All right, I'm about to buy a smartphone, probably iPhone 4(please no debate about Android vs Apple, or any flames about Apple) and I had one question about apps. I thought that besides apps like facebook and twitter, which obviously use internet, single-player game apps like Angry Birds, Skee-Ball and other games did not use Wifi or 3G. However, I talked to this person at the phone shop, and he told me about how about 80% of the apps nowadays have to have internet available to use them. Why this worries me so much is that I can't afford to have unlimited internet access, and can only afford unlimited Wifi, but no 3G. Now if games like Angry Birds required internet, that would mean I can only use them in wifi zones. So for people that have a smartphone and use apps, please tell me if single player games require internet access and/or any other kinds of apps that require internet access. Any information would really be appreciated.

Btw, I live in Korea right now, if that is relevant.

Oh yeah, just another quick question. One of the reasons I wanted to get an iPhone is because I can jailbreak it, download torrented apps on my computer, and just add the app. I want to do this especially for apps that are costly. I wonder what the chances of getting caught and stuff are, and how big of a deal this is. Is it just like torrenting movies, where you really never get caught, or is this something more serious?

MisterD

Germany1338 Posts

February 14 2011 15:04 GMT

well you don't really need "unlimited" 3G, just permanent. My palm pre runs on a 10€ "flat rate" for 3g, where you get like 200mb hsdpa speed per month, and anything above will slow your speed down to gsm rates, but without costing anything extra.

What's the billing rates for 3G over there? i mean 10€, thats like what, 8 dollars a month? That's not that much, is it?

MoonBear

Straight outta Johto18973 Posts

February 14 2011 15:19 GMT

For games like Angry Birds, internet access is for functions like comparing highscores with friends or to go to the developer's webpage. The main game does not require internet. I can play Angry Birds and the like without internet perfectly fine. Other single player games like Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja are the same.

Hope that helps!

Tazza

Korea (South)1678 Posts

February 14 2011 15:21 GMT

On February 15 2011 00:04 MisterD wrote:
well you don't really need "unlimited" 3G, just permanent. My palm pre runs on a 10€ "flat rate" for 3g, where you get like 200mb hsdpa speed per month, and anything above will slow your speed down to gsm rates, but without costing anything extra.

What's the billing rates for 3G over there? i mean 10€, thats like what, 8 dollars a month? That's not that much, is it?

Well its basically like this, the lowest plan is about 35 dollars per month, which includes free wifi, and 100 mb of 3G. This is the plan I want to get. However, added to the 35 dollars per month, are the phone's price, which is about 10 dollars a month, tax, and some others which make it about 50 dollars per month. Now, if I want 500 mb of 3G, I need to pay ten dollars more, and for unlimited internet, twenty dollars more. I cannot afford that much. I just want to know what kinds of apps require internet access.

Tazza

Korea (South)1678 Posts

February 14 2011 15:28 GMT

On February 15 2011 00:19 MoonBear wrote:
For games like Angry Birds, internet access is for functions like comparing highscores with friends or to go to the developer's webpage. The main game does not require internet. I can play Angry Birds and the like without internet perfectly fine. Other single player games like Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja are the same.

Hope that helps!

Thank you MoonBear, this helped me a lot. I originally thought that single-player games wouldn't require internet, but what the guy at the phone shop said scared me quite a bit.

aeoliant

Canada361 Posts

February 14 2011 15:38 GMT

Hey i'm an iPhone dev in Canada (master's league lolol). Most apps use internet but don't require it. All the big name apps have offline modes (well except obvious ones like facebook which just have a cache - but it just seems like you're worried about games). What MoonBear said was right: most of the internet use is for like facebook or twitter connections or highscores and whatnot.

For pirated apps... well I dunno what the laws are like in Korea but in Canada I haven't heard of anyone getting caught. look at hackulo.us or xsellize for huge repos with cracked apps.

Personally, I have an iPhone 3G on 3.1.3 (tried 4.0, sucks for 3G rocks for 3GS and 4) and no data plan. Don't worry about not having a data plan - you'll be able to run the apps you should.

Tazza

Korea (South)1678 Posts

February 14 2011 15:43 GMT

On February 15 2011 00:38 aeoliant wrote:
Hey i'm an iPhone dev in Canada (master's league lolol). Most apps use internet but don't require it. All the big name apps have offline modes (well except obvious ones like facebook which just have a cache - but it just seems like you're worried about games). What MoonBear said was right: most of the internet use is for like facebook or twitter connections or highscores and whatnot.

For pirated apps... well I dunno what the laws are like in Korea but in Canada I haven't heard of anyone getting caught. look at hackulo.us or xsellize for huge repos with cracked apps.

Personally, I have an iPhone 3G on 3.1.3 (tried 4.0, sucks for 3G rocks for 3GS and 4) and no data plan. Don't worry about not having a data plan - you'll be able to run the apps you should.

Yeah, thanks for the info man. I'm like 99% sure I'm gonna get the iPhone now. I just gotta learn how to run the apps in offline mode, which should be easy. I'm just gonna play games and stuff in the subway, while I'll check facebook and stuff in wifi zones.

Piste

6180 Posts

February 14 2011 15:48 GMT

i have unlimited 3G with unlimited speed + mobile highspeed broadband for 13.90€/month :O
It's not that bad cost imho.

Tazza

Korea (South)1678 Posts

February 14 2011 15:53 GMT

On February 15 2011 00:48 Piste wrote:
i have unlimited 3G with unlimited speed + mobile highspeed broadband for 13.90€/month :O
It's not that bad cost imho.

If I lived in Europe, I would also take that deal in a heartbeat, unfortunately, I don't

MisterD

Germany1338 Posts

February 14 2011 15:53 GMT

#10

35 dollars? that's expensive as shit o_O it's like more than 4 times what you pay over here

aeoliant

Canada361 Posts

February 14 2011 15:58 GMT

#11

On February 15 2011 00:43 Tazza wrote:

Show nested quote +

Usually when the app initializes it does a reachability check for internet and if you don't have internet it prompts you to continue in offline mode OR it just disables the networking features. No learning required! Have fun on iOS!

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