If you head to a remote area where cellular coverage is not reaching, you know the feeling of this anxiety when your communication slam stops. T-Mobile's new $10 per month satellite text messaging service, T-Satellite, is now online today, and it takes a different approach from other satellite services, providing mobile access even in a million square miles of wireless wireless death zones in the U.S.
For testing, I drove from Seattle for nearly 3 hours until my phone bar abandoned me, giving me the opportunity to see how easy it is to text using the T-Satellite satellite as it is to day-to-day cellular texting.
Watch the following: Start with T-Satellite Services at T-Mobile
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How is T-satellite different from other satellite services?
Satellite texting is important now: Wireless providers and phone manufacturers, including Apple, bet that satellite connectivity is the answer to travelers and people living in remote areas (even those affected by emergencies, such as massive flooding in Texas).
It's not new either. Apple began providing SOS communications powered by Globalstar on iPhone 14. Later, when you are outside the covered area, this allows for emergency texting – this is a literal lifeguard for people injured, lost or stranded in remote areas. This feature also allows you to share your location by finding satellites in my app. Apple then expanded its services to include any text messages using the messaging app and called for roadside assistance. CNET's David Lumb texted friends via satellite on his iPhone 15 Pro and shared his thoughts as he reached the top of Haleakalā peak on the Hawaii hills.
Google's Pixel 9 phone has similar features, except for the Pixel 9a that is used with satellite provider Skylo. Samsung Galaxy phones, like the recently released Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, can also use Verizon for satellite text messages and contact emergency services via Skylo.
However, this communication involves several steps to activate the function. You need to enjoy the view of the sky outdoors – no trees or buildings – and point your phone to the delivered satellite and stay stable to stay connected.
With T-satellite, the experience is very different. Sending texts is almost no different from when you are within cellular coverage. On the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with T-Mobile plan, the Open Message app shows the phone that is already connected to the satellite and read “You are a satellite's messaging.” A small satellite icon appears in the menu bar with a radiation curve to indicate the status of the connection.
The phone is automatically connected to the T-Satellite network as shown in its (Youth) status icon.
This is partly due to the fact that over 650 Starlink satellites now offer wider coverage overhead, and also because they use bands that are compatible with most phones in the past four years. You don't need a specific phone model with satellite messages, such as the Motorola Razr Ultra.
My experience setting up a T-satellite on my iPhone 16 Pro is usually the same. One unique thing about T-Satellite is that even if T-Mobile uses another carrier for cellular services, T-Mobile provides services to anyone. In my case, I set up the T-Satellite Beta using the second ESIM slot on my phone and turned off the main service (AT&T) so that I can only test the functionality of T-Mobile. A black satellite icon appears in the menu bar.
I should note that I did this test a few days before T-Satellite went live, so technically this is the technology during T-satellite beta and using the beta version of the Messages app on Android.
Also, I'm not trying to make an emergency call, which on the T-Satellite service means dialing 911 in the phone app instead of starting SOS text communication using Apple's service.
Send text messages, but sometimes it's slow
Usually, texting through satellite is like texting through a cellular one. The data tubes between the cell phone and the satellites flying at 17,000 miles per hour are small, so sometimes text messages take seconds to complete. But sometimes conversations are conducted without any extension lag. By contrast, when CNET's Patrick Holland tested Apple's messages through satellite features, he noted: “Most sending is almost instantaneous, while others took 15 to 20 seconds, one minute more than one minute.”
One feature that Android is launched today is the ability to use a satellite network to send images, videos and audio files using a multimedia messaging service. On the Galaxy S25 Ultra, I took a picture of the lake and sent it with the message as usual. The only difference from satellites is that it takes about two and a half minutes to send.
On Android, you can even send photos over MMS via satellite connection. This feature is later on iOS.
However, MMS is currently only supported on Android; iOS support will be done later. Also arriving in the future – especially October – the application can send and receive data via satellite connections. T-Mobile references an example of a service-compatible application.
This will be a huge utilization of other mapping tools. Although this trip has never been lost, I entered a well-marked scenic spot for stunning views – I also pointed out the offline map of the area on Apple Maps, which I am still in cellular range.
Lingering questions and challenges
Not every message has passed, and after my limited tests, it would be helpful to be clearer in some areas.
For example, on Android, it is not always obvious when I lose the satellite connection. In theory, because of the overhead of many star-striped satellites, you don't have to worry about pointing to a specific sky to stay connected. But at some point after the message is sent, some of the text below says the application is waiting for a connection. Until then, I noticed that the small satellite icon showed thin gray bars instead of thin black bars.
Comparing it to Apple's implementation, it uses Dynamic Island to display an impossible-to-miss green status button to indicate a secure connection to the satellite. Or Google's SOS service with full-screen visual tips to help you stay connected to the satellite or connect to a new one if needed.
The famous green icon on the Dynamic Island indicates that there is a satellite connection when using Apple's satellite texting function. (The red icon shows that the screen is recording and has nothing to do with the connection.)
I also had some confusion with my iPhone 16 Pro as a minor ESIM iPhone 16 Pro. When trying to text a friend who was with me and using Apple's method on iPhone, I received a message saying he was connected via satellite and had the option to click Send via satellite. What I didn't realize at the time was that when I typed the text, the connection dropped. In further research, I found that an active third-party satellite connection shows “SAT” in the menu bar. When the SAT is replaced by the black satellite icon, this means that T-Satellite is no longer connected, but Apple's satellite options are available; I think that means I'm still connected.
Once, I was unable to text my friend, who was also using satellite access, even though it seemed to be connected (see the satellite icon in the menu bar). (The red button on the Dynamic Island shows that the screen is being recorded.)
Look up and move forward
Will satellite services cover the remaining dead zones and communicate easily even in remote areas? In my experience, potential certainly exists. It's less than two years since Apple first launched an emergency SOS with satellites on iPhones, and it's impressive how satellite connections have expanded so quickly with the ability to support texting. I thank the T-Satellite for implementing a way similar to how it communicates millions of people through text every day. Removing friction is the key to using such a technique.
With the capability and performance of a company building satellite services, it's easy to see that you don't have to think about how to get data soon, just like we've never considered which cellular tower is delivering our data at the moment.
As someone living in cellular saturated Seattle, I probably don’t need to rely on satellite data. But the cascade of the north is where I went camping for years, so I can see it useful occasionally, especially in emergencies.
As I was juggling my phone and tangling my friends and family with words, a couple approached and asked me what I was doing. They are visiting the area in a small northern Idaho town near the Canadian border, where cellular coverage is very small. After a few minutes of conversation, I realized that being able to connect wirelessly through satellites might be a real boon for them, especially in emergencies, but when there is no other form of communication, such as during power outages, daily annoyance.