After recently switching to a pre-paid mobile service I’ve been a bit more aware of how much things cost. We recently took a trip to Dublin which involves roaming and being cost-conscious I ensured my iPhone had Data Roaming disabled. Unfortunately we got a bit lost for a while and I had to turn on the tap for a while to use Google Maps.

I was sure I hadn’t used much data, but when I got home I checked my usage and found that I’d spent over £8 checking Google Maps for a couple of minutes. Admittedly Orange had warned me it would cost £4/MB but I couldn’t see how I’d used that much. Then I realised that there were probably some background tasks using the network connection which I didn’t have much control over.

##Location Location Location

The Location Services section of the iOS Settings app is a prime example of how to get that kind of control. Instead of having a single on-off control I’d love to see the ability to enable roaming services for specific apps and services.

Yes, I know. I could just disable background checking of email and disable push notifications. However that means I’ve got to go back and re-enable all those services again once I’m back home. I want that control in a menu that only applies to roaming allowing me to leave those settings for the next time I head over the border.