Late last year, we expanded the Measuring Broadband America program to include mobile broadband measurement, and released our first FCC Speed Test app for Android smartphones. Mobile broadband services are increasingly important to consumers, and this was an exciting first step in our program.
Today we are very pleased to announce that the FCC Speed Test App for iPhone is available for download, further extending our program.
The FCC Speed Test app for iPhone uses the same interface and technologies as our Android app, delivering you useful information about your broadband performance and, like the Android app, is ad free. After reviewing and agreeing to the privacy policy and terms of use, understanding mobile performance on your iPhone is as easy as clicking “Run now” to start testing your performance.
While we believe the app is useful in informing you regarding your phone’s performance, by downloading the app you are also supporting our open broadband data program, contributing to the information we make freely available to the public on the nation’s mobile broadband performance
There are some differences from our Android app. Because the iOS app cannot run periodically in the background, you will need to run tests manually to test your cellular and Wi-Fi network. The kinds of information you can see about your cellular modem performance, like signal strength and the type of connection, are also more limited.
One thing will always remain the same, however – our deep commitment to protecting your privacy. No personal or uniquely identifiable information is collected. We will also review and process data collected through the app before using it to inform the public about broadband performance in our mapping and visualizations, report, or in dataset that we release to support other research in the area.
The information you do provide from testing your mobile performance will help inform everyone about the quality of broadband performance in your area. You can download today and help support this Open Data effort and fact-based decision-making for broadband policy in the U.S.
