Today while doing a show I had a discussion with another artist who said he uses Square on his iPhone 6 and always closes the Square app after each sale because it would use up too much data.
I disagreed and am under the belief that it only uses up data when you are processing a transaction. Leaving the Square app, or any other app on when idle does not use up data on you plan...just battery.
I asked others at the show about this and everyone had an opinion and said "I Think" this or that but no one there could say they were 100% positive about their answer.
My opinion is just as everyone else's....not totally 100% positive.
Has anyone researched this and have accurate facts?
Comments
Square data usage is only when verifying a card and running a transaction. It probably uses more data handshaking with the secure server than it does sending the encrypted transaction.
The new chip reader does have an internal battery that can run down over the course of a day however. Unplugging to t saves the battery, but requires more data to boot and verify each te you plug it in.
And as a side note, I was unable to use the chip reader. During peak hours at all during Arts, Beats & Eats this past weekend. It was useless from about 7PM to about 9PM. It wouldn't connect to theserverat all I had to use an old one to save transactions in offline mode.
The usage is so minimal that whether you leave it on or shut it off, there is no appreciable difference. The only times I even approach my data limit is when I show my 2 minute video showing my raku process, over and over, at a show, or I rely heavily on the GPS function to find a place I have never been to. The greater concern is running out of power. For that I make sure I am fully charged at the start of a show and I have a portable power backup source that I can plug into if I need to charge my phone.
This pretty much verifies what I have understood it to be. I've never exceeded my data plan ration and I know they charge a good bit when you do exceed it
just a side note...fyi ..there are other programs that do use data even when you are not looking at them ... if they are open on your phone/tablet...such as facebook ..they it is constantly updating and always using data.
I asked t-mobile, they said only data is used when running the card.
We have had three ready to go at the same time and looking at our data usage it is minimal