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iPhone 6(S)/Plus iphone 6s with no cell service contract
- Thread starter elykoj
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Absolutely!
My daughter has my wife's old iPhone 5. WiFi only. iCloud and Facetime work just fine. It's all done over WiFi.
Do note, while this will work, you might still need a compatible SIM card (doesn't matter if it's deactivated) just for initial setup/activation.
In the US, yes. In other countries, the carriers may have more lax policies.
OK, I bought the phone from a friend since he bought a new one, my 12 year old currently has an ipod touch but wanted a phone so I want to give it to her and if her grades get better I will get the phone/data activated for her, so now I just need it to be able to act as the ipod over wifi.... I don't know if it still has the SIM card in it or not? im guessing no since they probably took it out and put in my friends new phone??? so the wifi stuff wont work??
Anything Wi-Fi will work. It doesn't matter if the phone has a SIM or not. If there is a SIM, it has most likely been deactivated from the carrier.
You don't need a SIM card to use WiFi.
If you ever restore the phone though you will need a SIM to activate it. If it's unlocked, that can be any SIM (active or not). If it is not unlocked you'll need a SIM for the carrier the phone is locked to (again, active or not).
Just login with your daughter's Apple ID for Facetime and iMessage (after you connect it to your WiFi).
I think some of these answers are wrong. I have an SE with no SIM card, I cannot text with that phone. I get a no sim card installed notification and texts fail to send whether they are to an ios device or not.
Facetime works but only if the other phone is "on". E.G. if I try to facetime my 6S which is on VZW, the SE says it is not available for facetime. If I unlock my 6S then I can facetime the 6S from my SE.
Facetime works but only if the other phone is "on". E.G. if I try to facetime my 6S which is on VZW, the SE says it is not available for facetime. If I unlock my 6S then I can facetime the 6S from my SE.
These things work over WiFi without a SIM card if both parties are logged into their Apple IDs and are using the same service.
My daughter has WiFi only at home and the SIM card she has is deactivated. She has no cellular. But she can iMessage me (I'm not usually on WiFi) and we can Facetime.
But I can't send her a text or call her. Because those are cellular services that require a carrier. The reason iMessage and Facetime work are because those services are routed through Apple's servers. And that works on WiFi and cellular.
I'm glad yours does because I cannot text with my SE with no SIM card. Not to my other phone that is on the VZW network, not to my wifes email address or mine, nothing.
AH, see your daughters iPhone has a SIM, my SE doesn't and that is going to be the difference. I have a couple of old SIMS floating around but afraid if they have been used, that VZW will put another phone on my account, one I don't want.
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Well, the SIM in my daughter's phone is deactivated. The line it is attached to is now attached to the SIM in my son's phone.AH, see your daughters iPhone has a SIM, my SE doesn't and that is going to be the difference. I have a couple of old SIMS floating around but afraid if they have been used, that VZW will put another phone on my account, one I don't want.
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Cellular is off. In fact, her iPhone is in Airplane Mode (to preserve battery) with only WiFi active.
Same as mine, wifi only. Something about having a SIM seems to make texting work. Since I don't have a SIM texting doesn't work for me.
In my case, as noted, NO texting works, not to iPhones, not to anything/anybody else.
I am not sure. Maybe data only plan for iPad works on iPhone. In Australia, we have data only plan for cellular iPad.
iPod Touch only sends all messages as iMessages, which are routed through Apple Server. These messages are carrier independent. What IS dependent are messages sent with green bubble.
In the Philippines, the most common plan is pay as you go prepaid. You load, for example, $10 on the SIM and you can use it anyway you want. Incoming calls and messages don't count against your load so theoretically, if you just wanted to use your load entirely for data, you can.
The carriers there don't really differentiate between smartphones and tablets. The same plans are available for both and there are actually LTE tablets sold that do support voice and MMS/SMS (I think Asus and some Chinese-branded ones).
If the phone still has service, (or you could add it to your existing plan) you could port it over the Sprint and get the BYOD 1 year free service for her.
but most things work over wifi, including data based texting services and all. I'd put a VPN on the phone though as she'll be connecting to random wifi often and that's the biggest risk point.
but most things work over wifi, including data based texting services and all. I'd put a VPN on the phone though as she'll be connecting to random wifi often and that's the biggest risk point.