Can You Text over Wi-fi?
 

Sorry for the newbie question. I'm trying to avoid activating Verizon's $10 per day Travelpass while overseas. Wi-fi can handle data, and I guess, voice calls. How about texts, mainly between Apple devices? If not, is WhatsApp the answer?

Thx....

Apple-to-Apple iMessage (and WhatsApp) both use IP, so they'll work over WiFi. Actual SMS texts require a carrier connection.

If you enable WiFi Calling (supported on Verizon) then SMS and calls go through WiFi -- your WiFi router essentially serves as a cell tower.

I'm not sure this arrangement works overseas, though.

No kidding? Good to know!

Yup. It's how I did SMS and calls in my old office with no cell reception.

Yes, if you turn on wifi calling then you can stay in airplane mode, turn wifi back on, and Verizon (well, all carriers) will treat it as if you were in the US. Just make sure your phone says VZW Wifi.

It's actually creating an IPSec VPN connection back to Verizon and tunneling cell data over that connection. So voice and SMS work normally.

To be doubly sure of not being charged, turn off voice and data roaming in settings.

You might need to turn on wifi calling before you leave, when you're still connected to Verizon's network.

There is also a Verizon app called Message+ that works over Wifi.

Maybe. Theoretically yes but I don't know how much I trust Vz's billing systems.

Yeah, but I never could get it to work well. And if you have wifi calling on, then you don't need the Message+ app.

I have done this several times in several countries with the expected results. I use a LTE hotspot so my phone has a WiFi connection and everything operated as expected.

Yeah, just another option. Also, the only problem I've had with wifi on and getting text messages is for SMS multi-factor authentication. For some reason those don't want to come through.

It does.

Yes, I SMS over WiFi all the time.

I'd use some caution with this as phones typically will perform software updates if they're connected to Wi-Fi. That said, data in many other countries is very inexpensive, so updates might not have much of an impact.

Yes you can with TMobile. I use Facebook Messanger for both my SMS/Facebook Messages. If I need to switch phones for whatever reason such as a broken phone all my SMS messages are backed up. Using the Tmobile free GoGo Inflight Messaging on Delta I was able to text on an international flight after taking off from Paris to my Mother! It was great.