Essential App #5: AT&T myWireless Mobile

This is the app every iPhone sold int he U.S. should come pre-installed with. There are probably good reasons — or maybe bad ones — why it isn’t; but it’s easily available, it’s free and it might just save you some money.

Unlike the info stored on your iPhone, myWireless is a much, much better tool for knowing exactly how many minutes, texts or how much data you have left — the last bit of knowledge even more important now that AT&T has killed their unlimited-data plans.

Here’s why this utility is superior to the “Usage” page in the iPhone’s Utilities app:

- myWireless doesn’t require resetting every month, which is huge; in the past, the page was practically useless during months when I’d forgotten to reset the count (which was practically every month).

- The information is presented not only numerically, but also accompanied by a colored bar that graphically displays how many minutes, messages or days are left in a billing cycle.

- It’ll tell you how many texts you have left, as well as how many days are left in the current billing cycle.

Additionally, you can easily view your bill as a pdf and pay it, get information on your plan, or even change your plan — straight from the app.

For better or worse, all U.S. iPhone users are currently wedded to AT&T for the foreseeable future (except those enterprising souls with unlocked units). With that in mind, this app clearly makes it easier for iPhone users to avoid overages.

And while we’re focused here on the U.S. variant, those of you who don’t live Stateside (and we know, may of you don’t) might not be completely bereft — O2, for instance, offers a similar app without the bill-paying or plan-changing abilities; check the app store for your carrier’s app.

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