How Much Data Does Imessage Use Per Message

How much data does iMessage use? iMessage sends text messages, pictures, and movies over cellular data rather than through the traditional SMS and MMS protocols, but take y'all always wondered just how much of an iPhone data plan all your iMessage use is consuming? It turns out that you can observe this data through a somewhat buried location in iOS Settings, and if y'all're on a bandwidth capped data programme it may offer some actionable data to work with if you regularly detect yourself striking the limits of your cellular plan.

You lot'll be able to detect this information on whatever iPhone or cellular equipped iPad running a modern iOS release, though most of the states apply iMessage primarily on iPhones, which is why we're going to focus on that device.

Finding iMessage Data Consumption in iOS

Launch the "Settings" app and go to the "Cellular" section located well-nigh the top
Navigate past the listed apps and all the style to the bottom, and select "Arrangement Services"
Find "Messaging Services" near the top to meet the total iMessage cellular information consumption

Find iMessage data usage

In this screenshot example, "Messaging Services" (iMessage) has used 408MB since the last fourth dimension the cellular usage data statistics were reset.

See iMessage data usage

Keep in mind most of this bulletin information usage is exclusively due to the photos and videos, not the actual transmission of generic texts and messaging without multimedia. While the sometime tin eat upwardly 5mb per epitome sent, the latter text communications are literally measured in tiny kilobytes and would barely dent even the tiniest data plans.

Unlike third party iPhone apps and many other bundled services, in that location is no option to disable iMessage sending over cellular information while keeping it enabled for wi-fi connections, and instead y'all'd have to turn the feature off completely and fall back to SMS. That certainly works to avert additional cellular data consumption, but falling back to SMS can accept information technology's ain problems if you lot don't have a generous texting plan associated with the iPhone, making it a frail balance.

Mayhap the better solution for those with capped data plans who go hit with overage charges due to heavy multimedia based iMessaging is to monitor the usage from time to fourth dimension, and be sure to connect to a wi-fi network every bit often as possible to unload the data from cellular onto the wireless network. You can always cut back on sending photos and videos too, or selectively send them as an SMS instead if you have a texting plan to fall back on – just go on in mind the SMS/MMS protocol is adequately ruthless with pinch and the quality of any image or movie sent over traditional MMS is going to exist abysmal compared to iMessage.

Finally, for those who ain a Mac and an iPhone and rely on iMessage to easily share files between the two devices, pay special attention to being on a wi-fi network when you lot use the service to send stuff betwixt iOS and OS X, which is highly effective merely can tax a cellular plan particularly difficult.