Category: iphone

Posted on

Roaming in the Netherlands

Amsterdam canal

I usually blog about my roaming experiences when I travel abroad. Sometimes I have issues, but more recently things have gone very smoothly.

I had visited Amsterdam nearly two years ago, back in October 2023, then I had no issues with roaming. I was visiting the Netherlands again, though this time I was attending a conference in Delft.

When I go abroad the process I use is go into Settings -> Mobile Data and turn off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data.  I would turn off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal. This time, as with my recent trip to France, I only turned off mobile data for iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup and a few data heavy apps.

The hotel I was staying at had good wifi, and the conference venue at TU Delft had eduroam. Having said that I did make use of mobile data when I was in coffee shops, on the train, and walking around various Dutch places. I was impressed with the mobile data speeds that were available.

I was there for five days and when I landed back in Bristol, I had not used up all my data.

Posted on

Mapping it badly no more

Last year I blogged about some mapping issues I was having with Apple CarPlay on the Ora Funky Cat.

I have noticed a glitch with Apple Maps on CarPlay on the Ora Funky Cat ever since I upgraded to iOS 18. Starting CarPlay, opening Apple Maps I am in completely the wrong location.

Over the next few months I would have the same glitch with Waze and Google Maps. I would start the car, CarPlay would start and though I knew where I was as far as the car was concerned I was about 100 miles to the east.

Usually within a few minutes the error would correct itself and I would find that Waze would place me in the right location. It certainly was annoying, also when I actually needed the sat nav to work it was quite frustrating. One solution was to disable CarPlay and either use the built-in navigation (which worked fine) or use the phone separately and balance it on the dashboard.

This also impacted on Google Maps timeline, which would often show me having travelled a hundred miles in just a few minutes!

I kind of just lived with it.

I have noticed over the last few months that the glitch seems to have resolved itself. I’ve not updated the car, so it must have been an iPhone update. Whatever, now I have a sat nav works just fine, which is nice.

Posted on

Roaming in France, oh and Belgium

Following issues with using data in Portugal a few years ago with excessive data usage on my iPhone, I did wonder if I should follow the  same process I had used in October 2023 when I went to Amsterdam, last year when I went to Europe, and when I went to Helsinki in February.

The process I would use is go into Settings -> Mobile Data and turn off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data.  I would turn off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal. This time I only turned off mobile data for iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup.

This trip was a six day trip to France, with a one day excursion to Bruges in Belgium.

However on my final day I ran out of data, having used the 12GB of fair use data. I had to spend £6 adding a single day of unlimited roaming data. Always a challenge to work out what app or process was the culprit, but I think it may have been Photos and iCloud. I also used the phone extensively for CarPlay.

On the side trip to Belgium, my phone did automatically switch to the Belgium mobile network, and switched back when we returned to France.

One interesting thing that did happen when we visited Cap Gris-Nez which is the bit of France closest to the UK was that my phone did switch to the UK network before switching back to a French network when we moved away from the cliff edge.

Posted on

Roaming in Belgium, oh and France

Following issues with using data in Portugal a few years ago with excessive data usage on my iPhone, I did wonder if I should follow the  same process I had used in October 2023 when I went to Amsterdam, last year when I went to Europe, and when I went to Helsinki in February.

The process I would use is go into Settings -> Mobile Data and turn off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data.  I would turn off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal. This time (as an experiment) and as I was away only for a short time, I only turned off mobile data for iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup.

This trip I was taking the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Brussels. Obviously the train would have to travel through France before before arriving in Brussels in Belgium. 

After travelling through the tunnel, when I arrived in France, my phone automatically connected to the correct network and I was able to use 5G (and I guess make phone calls, but I didn’t make any calls). As I  crossed the border into Belgium I was switched automatically to a different network in Belgium.

I had no problems with data, texts and calls in Belgium and on my return visit there was another short stint with a French provider before entering the tunnel and rejoining Three when I was back in the UK.

Posted on

Now this was quite useful

I was on a recent flight from Helsinki back to London flying on a new Finnair Airbus A321.

As well as the usual table there was this interesting ledge on the back of the seat in front of me which you could use to prop your phone (or I guess a small tablet) to watch a video during the flight.

back of an airline seat

Now I would have never guessed this was there or what its purpose was unless the person sitting on my row started using it with their phone.

You weren’t allowed to use it during take off and landing, but otherwise it was useful to have if you either had a drink, or use the table for something like a laptop. Of course, it also allows you to watch stuff without holding the phone (or if you don’t have a stand for your phone).

