Apples & Oranges: Taking an iPhone to Europe

I’m killing time at the Stuttgart train station, waiting on my train to Heidelberg. I’m sitting here thinking about iPhones, data usage, battery usage, and all the things I’m doing on this trip with my smartphone and to make sure I have the battery and data required at any given time.

I realize many people know about these things. (There are probably resources you could google that are written better than this. Some people write professionally and have editors!) However, since I’m consistently up to my eyeballs in tech, especially Apple tech, I never know what is common to me versus common to others.

At times, my iPhone is more important than my brain while in foreign countries, so I need to make sure I have battery and data. Constantly googling, translating, and mapping your entire day will use more battery than you may think.

Here are some options that may help keep you moving along, with the knowledge of the world in your pocket:

• Cell phone plans are as disparate and needlessly complex as anything so look into what your options are. On a shorter trip, I just paid the $10 per day my cellular provider wanted for international roaming. Restrictions and limitations certainly applied so limiting data usage was a must. (Much more on that below.) Some friends have plans that are much better due to the superior offerings of their cellular providers. (Damn it “Mambo”!) My current trip is too long to justify the $10 a day so I bought a “Holiday SIM” from Orange (foreign cellular provider). I was able to buy the SIM in advance on Amazon and register it before I left. The SIM activated immediately when I put it in my phone when I reached my first foreign destination. Yes, this means I have an international phone number for the duration of the trip. I provided it to the people that would need it in advance. iMessage doesn’t care what number you register in Messages settings on the phone and you can even have multiple. Your Message conversations with other iPhone users stay intact though you may need to add a +1 to their phone number since you aren’t in the states. One caveat here, keep in mind you won't be getting your texts sent directly to your primary number. If you use text messages for multi-factor authentication to certain websites, etc., then you will need to adjust in advance for the most convenience.
• Manually turn on “low battery mode” at all times unless charged or plugged in and you really think you need it off. This option on an iPhone changes a variety of settings to conserve battery power.
• Bring a USB battery pack if you own one. If it’s small enough for a pocket, awesome. If it requires a small daypack, so be it.
• Go into your cellular data settings and turn off anything you don’t need that’ll consume your limited data plans while traveling. You don’t need Podcasts automatically downloading. You don’t need Photos automatically uploading. Your phone will tell you what apps you consume most of your data plan with and you can toggle their cellular data usage on and off individually.
• Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth if you’re not using them. The radios use energy all the time scanning for networks and devices.
• Turn on WiFi when you’re someplace that you can use it and save that cellular data plan, but don’t pass any sensitive information on unknown networks.
• If you’re going to be using headphones a lot and thinking about AirPods or some other wireless option, maybe think twice while out and about. Leaving Bluetooth off and opting for old fashioned wired headphones will save some battery.
• Download your podcasts, music, etc., in advance or while plugged in and on WiFi. Then the earlier tip about cellular data is less impactful. Plan ahead and you can still have your jams and whatnot at your fingertips.
• Charge your phone whenever there is a convenient opportunity, even when it is mostly charged. These days, with modern battery technology, we really don’t need to worry about shorting the life span of batteries due to short charge cycles.
• Do you have an Apple Watch? Do you need it on the trip? It uses the iPhone battery power to consistently communicate between the two. Leave it behind, turn it off, or put it in Airplane mode when you don’t need it for anything. I will say, it is damned handy to use an Apple Watch with maps for directions! (For what it’s worth, I still find Google Maps to do a better job than Maps by Apple while traveling.)
• Want to be able to unwind with ESPN, Sling TV, or something similar at the end of the day, during your morning routine, on a train, etc.? Many of those services won’t work in many foreign countries. You can use a VPN and let your phone virtually reside in the US to gain access to your comfort shows, news programs, sports teams, etc. I opted for Express VPN. Setup is easy. You can do it. It’s $12.95 for one month. Just go to their site or the App Store on your device and click through all the things. Some apps use Location Services on your iPhone as a secondary method of identifying the location of your device. You can turn it off. You may notice certain things will work better on VPN, some better with VPN off. Just toggle it on and off as needed. It’s easy.

If you aren’t in the Apple tech ecosystem, I’m sure you can translate the above to apply to your devices of choice. I’m not the person to ask. As an Apple employee in 2007, I received the first hit iPhone for free and have been addicted to using all Apple portable technology ever since.

If anyone has any other tips, feel free to comment below.