Click to expand...

Yeah I couldn't choose it at all on the AT&T website.

All that was available for me to choose was the unlimited texting option.

Maybe it's due to me being grandfathered into another plan (unlimited data).... don't know. Either way it was really strange.
 
jonnybryce said:
I'm sad that Sprint's service is so slow, it's embarassing because I've used and loved Sprint before and recommended it to a bunch of friends who are switching from AT&T. I saw on Sprint's twitter that they're improving their 3G and obviously this is a big adjustment for them so I hope they do get this fixed soon. Sprint was never the fastest 3G but everyones saying it's comparable to edge. -_-
Click to expand...

That's exactly how I would describe the speed I get most of the time. I knew it wasn't going to be great where I work (nobody who works with me gets decent service in there) but at home and out and about I expected more than 70-200 kbps which is what I'm getting. I know that coming from T-mobile, from a GSM to a CDMA network the CDMA 3G is slower but I certainly hope this gets better. I know I can return the phone to Apple within 30 days if I want to jump ship - and I'm not saying I'm sure but I'm considering it - but I assume I'm on the hook for the whole ETF if I do since I've had it more than 3 days... :/


Synless said:
The battery life is that bad? That's disappointing news, I was excited to have fantastic battery life again.
Click to expand...

My battery life has been great so far - but again, coming from an Android.
 
Synless said:
The battery life is that bad? That's disappointing news, I was excited to have fantastic battery life again.
Click to expand...

To be honest I think some 4S phones may have bad batteries.

The battery life on my 4S has been great. Right now I have 43% of battery life left after 5 hours of usage and 15 hours of standby.
 
Bgamer90 said:
Yeah I couldn't choose it at all on the AT&T website.

All that was available for me to choose was the unlimited texting option.

Maybe it's due to me being grandfathered into another plan (unlimited data).... don't know. Either way it was really strange.
Click to expand...

Yeah, on the website it won't list it, I don't think if they don't offer it anymore. To stay on what you have you just don't choose anything. At least that's how I stayed on my unlimited data when I upgraded to the 4. I just didn't choose one of the other plans (even though they make it sound like you should). But yeah in the apple store when my wife upgraded to the 4S I saw the 200 message thing visibly on the screen for him to choose. I think he said something about how we must have already been using an option they don't offer anymore or something.
 
RDreamer said:
Yeah, on the website it won't list it, I don't think if they don't offer it anymore. To stay on what you have you just don't choose anything. At least that's how I stayed on my unlimited data when I upgraded to the 4. I just didn't choose one of the other plans (even though they make it sound like you should). But yeah in the apple store when my wife upgraded to the 4S I saw the 200 message thing visibly on the screen for him to choose. I think he said something about how we must have already been using an option they don't offer anymore or something.
Click to expand...

Yeah when pre-ordering my 4S online, I didn't choose any of the texting options and the 200 plan wasn't available so I just thought that they would transfer the 200 plan on to my phone (but they didn't).

Very strange & sneaky imo.
 
Bgamer90 said:
Yeah when pre-ordering my 4S online, I didn't choose any of the texting options and the 200 plan wasn't available so I just thought that they would transfer the 200 plan on to my phone (but they didn't).

Very strange & sneaky imo.
Click to expand...

That is strange. Do they seriously only offer unlimited now? If so that's such BS.
 
Bgamer90 said:
I did not know that AT&T got rid of the 200 Text Messaging plan (probably because I didn't get informed by them).

I thought I still had it when I got my 4S but my friends said that they couldn't get texts from me and I couldn't get texts from them either.

Went online today on AT&T's website and I didn't see a option for texting on my phone. The only option available was the unlimited mobile to mobile text plan so I choose that to see what would happen. After I chose it, I was able to send texts to my friends. So I called AT&T and asked what happened to the 200 messaging plan and why I didn't have it on my phone. The lady said that they no longer offer it but that she could grandfather me in to it. I chose to do that though I asked her why the grandfather option wasn't avabile when I went online and she again said that it was due to the plan not being available anymore which may be true but we all know the REAL reason (they want me to pay more).

I've went online and seen many say that they couldn't text with their 4S phones and I'm assuming that it's due to them having the 200 text message plan and AT&T not giving an apparent option/choice for them to have it grandfathered in. What's even worse is that the only way to get it back is to call support since you can't choose to be grandfathered in on the AT&T website.

Very sneaky AT&T.
Click to expand...

