As soon as it works here in the UK I think I’ll be buying 2 new iPhones, one for me, one for my wife, but not before. It would be nice if Apple would give some indication on likely progress.
Interesting that you think it’s a legal / regulatory issue. Didn’t Elon Musk say something about how his Starlink service could provide access to the internet above any country without seeking their permission as there was no need for any ground infrastructure? Maybe different for combined satellite/cell tower system? What happens when someone from the US travels to the EU, would their ability to use Satellite Messaging just stop?
Should be a useful service once it gets going for me personally.
Well, consider the source. I strongly suspect that any governmental agency tasked with regulating use of the electromagnetic spectrum would not feel restrained in exercising their authority just because “there was no need for any ground infrastructure.”
Could being the operative word. There’s no technical reason why it couldn’t. But if Starlink actually did ignore local laws, everybody on the ground in those countries could get into legal trouble.
Which is one reason why it isn’t available globally.
I assume the base stations use something resembling GPS to determine their location and refuse to operate when in a country where they’re not allowed to operate.
If they didn’t have the capability, people would be smuggling Starlink units into countries where they’re prohibited. And I haven’t read anything about this in the news. Given the fact that the press would jump at yet another reason to hate Elon, I’m inclined to believe that these lockouts work.
I got a chance to test Messages via satellite in flight today, and as @podfeet found, I couldn’t even make a connection. I got it to try though, by turning on Airplane mode and turning off Wi-Fi.
I couldn’t help but think of Apple’s old print dialog message, “Looking for LaserWriter,” to which we would always point and respond, “It’s right there!” No terrain, trees, or buildings were in evidence at 30,000 feet.
When I listen to Sirius (satellite) radio in my car and pull into my garage my radio stops. I assume that’s because there’s a structure between the satellite and my car’s antenna. My Garmin GPS does the same thing, complains it can’t see the satellites unless there’s a clear view of the sky. I suspect the aluminum skin (and fiberglas panels and insulation and everything else inside an airplane) is blocking your phone’s view of the satellites.
I’m not too surprised. Satellites move. And pretty quickly. Which is why when you’re standing still on the ground, you need to slowly move your device in order to keep the antennas properly lined up.
Combine this with being on an airplane cruising at 500-600 MPH, and I don’t think it is possible for a hand-held device to track a satellite well enough to be able to transmit a packet to it.
Satellite phone systems built-in to commercial aircraft can work because there’s specialized hardware and software designed to locate, connect to and track satellites. A human being trying to aim a phone with his hands just isn’t going to have the precision necessary to make that connection happen from a moving plane.
I’m pretty impressed that the iPad Pilot News article could make a connection at all (however unreliable) from a Cesna 182 (top speed 170 MPH).