Posted on

Roaming in France

Following issues with using data in Portugal a few years ago with excessive data usage on my iPhone, I did wonder if I should follow the  same process I had used in October 2023 when I went to Amsterdam, last year when I went to Europe, and when I went to Helsinki in February.

The process I would use is go into Settings -> Mobile Data and turn off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data.  I would turn off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal.

However this time I was heading to Calais and Dunkerque just for the day, though I was expecting to use my phone, I didn’t think I would go overboard on the data (even using iCloud for my photos) and I didn’t think I would exceed the 12Gb Fair Use limit.

When I arrived in France, my phone automatically connected to the correct network and I was able to use 5G (and I guess make phone calls, but I didn’t make any calls).

I did turn off data when I was on the ferry though (as recommended by DFDS) and connected to the Ferry WiFi.

Posted on

Roaming in Finland

I was flying off to Finland and would be using my iPhone out there.

Following issues with using data in Portugal a few years ago with excessive data usage on my iPhone, I followed the same process I had used in October 2023 when I went to Amsterdam and last year when I went to Europe.

When I was on the plane at Heathrow, I went into Settings -> Mobile Data and turned off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data. Took me a while as there were a fair few. I turned off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Driveand iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal.

As and when I needed to use apps, I either used the hotel wifi, or switched on mobile data for specific apps.

I didn’t  run out of data this visit, it was a shorter visit, just a few days. All worked fine.

I was also impressed with the mobile data speeds in Finland, which to be honest knowing their history (you know Nokia) wasn’t too surprising.

Posted on

Time for a new camera

I have had a DSLR for years, nay decades even. These days I more often then not, default to the iPhone for photography. I do like the iPhone camera, but I do feel it lacks the flexibility that using a dedicated camera has got.

I got my Canon EOS 400D back in 2007, it replaced a Canon EOS 300D which had been stolen. It has served me well taking nearly 15,000 photographs over the years.  I really liked it, but though it was great for outside photography, with low light inside shooting, it did not work very well. It also didn’t do video, which I wanted, and I had had some issues with shooting lots of photos continuously. So after much thought and reading reviews I decided I would replace it with a new camera.

I nearly bought the Canon EOS 2000D which I had seen on sale at John Lewis. However I did my (internet) research and realised that this model was already six years old.

I had seen the new R series of mirrorless cameras from Canon and after getting my hands on one I was tempted, but they seemed out of my budget. However after checking a few sites I found one in my price range and ordered the Canon EOS R100.

This is the entry level R series camera and has a large 24.1 MP APS-C imaging sensor. This is better than the 10MP sensor of the EOS 400D.

I realised I needed a new SD Card for the camera, most of mine were 1GB or 2GB, so I ordered an 128GB SD Card.

Once that arrived (and the weather improved) I went out and shot a few images.

I was pleased with the results, note these images have been downscaled for the blog.

So plenty of other things I want to do with the camera.

Posted on

Too hot to handle

I was driving up to Yorkshire in my Funky Cat and my iPhone was being wirelessly charged, and I was connected wireless to the car for CarPlay. I was using CarPlay for Waze navigation and for listening to a podcast.

However after a couple of hours, the iPhone shut itself down as it was overheating. I turned off  the wireless charging and let the phone cool down.

Once it was cooler, it was all okay.

Posted on

Roaming across Europe

This summer I travelled to Germany, taking the ferry to France, travelling to just outside Paris for a few days before then setting off through Belgium and Luxembourg to Germany.

Following issues with using data in Portugal last summer with excessive data usage on my iPhone, I followed the same process I had used last October when I went to Amsterdam.

So before we boarded the ferry at Newhaven, I went into Settings -> Mobile Data and turned off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data. Took me a while as there were a fair few. I turned off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal.

As and when I needed to use apps, I either used the campsite wifi, or switched on mobile data for specific apps.

Arriving in France I was able to roam without any issues, of course as I travelled across Europe I switched networks, first in Belgium, then in Luxembourg and finally in Germany. In the end I used four different country networks. Each time I switched over without issue as I crossed the border.

In Portugal I reached 80% of my 12GB limit within the first twenty four hours. I did wonder if I would reach the fair usage limit on this holiday. As it happens I did six days into the trip, with two days left. It was relatively easy to purchase a 1-day Data Passport for £6 for the two remaining days of our holiday rather than pay silly prices for data on a pay as you go basis.

Though difficult to tell, I think the main data culprits were Waze and Amazon Music, which were used extensively as we drove across the continent.