Be careful, they told me the same thing and then it was gone from my account when I activated the 4s. What followed a day later was an hour long phone call that involved me needing to start acting like a total dick to get them to put it back on. First they said the system would not allow them to put it on and that her supervisor tried and couldn't put it on either. Magically, when I called BS and demanded to speak to her supervisor she put me on hold for 15 minutes and surprise, surprise, they were able to add it back.
 
frico said:
Be careful, they told me the same thing and then it was gone from my account when I activated the 4s. What followed a day later was an hour long phone call that involved me needing to start acting like a total dick to get them to put it back on. First they said the system would not allow them to put it on and that her supervisor tried and couldn't put it on either. Magically, when I called BS and demanded to speak to her supervisor she put me on hold for 15 minutes and surprise, surprise, they were able to add it back.
Click to expand...

Oh no.

lol, thanks for telling me.

Seems that AT&T is really trying to trick people.

Looks like I'm going to have to keep a constant check of my texting plan.
 
Bgamer90 said:
Oh no.

lol, thanks for telling me.

Seems that AT&T is really trying to trick people.

Looks like I'm going to have to keep a constant check of my texting plan.
Click to expand...
Just log into your account on att.com and check. That is how I realized they were setting me up.
 
giga said:
text.png


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I just want to get this straight; There are people who think the screens on the left are more pleasing than the ones on the right? I don't even know what to say, just maybe that you should rethink any thoughts of going into a career involving any visual medium.
 
It is insane how much more elegant and beautiful iOS looks in comparison.
 
dyls said:
I just want to get this straight; There are people who think the screens on the left are more pleasing than the ones on the right? I don't even know what to say, just maybe that you should rethink any thoughts of going into a career involving any visual medium.
Click to expand...
How an OS looks is only one piece of the puzzle. A VERY VERY important piece, but still only a piece. Its an operating system. A GUI. The G part of that is first and foremost, but don't act like thats all there is. To truly know an OS you need to spend a significant amount of time understanding how it works and how pieces of it relate to one another. Yes, I find Android significantly more pleasing than iOS. At least we can all agree its kinda ugly though.

Don't pass judgement on an OS until you've used it long enough for it to just disappear.
 
The only thing I like better is the android text screen. Contact pictures are so absent from iOS but jailbreak tweaks fix this.
 
Android OS looks like a cluttered mess and the dark colors w/ bright highlights makes my eyes hurt.

iOS is sort of "retro" when it comes to smartphone UI's but it's simplicity makes it easy to look at while at the same time fitting in with modern minimalist style.

I like the look of the UI for Windows Phones but it's more style over substance. Some menus in the UI only take up 2/3 of the screen for the sake of looking cool and other menus/apps have big fonts that unnecessarily take up almost a half of the screen.

iOS is the perfect balance of looking stylish while at the same time making full use of the screen and being easy to use.
 
Jtwo said:
How an OS looks is only one piece of the puzzle. A VERY VERY important piece, but still only a piece. Its an operating system. A GUI. The G part of that is first and foremost, but don't act like thats all there is. To truly know an OS you need to spend a significant amount of time understanding how it works and how pieces of it relate to one another. Yes, I find Android significantly more pleasing than iOS. At least we can all agree its kinda ugly though.

Don't pass judgement on an OS until you've used it long enough for it to just disappear.
Click to expand...

I thought I was reading posts where people just liked the look better. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt, though.
 
Still finding little things in iOS 5 that I didn't realize. Like earlier tonight I discovered that at the lock screen you can slide the icons on your notifications to accomplish things. I had a couple of e-mails come through and I went to the Slide To Unlock like usual, but accidentally started sliding one of the e-mail icons when I saw the screen say "Slide to Read." Didn't even know I could do that, but really dig it now.

Also, called my girlfriend earlier and got her voicemail. Decided to call her back in a bit, so I told Siri to set a reminder to call her back in 15 minutes. On scheduled, the reminder went off, and when I went to confirm the reminder, a text box snapped up asking me if I wanted to call my girl with her name listed in the box. I said yes, and the phone called her. I was impressed not just because Siri knew that I wanted to call and who I wanted to call, or even that she was able to drop all that into the reminder, but that all of those things came together seamlessly to make it all work so well.

This might be common knowledge to everyone else, but I was happy to see all of that.
 
Kung Fu Jedi said:
Still finding little things in iOS 5 that I didn't realize. Like earlier tonight I discovered that at the lock screen you can slide the icons on your notifications to accomplish things. I had a couple of e-mails come through and I went to the Slide To Unlock like usual, but accidentally started sliding one of the e-mail icons when I saw the screen say "Slide to Read." Didn't even know I could do that, but really dig it now.

