Charge Blog

At Charge our mission is to help usher in a future where mobile connectivity is simpler and priced more transparently. We want to make it easy for customers to pay only for the services they need. We made a lot of progress towards that goal with our LTE mobile data-only.

Back to our data-only roots

When we started Charge, we wanted to help usher in a future where mobile connectivity was simpler and priced more transparently. We wanted to make it easy for customers to pay only for the mobile services they need. So we launched our LTE data-only plan for all Sprint-compatible devices in this article.

International adventures in iPhone CDMA compatibility

For a long time now we've had some customers with iPhones receive a SIM and activate it from their Charge account, only to report some very strange behavior when they pop the SIM into their device. The status bar will show "Sprint LTE" for somewhere between two and this article.

Adding voice and SMS monthly plans

We’re very proud to have reached so many people in the short couple of months since launching our data-only mobile internet plan. We’ve sold more than 750 gigabytes so far, and created many happy customers in the process. If you’re already a customer, thanks very much for this article.

Using Charge as a backup connection for your home WiFi router

There are a lot of things inside our homes besides our computers and mobile devices connected to the internet today. Thermostats, coffee machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners can now all depend on an internet connection for critical functions. And that makes the WiFi router in your home a very important this article.

Introducing Charge Mobile Data

For too long, mobile carriers have offered service plans on their terms. Contracts, activation fees, usage caps, absurdly high overage rates and breakage were all standard. We were all beat down into complacency by lack of competition. Things were the way they were, and at some point most of us this article.

Questions to Carriers: Why do you charge to share data between devices?

The number of connected devices in the world overtook the number of people on earth in 2014. The same year, nearly half a billion new connected devices were activated. Among those device activations were smartphones, tablets, mobile hotspots and wearables to name a few. And all those newly-connected devices helped this article.

Questions to Carriers: Why does mobile data expire?

By now most of us are accustomed to the way mobile carriers price their data plans. We typically drop $20 to $50 each month on a few gigabytes. If we use more than our monthly data allotment we’re hit with inflated overage fees, but if we don’t use this article.

Stages of Thanksgiving 2015 in GIFs

Yay, Turkey Day has finally arrived! It is only the first of a series of eating events (aka family gatherings) that mark the official holiday season in the US. Unbuckle your belts, exercise your bellies and prepare for extended family exposure, Thanksgiving is officially upon us. We would like to this article.

Questions to Carriers: Why Do Mobile Carriers Bundle Their Services?

Have you ever wondered why mobile carriers bundle all their services together? In a recent Charge blog post, we discovered that the vast majority of activities we do on our mobile devices use data only. But mobile carriers don’t offer data-only plans for phones. In fact, it’s actually this article.

VoLTE, what does it mean for devices, coverage and your mobile service?

Last week, T-Mobile announced that ⅓ of its calls are now made over VoLTE. Verizon deployed nationwide VoLTE in September of 2014 and in the same FierceWireless article stated it has sold over 35 million VoLTE-capable devices since the launch. The acronym, meaning “voice over LTE” seems to be the latest this article.

Why can't I have a data-only plan for my smartphone?

Today 68% of American adults own a smartphone. That is approximately 216,852,000 of us. But have you really ever thought about how much time you spend using that device? According to recent studies, we spend anywhere from 3.3 hours to 4.7 hours per day on this article.

10 Cat GIFs for National Cat Day

Grumpy Cat is likely the most famous cat on earth with over 8,151,214 Facebook likes to date. For some perspective that is more likes than the San Francisco 49ers, Kendrick Lamar and every single Republican candidate in last night’s GOP debate. So yeah, she is pretty famous. this article.

Questions to Carriers: Will LTE Bands Lock Us to a Specific Network?

The US mobile market is undergoing a ton of change. Just over the past few months we saw Verizon follow T-Mobile’s lead and do away with contracts. All four major carriers now unbundle device payments from service payments. Device manufacturers, like Apple and Samsung, started to roll out their this article.

Charge Messenger Gets A Design Upgrade on iOS

Back in August we officially rolled out Charge Messenger for web alongside important upgrades to our iOS and Android apps. Since then our team has been hard at work making updates and integrating feedback from you to make Charge Messenger the best it can be on all platforms. this article.

Questions to Carriers: What is 3G, 4G and LTE?

Last week, Questions to Carriers started to explain the constantly changing scope of mobile networks within the US. We broke down the difference between CDMA and GSM network infrastructures, which has been a hurdle for consumers in terms of devices and carrier switching. But now manufacturers are creating this article.

Communicate without your phone

Hasn’t everyone felt the pain of forgetting their mobile phone at home? Or, even worse, losing it? Whether it be the FOMO that ensues from missing group texts or lack of connection to loved ones, we feel crippled by the fact we can’t communicate. this article.

Why are contracts so expensive?

Understanding the nuances of your mobile “plan”, “pack”, “bundle” or whatever other cute all-in-one name your carrier deems fit, is a tedious undertaking. As Americans, we typically find ourselves with two-year contracts which lock us into high prices. Conversely, most mobile users around the world have this article.

GIF sharing via social media

ALERT THE MEDIA: Social media juggernauts, Facebook and Tumblr announced GIF updates to their platforms this week. Now users can share GIFs via FB and search for previously used GIFs on Tumblr. Giving further credence to fact that your friends don’t want to read what you have to this article.

Share Funny Videos With Charge Messenger

Round up the fireworks, spark up the grills and track down your "vintage" Old Navy flag t-shirt, the 4th of July is upon us! this article.