Can You Still Receive Texts When Data Roaming Is Off?

Data roaming can cost you a lot of money if you just keep it on when you’re traveling. Nowadays data roaming is more of an issue with international travel. Since most phone companies in a wide variety of companies will give you national coverage. Therefore, when answering the question, “Can you still receive texts when data roaming is off?”, we are going to be focusing on international travel. The quick answer to the question by the way would be no if certain conditions are met. While if other conditions are met the answer could be yes! Therefore, we are going to go over what those conditions might be in this article. 

Why You Would Want To Turn Data Roaming Off 

The first thing that we want to cover is why you would be looking to turn data roaming off in the first place. This answer is rather simple, in data roaming your data usage is going to cost more than it usually does. This can apply even if you happen to have an unlimited data plan. Most unlimited data plans only work as advertised in your primary area of coverage. As we mentioned most phone companies are going to be able to provide national coverage. Therefore on a trip from California to Florida, you’ll still be covered. 

The problems arise in most cases when you’re traveling abroad. This is where you are going to want to know if you can still receive texts when data roaming is off. If you have a plan that charges you more for data roaming than regular data usage then you are going to want to at least limit your usage while you’re abroad. That’s going to keep you from racking up a nasty phone bill that you could get from unchecked data usage. Particularly when traveling to a distant country. In the US, Canada, and Mexico data is a bit less expensive. Same thing when traveling within the EU for Europeans. 

What App Are You Texting From? 

This is really the question that you need to ask yourself to figure out the answer to, “can you still receive texts when data roaming is off”. What app are you using to text from? Even if you’re using the regular SMS text app that comes with your phone that essentially still counts as an app. If you’re using what can be considered a web-based app, like Telegram, Whatsapp, or even iMessage the answer can be totally different.       

Can You Still Receive Texts When Data Roaming Is Off? – Regular SMS Text Messages 

If you’re using the regular app on your phone and you are sending SMS text messages you are not going to be able to receive text messages when data roaming is off. We’ll get to some of the other apps in a sec. The biggest problem that you’re going to have with these types of messages is that you’re not going to get them even if you are on a wifi network. If you’re someone who travels a lot, or for some reason you move out of your coverage area rather often it could be a good idea to stop using this form of texting.  

The real problem with the traditional SMS text messages these days is that you’re not going to have them come through unless you have phone data. Most people in other parts of the world have moved their texting to other web-based apps, even things like Facebook or Instagram. Yet it seems that in the United States traditional texting is still very popular. That’s great because the country has some of the widest unlimited plans in the world. Also, you’re going to be able to get great coverage in most of the urban areas of the country. So if you don’t travel abroad or even to rural areas of the country you can stick to regular texting. 

Can You Still Receive Texts When Data Roaming Is Off? – Web-Based Apps

The big difference that you’re going to be able to find between regular text messages and texts through web-based apps is the type of coverage that you need to send each of them. If you’re using apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, or even Facebook and Instagram you won’t directly be able to get your text messages when you turn data roaming off. With these apps, though, you can connect to a wifi network and the messages should start pouring in. There are still some things that you want to keep in mind. If the network that you’re connected to is slow then the texts are going to take more time to drop in. 

If you’re abroad for example and you drop in at a Starbucks to get some free wifi there’s a chance that your inactive apps are going to suddenly start working. This is going to allow you to send and receive texts without any type of cost! If the coffee shop is busy though, there’s a good chance that the network can get crammed and make these apps very slow. This is a real possibility in rural areas of certain countries and just countries in general that are not known for having strong wifi networks. 

Can you still receive text messages when data roaming is off through web-based apps? The true answer is yes. You just need to make sure that you’re connected to a local wifi network. If you’re not connected to a local wifi network your phone is going to be as dead as it would be if you’re using your regular SMS texts. 

Is There A Way To Get Regular SMS Texts Through A Wifi Network?      

In simple terms, the answer to this question would be a direct no. However, the way that phone manufacturers, particularly the two main ones, Apple, and Samsung, are handling text messages these days, you could do it. We’d have to go back to a previously talked about topic. What app are you using to text? If you’re using iMessage for example, you should be able to access that app through a wifi network even if it’s another device, and get your messages. The same thing goes for people who are using their Samsung account or Google Hangouts. 

Many people count their messaging through iMessage for example as regular SMS texting. You have the ability to access your account from another device or through another network. This app in a sense has become a web-based app as well. If you can run the app that you are texting on through wifi you won’t have a problem texting when data roaming is off.    

Should You Switch To Texting Through Web-Based Apps? 

Most people in the world are already texting through web-based apps. There are a couple of reasons for that. Mainly the issue was that web-based apps offered free texting options. Many phone service providers outside of the US were very late in opening up unlimited texting plans. The main difference in the US is that unlimited texting has been a standard practice of phone companies for years. Therefore, when apps came along that offered free texting people didn’t bat an eye. 

At this point in time though, with the global landscape the way that it is should you switch to texting through web-based apps? One of the biggest problems that many Americans face with this type of communication is that your friends and contacts aren’t already on these apps. This makes texting when abroad or outside of your coverage area more of a challenge. Maybe whether or not you should change is ultimately going to be determined by how much you travel or how often you are outside your coverage area.     

If you do fall under the category of someone who travels or is outside of their coverage area for a long time web-based apps for texting could be something to look at. Even if you just have your primary contacts available through these apps. Another option that you can look into is just using Instagram DMs while you’re abroad. If you have more contacts on Facebook using their messenger app could also be an option. That way you won’t have to get your close contacts to download WhatsApp or any other app that you want to use.   

Is Using Social Media As A Means To Text Going To Save You Money? 

We’ve kind of come full circle here. The only reason why we ask ourselves, can you still receive texts when data roaming is off, is that you want to turn data off to save cash. It’s really as simple as that. So the next question would be, If I turn data off and just communicate through local wifi will I be saving cash? Technically, yes you would be saving cash and that’s the whole point. There are a couple of ways though that you can go about this. Essentially the way that you manage your data while outside the coverage area will determine how much you save or spend. 

If you want to activate full savings mode you could turn your regular phone data off for the entire trip. The easiest way for you to communicate could be through DMs when you’re connected to a wifi network. If your hotel and your nearby coffee house happen to have free wifi you wouldn’t be charged a dime more from your regular plan. What’s the negative aspect of this plan? Well, whenever you’re outside of your hotel your phone is going to be practically useless. 

Here is where another strategy can kick in. You can be very quick to turn off your data roaming when you arrive at your hotel. That’s when you take all of your communications through social media or web-based apps. You’ll only activate your data roaming when you are outside or when you absolutely need it. Like when you need to call an Uber or something like this.      

Can You Still Receive Texts When Data Roaming Is Off – Real Savings

There are a couple of factors that are going to determine how much you save. We already talked about some of the strategies that can help you not have to pay an extra dollar on your regular plan. The thing is data roaming charges are going to depend on the phone service provider that you have and where you’re traveling. Most phone services have different types of travel plans that you can look into. We have different articles on the site for each service provider and the type of plans that they offer. Therefore, we are not going to go into too many details here. 

That being said, if texting is your main concern while traveling and you want to turn data roaming off to avoid getting hit with roaming fees then looking into some of the strategies that we’ve detailed could be a good idea. When data roaming is completely off and you are using free apps and free wifi there’s essentially no way to be able to be hit with roaming fees. That being said, you’ll want to make sure that you are turning your data off the right way. Also, make sure that you don’t accidentally activate your data when you turn on your wifi connections. A lot of people end up paying extra cash that they don’t even fully take advantage of because they are not careful to turn off their data. Make sure that doesn’t happen to you!