Can You Turn Off The Starlink Feature On iPhone? Here's What You Need To Know

Living in an RV and hiking in Yellowstone National Park (or any other national park in the US, really) have one thing in common: at some point, you'll end up in an area with no cell service. This can be extremely frustrating, especially when you have no other way to reach people when an emergency happens. But lucky for you, worrying about non-existent signal bars is a thing of the past, thanks to direct-to-cell satellite services like the recently launched T-Mobile Starlink beta program.

T-Mobile Starlink connects your smartphone straight to a satellite, which acts as the cell tower and delivers your text for you. It also helps you receive messages just as easily. As long as you're outdoors and have an unobstructed view of the sky, you should have no trouble accessing the service.

When the T-Mobile Starlink beta was first introduced in late 2024, it only supported Samsung phones. Since the iOS 18.3 update in January 2025, though, other iPhone models are now compatible with it too.

But can you opt out of the service and turn off the Starlink feature on your iPhone if you choose not to use it? The short answer is yes, but in some cases, you might not even need to.

T-Mobile Starlink is essentially a backup service for when you're in a dead zone out of the range of traditional ground towers. It works with a large constellation of over 500 satellites, providing cell signals to anyone on any carrier in the continental US, southern Alaska, and Puerto Rico. All you need is a supported device, which, for iPhones, includes any of the 14, 15, and 16 series.

As of this writing, T-Mobile Starlink is limited to text (including messages to 911) and location sharing. Voice and data services are yet to be supported. Once you have access to the service, it works right out of the box — no apps or configurations required.

You'll know you're using T-Mobile Starlink if you see a SAT icon in the status bar, next to your signal bars. When you open the Control Center, there should also be a T-Mobile SpaceX label in the top-left. This, however, will only show up when you're in an area with no cell service. If your device can still connect to a ground cell tower, it will prioritize that instead and disconnect you from the satellites.

To use the service for sending normal text messages to your family and friends, simply open your messaging app and type away. The same goes for texting 911. Just make sure to input 911 as the recipient. To share your location, go to your conversation in the Messages app on your iPhone, tap the plus icon at the bottom, and choose Location. Then, press Send Pin.

T-Mobile Starlink will be running its beta phase until July 2025. It's completely free and open to anyone, regardless of what carrier they're using. Once you've been accepted into the beta trial, T-Mobile will notify you, and you can start enjoying the service in dead zones in the US.

Contrary to what other users say online, T-Mobile Starlink beta isn't automatically built into your iPhone. Simply updating to iOS 18.3 wouldn't add the service as a permanent feature. The software update only meant that it could now work on your device. Having said that, if you didn't register for the T-Mobile Starlink beta test or you weren't accepted, you don't need to turn off anything on your iPhone since the service isn't accessible to you in the first place.

The official launch in July is a different story, though. Once the beta trial ends, T-Mobile Starlink can only be accessed via a subscription plan. It will be offered as a free service for Go5G Next, which starts at $105 per month, and as an add-on for other T-Mobile plans for an extra $15 a month per line (there's Early Adopter Discount running until April 1 to get the add-on for only $10). Premium business plans like Go5G Business Next will include the service for free too. If you're on a non-T-Mobile carrier, the Starlink service costs $20 monthly.

Unless you're subscribed to T-Mobile's Go5G Next, you won't automatically have T-Mobile Starlink. That means there's no need to disable anything. But in case you do have a Go5G Next plan, here's what you need to do to turn off the Starlink feature on your iPhone:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap on Cellular.
3. Select T-Mobile (or your carrier name).
4. Switch off the toggle for Satellite.

This method can work if you're part of the T-Mobile Starlink beta as well. In case the Satellite toggle isn't available, reach out to T-Mobile for help. For add-on subscriptions, just cancel it from the T-Life App if you don't want to use it anymore.

T-Mobile Starlink isn't the only satellite service you can get on your iPhone. The device itself has a separate service all along. In 2022, Apple introduced its Emergency SOS via satellite feature. It's powered by the Globalstar network and lets users text emergency services and share their location via Find My while in dead zones. Then, in 2024, the tech giant expanded this feature to include general text messaging over satellite as part of the iOS 18 release. This time, users can start sending texts to family and friends as well.

Functionality-wise, Apple's Globalstar-powered satellite features and T-Mobile Starlink do the same thing: connect you to others when no cellular or Wi-Fi service is available. Both need a view of the clear sky to work, are compatible with the same iPhone models (iPhone 14 series and later), and are carrier-independent (meaning, the service is usable with whatever carrier you have).

If you have both services activated on your iPhone, you'll have access to both, so you won't need to pick one over the other. But by default, your device will use T-Mobile Starlink as the satellite connection when you're in a dead zone. It will only switch to the iPhone's satellite feature if you lose connection to the Starlink satellites.

While T-Mobile Starlink and iPhone's Globalstar features operate in the same fashion, there are some major differences between the two. For one, Apple's satellite services are built into the device, unlike T-Mobile Starlink. For the first two years of your iPhone's activation, the features are automatically available for free in a supported country, except if the device was bought from certain locations like China, Belarus, and Armenia.

At the moment, T-Mobile's direct-to-cell satellite service covers only the US. Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite, on the other hand, works in 17 countries, including the US, the UK, Japan, and New Zealand. Messages via satellite is limited to the US and Canada, though.

Just like on T-Mobile Starlink, you don't have to configure anything to send texts via the Globalstar satellites on your iPhone. But to use some of the functionalities, there are additional setups required before you go off-grid. This includes adding contacts to the Family Sharing group and activating iMessage.

In terms of hardware, T-Mobile and Apple have a wide gap. Globalstar's satellite constellation is made up of only fewer than 50 units. T-Mobile Starlink has a bigger network with over 500. This can make the connection faster and more stable. Actual performance, of course, will still depend on where you are and how many other people are using the service.