Viewing Your Data Usage

You can check how much data you've used in two places: on your phone (most accurate, near real-time) and in your esimple account (slightly delayed snapshot from the network).

On iPhone

1. Settings → Cellular.
2. Scroll to Cellular Data Usage — the section shows "Current Period" usage in MB / GB.
3. Below the totals, you'll see usage per app. Useful for spotting which app is eating your allowance.

This counter is local to your phone. It tracks data your phone has actually sent and received. It's the most accurate view of your real-time usage.

One catch: iOS resets this counter manually, not automatically. If you haven't tapped "Reset Statistics" before this trip, the number reflects all data used since the last reset (potentially months). Scroll to the bottom of the Cellular page and tap Reset Statistics before you leave home so the counter starts at zero for the trip.

On Android (Pixel / stock)

1. Settings → Network & internet → SIMs.
2. Tap the esimple SIM.
3. Tap App data usage to see total + per-app breakdown.

On Android (Samsung)

1. Settings → Connections → Data usage.
2. Pick the SIM you want to view (esimple).
3. You'll see total usage in the current billing cycle.

Samsung lets you set a custom billing-cycle start date — match it to your trip start so the counter resets when you want.

In your esimple account

esimple.ai/account → tap the order → "Activation details" → "Data used."

This figure comes from the underlying mobile network. It's accurate but slightly behind real-time — usually within an hour, sometimes longer depending on the network.

We refresh this number when you load the page, but the network itself only updates its records on its own cadence. That's why you might see "0.92 GB used" on your phone and "0.78 GB used" on /account at the same moment. The phone is closer to "now"; the account view is closer to "what we'll bill."

Which number is the truth?

For practical day-to-day decisions ("can I stream this movie tonight?"), trust the phone counter. It's near real-time.

For "am I about to run out?", give yourself a buffer. If your account view shows 80% used, the actual real-time figure is probably slightly higher. Top up early rather than scrambling at midnight.

Setting a data warning

Both iOS and Android let you set an alert when usage hits a threshold.

• iPhone: Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data Usage. No native warning — use the per-trip Reset Statistics + check manually.
• Android: Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → tap esimple → Data warning & limit. Set a warning at, say, 80% of your plan.

You'll also get an email from us when your data drops below 20%.

Common gotchas

• The phone counter feels too high. App background refresh is the usual culprit. Settings → General → Background App Refresh on iPhone, or per-app data restriction on Android, helps a lot. Disable for apps you don't actively need (cloud photo backup is the worst offender).
• The /account view shows 0 GB used but I've definitely used some. Refresh once or twice. Some networks lag for the first day after activation.

If your usage looks impossibly high or impossibly low, email support@esimple.ai with the order reference and we'll cross-check on our side.