wilsond2 Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 Cruised on Anthem late June/early July. Before we boarded we loaded the royal IQ app. Once on board we put phones on airplane mode, hooked up to royal-wifi and paid the $7.95 per device. We did not get Voom wifi. We were able to chat between all of us using the app. We moved around the ship and the wifi disconnected. This happened frequently, whenever we moved. We had to keep reconnecting it as it wouldn't do it by itself. I randomly would get Facebook and other app notifications but if I tried to view them it said no internet connection. I normally use Google Voice for text messaging and I started getting texts. I tried responding and surprisingly it went through. I was able to text my son on the ship with me as well as phones back in the US. I'm not sure if it would have worked if I didn't pay for the RoyalIQ service but might be worth someone trying. If all you want is free texting and communicating between people on the ship this might work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 So this is a known side effect that isn't published. It mostly benefits iPhones compared to Android devices. In order to make notifications work in Royal iQ they need to allow certain communication with Apple servers. As it turns out, iMessage and other notifications slip through this crack. That isn't by design, rather a side effect. As a result it has become known that you don't need to purchase a wifi Voom plan to get free iMessaging on Apple devices. Some Android users report that WhatsApp text works but it diidn't for me. Quantum class and Harmony - only ships that use Royal iQ. No such luck on any other ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilsond2 Posted July 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 It was on android phones. I searched and didn't see anyone mention google voice that's why I posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 Apparently YouTube slips through the crack as well. i'm not a huge user but others have reported it as so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, twangster said: Apparently YouTube slips through the crack as well. i'm not a huge user but others have reported it as so. It's true. Last cruise Hubby was able to get YouTube without being connected to wifi. And friends of ours also watched lots of YouTube on board without wifi. This was on Anthem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 41 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: It's true. Last cruise Hubby was able to get YouTube without being connected to wifi. And friends of ours also watched lots of YouTube on board without wifi. This was on Anthem. I think he was connected to wifi, perhaps just no Voom plan purchased? Youtube I am told is great, but not that great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 37 minutes ago, twangster said: I think he was connected to wifi, perhaps just no Voom plan purchased? Youtube I am told is great, but not great. Yes, sorry, that's what I meant (for us)...no Voom but was able to watch YouTube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 I'm surprised this loophole has lasted as long as it has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisinUngs Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 I think in order for them to "fix" it they would have to rethink their whole app and system as they can't control the side affects. Maybe the new fancy RC app fixes it so they aren't concerned about Royal IQ. Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 I suspect the delay in adding a text feature to the new app is because of this loophole. Pure speculation on my part. The problem is any texting feature requires notifications to be effective. When your phone is locked and in your pocket, you want a notification that someone sent you a text, otherwise having to check manually every 2 minutes would get old very fast. "Did someone send me a text, let's check" over and over - I don't think so. For Apple devices Royal must use the Apple notification platform to do it's thing as each app is sandboxed and can't reach out of the its sandbox especially when closed and phone is locked. In order to use the Apple notification platform they must unblock certain ports on Voom and it just so happens those are the same ports that WhatsApp, Youtube and iMessage use. Consequently they have delayed or possibly abandoned plans to add the chat feature they promised to the new Royal app for this exact reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilsond2 Posted July 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2018 Their on ship network and off ship connection should be separate. A correctly configured network/firewall should be able to allow the devices to work to talk with each other on ship but block the data going out for all that haven't paid for Voom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted July 12, 2018 Report Share Posted July 12, 2018 19 hours ago, wilsond2 said: Their on ship network and off ship connection should be separate. A correctly configured network/firewall should be able to allow the devices to work to talk with each other on ship but block the data going out for all that haven't paid for Voom. Umm, you do realize this RCI IT we're talking about, right? Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted July 12, 2018 Report Share Posted July 12, 2018 20 hours ago, wilsond2 said: Their on ship network and off ship connection should be separate. A correctly configured network/firewall should be able to allow the devices to work to talk with each other on ship but block the data going out for all that haven't paid for Voom. In order for notifications to work on Apple devices, Apple servers on land have to be able to reachable from Apple devices on the ship. Apple devices reach out to the Apple servers on land. Once that communication path is established notifications work, but iMessage piggy backs on it. If they block Apple devices from ever leaving the ship without paying for Voom, notification don't work and you will never know someone has sent you a text message in the RoyaliQ app. Anytime your Apple phone has a notification go off, such as a news alert or weather alert, that comes from the Apple servers in one of their data centers. If you block that communication, you will get no notifications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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