Also, called my girlfriend earlier and got her voicemail. Decided to call her back in a bit, so I told Siri to set a reminder to call her back in 15 minutes. On scheduled, the reminder went off, and when I went to confirm the reminder, a text box snapped up asking me if I wanted to call my girl with her name listed in the box. I said yes, and the phone called her. I was impressed not just because Siri knew that I wanted to call and who I wanted to call, or even that she was able to drop all that into the reminder, but that all of those things came together seamlessly to make it all work so well.

This might be common knowledge to everyone else, but I was happy to see all of that.
Click to expand...
The text-to-speech in Android isnt too shabby either but lacks these little things that takes the experience to another level.
 
Kung Fu Jedi said:
Still finding little things in iOS 5 that I didn't realize. Like earlier tonight I discovered that at the lock screen you can slide the icons on your notifications to accomplish things. I had a couple of e-mails come through and I went to the Slide To Unlock like usual, but accidentally started sliding one of the e-mail icons when I saw the screen say "Slide to Read." Didn't even know I could do that, but really dig it now.

Also, called my girlfriend earlier and got her voicemail. Decided to call her back in a bit, so I told Siri to set a reminder to call her back in 15 minutes. On scheduled, the reminder went off, and when I went to confirm the reminder, a text box snapped up asking me if I wanted to call my girl with her name listed in the box. I said yes, and the phone called her. I was impressed not just because Siri knew that I wanted to call and who I wanted to call, or even that she was able to drop all that into the reminder, but that all of those things came together seamlessly to make it all work so well.

This might be common knowledge to everyone else, but I was happy to see all of that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Siri stuff with reminders feels amazing to me when it comes together so well.
 
I less than 4 days i have been from:

Sprint>Verizon> AT&T.

And i can say that i finally feel that i have a phone and a plan that meets all my needs.

Couldn't be happier now.
 
So I've heard the SIM is unlocked (for international use) on the Sprint iphone right now but the plan is to lock it later on. How exactly would they be able to do that?
 
daegan said:
That's exactly how I would describe the speed I get most of the time. I knew it wasn't going to be great where I work (nobody who works with me gets decent service in there) but at home and out and about I expected more than 70-200 kbps which is what I'm getting. I know that coming from T-mobile, from a GSM to a CDMA network the CDMA 3G is slower but I certainly hope this gets better. I know I can return the phone to Apple within 30 days if I want to jump ship - and I'm not saying I'm sure but I'm considering it - but I assume I'm on the hook for the whole ETF if I do since I've had it more than 3 days... :/




My battery life has been great so far - but again, coming from an Android.
Click to expand...

You have 14 days to jump ship without any ETF penalty.

that's what i did. if you go there angry enough they might also waive the restocking fee. they did for me.
 
Gary Whitta said:
Loving my Verizon phone. Five bars in the Tested podcast bunker where on AT&T I got almost no signal at all.
Click to expand...

That might be due to the better antenna. How many bars does Will's AT&T 4s have there? How about other AT&T phones?
 
dark10x said:
OK, I'm really disappointed in the battery life on the 4s. Am I doing something wrong? I'm simply using its features as expected and I'm getting much worse results than I did with my 1.5 year old 4. I can barely reach the end of the day before it's empty even with moderate use. :\
Click to expand...

I'm struggling with the battery as well :(
 
Lord-Audie said:
You have 14 days to jump ship without any ETF penalty.

that's what i did. if you go there angry enough they might also waive the restocking fee. they did for me.
Click to expand...

Okay. I got it at the Apple Store - I assume if I exchange it for a ATT or Verizon one they can cancel the Sprint account and move me over right there?
 
daegan said:
Okay. I got it at the Apple Store - I assume if I exchange it for a ATT or Verizon one they can cancel the Sprint account and move me over right there?
Click to expand...

Yup. if you transfer your phone # your sprint account will automatically cancel.

They will tell you to call sprint to tell them you brought the phone back.
 
chickdigger802 said:
That might be due to the better antenna. How many bars does Will's AT&T 4s have there? How about other AT&T phones?
Click to expand...
Just asked both Will and Norm, Will said his AT&T 4S had between 2-3 bars, Norm's AT&T 4 had 1 bar which is what I used to get.
 
daegan said:
Almost a week in. Sprint's 3G is super slowwwww....but otherwise this has been a revelation coming from a old, mostly-broken Android 2.1 device. I just wish the 3G was faster; it's nice that it's unlimited but like Gary Whitta said, it doesn't matter if you can't use it. I had a few good reviews on Sprint before I got it, and now this. Hopefully it gets better.
Click to expand...


