Project Fi is Now Google Fi and Works with iPhones and Android Devices
Starting today, Project Fi is available on the majority of Android devices and iPhones, and it is renamed Google Fi.
This means that now, you can sign up for Fi with popular Android phones (including many Samsung, LG, Moto and OnePlus devices) and with iPhones (in beta). Since this is the first time Google Fi is available for iPhones, there are a few extra steps to get set up in the Google Fi iOS app. No matter what phone you use with Fi, you’ll get Fi features like reliable coverage, easy group plans, and high speed international data coverage for the same rates you pay at home. Plus, as always with Fi, there are no contracts and zero hidden fees.
Some plan features will depend on the Android or iOS device you use. So if you’re looking for the full Google Fi experience, including Fi’s technology to switch between multiple cellular networks, you can use a phone designed for Fi—like the Pixel 3, Moto G6, and any other phone available on the Google Fi website. These phones include special hardware and software to move effortlessly between Google Fi’s networks and provide you with even more security and reliability through Fi’s new network feature.
Google Fi is an MVNO, which stands for “mobile virtual network operator.” Provided that Google doesn't own any of the cell towers it is using for service, it buys access from the big cellular companies and resells it to its customers. What makes Google Fi unique is that Google licenses service from multiple cellular companies and bundles them together—specifically, using Google Fi in the US means your device will combine the T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular networks and will jump among them as needed. However, only a few phones (like the Pixels and others that Google sells) are able to dynamically switch between those carriers’ networks.
Whatever network you’re technically on, Google allows people with phones running Android 9 Pie to route their data through its own VPN.
Fi costs $20 for a phone line and $10 per gig of data you use — capped at $60 under a newer program Google calls “Bill Protection.” You can get a data-only SIM, which costs no additional money per month beyond the data you use it on it.
Google is also offering you some gifts. Today only, whether you’re new to Fi or already a subscriber, when you buy a phone from Google Fi, you’ll receive the same value back in your choice of travel gift cards, which you can spend on flights with Delta and Southwest or lodging with Airbnb and hotels.com. Alternatively, if you’d rather set up Google Fi on your current phone, you’ll earn $200 of Fi service credit when you sign up today.