Freaking doubt it. 3G is slower on Sprint where I all goddamn ready, this phone hasn't even been out that long and the network is already feeling the strain. On the bright side, the WiMax 4G is still the same. I doubt this gets better friend. It didn't take very long for the network to start to show the strain, by after Christmas all hells gonna break loose. I love Sprint but goddamn man, they got to get their shit together. They weren't ready for this.

Its sad really, because I refuse to consider any carrier that wont allow me unlimited data on a plan. That tiered shit is a trap. The entirety of the computing industry is charging headfirst into cloud based services, and these assholes want to sell me 2GB tiers? Sorry, Ive got a little more foresight than that.
 
I've always maintained that the two OSes are much more similar than they are different, and that you are generally going to get a good device/phone no matter which way you lean ultimately.

The ICS reveal and those pics above just further cement that IMO. Whenever I look at stock android that Google pushes out I also never understood the 'the UI is so ugly and boring' criticism of iOS that gets trotted out.


the other one I never understood was the 'i don't really care about apps'.
 
The only thing I hate about iOS is how bubbly everything still looks. Feels like I'm back in the early OS X/Windows XP days.
 
buhdeh said:
The only thing I hate about iOS is how bubbly everything still looks. Feels like I'm back in the early OS X/Windows XP days.
Click to expand...
I don't get that from it at all.

I hated the look of XP from day one... always liked iOS.

I'd call the bubble/glassy look a recent late-2000s phenomenon... not early-2000s.
 
Marty Chinn said:
I think apps are blown out of proportion. There comes a point where there are enough and they cover your needs.
Click to expand...

Plus, there are so many apps are just app versions of websites. Seriously, why do websites need to develop an app to view their websites?
 
buhdeh said:
Plus, there are so many apps are just app versions of websites. Seriously, why do websites need to develop an app to view their websites?
Click to expand...

I like website apps because they load faster on a data connection and are nicer to look at on a phone. I have a section on my phone with just website apps lol
 
Marty Chinn said:
I think apps are blown out of proportion. There comes a point where there are enough and they cover your needs.
Click to expand...

I don't know, imo if you aren't exploring/tinkering/having fun with apps, you are not making use of a smartphone's potential. That's half the joy of owning one of these things for me. It's great to see what people come up with.

And really, even the people who say they 'don't care about apps' likely do but just don't realize it; especially when they are the ones who later get excited about them when they see them for the first time after they are pulled into the core OS.

Cloudy said:
I like website apps because they load faster on a data connection and are nicer to look at on a phone. I have a section on my phone with just website apps lol
Click to expand...

Yes, this too. I find that sometimes a dedicated app is much more enjoyable and efficient than the website I could go to and have to navigate through the browser. For example, I've been looking at used cars lately through Autotrader. I've found the app to be much more efficient in random searches than using the mobile version of the site. Little things like the location popping up automatically in the search, quicker access to the car's photo gallery (and being able to swipe through them)...stuff like that.
 
Vyer said:
I don't know, imo if you aren't exploring/tinkering/having fun with apps, you are not making use of a smartphone's potential. That's half the joy of owning one of these things for me. It's great to see what people come up with.

And really, even the people who say they 'don't care about apps' likely do but just don't realize it; especially when they are the ones who later get excited about them when they see them for the first time after they are pulled into the core OS.
Click to expand...

I've had an iPhone for 3 years and 4 months now; there just comes a point where you really don't download too many new apps and a lot of the ones you did get just sit unused. If anything it's just new games that get downloaded these days.
 
buhdeh said:
Plus, there are so many apps are just app versions of websites. Seriously, why do websites need to develop an app to view their websites?
Click to expand...

I find that dedicated apps for websites are better in terms of layout (on a mobile device), quickness of getting to the things you want, and better when it comes to integrated media within articles (e.g. videos and audio).
 
Bgamer90 said:
I find that dedicated apps for websites are better in terms of layout (on a mobile device), quickness of getting to the things you want, and better when it comes to integrated media within articles (e.g. videos and audio).
Click to expand...
Agreed.
 
Now that we're talking about apps... I had the notion recently. Isn't it funny how the tech world rebranded "programs" or "applications" as super-sexy "apps"? It's like a buzzword that caught on so well, that we completely forgot that it wasn't really anything new at all. An app is just an application on a phone :P
 
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