Develop Bugs

Whats using data?

Hi Folks,
Just checking my data balance with my operator.. and its showing i am using on average 12 megs per day... seems a little high as i'm on wi-fi at home..
does synching with yahoo mail eat a lot of data? i sync news reader subs on the wifi ini the morning.. and only use browsing a little on the phone.. nothing major..
does google maps use a lot of data?
Just seem a little high.. my current data plan offer 250 megs a month.. so might be a little low!
Cheers,
Mick

Ive noticed this as well. I think it has something to do with google maps. According to my data usage program I have uploaded 15mb and downloaded 5mb today. What on earth is doing all the uploading and why?

i assume this is because of the my location service
if you have this enabled you agree that the service can withdraw these details at any time during the day.
try disabling the my location service from the settings menu and try again.
especially if you have gps disabled in which case it will find your location based on your GSM which will use your phone's connection?
again it's just a theory but this definitely applied to my hD2

Its a shame nobody has written an app to show data usage per application. I`ve searched and found nothing

when you say "a little bit of browsing". it won't take many pages to add up to 12mb these days. on graphics heavy, or just badly made websites this could easily be as few as 10 pages!
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

Google maps only stores a limited amount of the map to it's cache and all the rest it pulls from your data bundle to update what you see on your screen. There are a few apps available with the maps downloadable to your SD card. These apps will remove the need for maps to cache if you use it.

I'm having a problem with something using data on my phone. I have the data counter widget and if I havent used wifi or 3g all day then turn one of them on it shows me as downloaded around 20kb. I disabled auto update on the weather and the set the download frequency in the mail app to manual. Can't think of anything else. Anyone got other suggestions?

Bet you've got Latitude enabled.

Whats latitude and how do you disable it?

The part of Maps that tells you where your buddies are and your buddies where you are.
If you don't know what it is, it's probably not enabled.
Open Maps, press menu and tap Latitude, menu again then privacy settings. You disable it there.

paulruk said:
Its a shame nobody has written an app to show data usage per application. I`ve searched and found nothing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try 'Spare Parts'. Whilst its doesn't exactly show this you can see Network usage under the battery section. It's by application but am not sure if its really network usage or just battery usage by network functions.

I would also be interested in such application. On my WinMo device I used SPB wireless monitor, which did the job very well.
I am using around 1MB of data per day (gmail-only emails-sync, weather sync 3 hours), but even if I disable everything, there are still some data transfers. This could be a problem when abroad...

slokii said:
This could be a problem when abroad...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
APNdroid...

This is freaking me out. I'm on Wi-fi practically all the time and have still used 80mb in three days!
My frequencies in terms of auto updates for Facebook etc are the same as on my previous hd2 but it didn't chew up anywhere like this amount.
Any ideas? Is it really Google location?
I can't believe that there hasn't been more talk about this. I have a corporate limit of 500mb per month.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

same here.. i switched tariffs yesterday to get a 1gb monthly limit..
you can turn off internet connection via mobile networks.. might be worth trying to save data.. also i'm using the opera web browser as it uses a lot less data.. also turn off background sync altogether.. wont stop your emails etc....
wonderstoat said:
This is freaking me out. I'm on Wi-fi practically all the time and have still used 80mb in three days!
My frequencies in terms of auto updates for Facebook etc are the same as on my previous hd2 but it didn't chew up anywhere like this amount.
Any ideas? Is it really Google location?
I can't believe that there hasn't been more talk about this. I have a corporate limit of 500mb per month.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

wonderstoat said:
This is freaking me out. I'm on Wi-fi practically all the time and have still used 80mb in three days!
My frequencies in terms of auto updates for Facebook etc are the same as on my previous hd2 but it didn't chew up anywhere like this amount.
Any ideas? Is it really Google location?
I can't believe that there hasn't been more talk about this. I have a corporate limit of 500mb per month.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the phone goes into standby, by default it turns off WiFi and switches to cellular data. It's in the setup Wireless menus, there's options on when to do this, including never which means all network connectivity will cease when the phone is in standby, so no push email etc.

no, never means that the wifi never turns off and it will continue to use wifi when in standby.
however, if you have it set to 15 minutes, then yes the wifi will turn off and go back to cellular data.

wonderstoat said:
This is freaking me out. I'm on Wi-fi practically all the time and have still used 80mb in three days!
My frequencies in terms of auto updates for Facebook etc are the same as on my previous hd2 but it didn't chew up anywhere like this amount.
Any ideas? Is it really Google location?
I can't believe that there hasn't been more talk about this. I have a corporate limit of 500mb per month.
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd install 3gwatchdog (which monitors your data usage, excluding wifi), and then start quitting apps, making whatever changes you want to try and see what's causing it.

Thanks guys, I already had Wi-fi sleep set to 'never'.
Ok today I have no Wi-fi and up to 1600 I have used over 30mb.
These are the apps I believe are drawing data down (28mb is data in).
BBC headlines widget, set to 2hrs
Guardian app, only downloads on Wi-fi
Facebook 2 hrs
Twitter 2 hrs
Google location - allow wireless location
Email for both corporate and hotmail accounts.
I can't think of anything else. This is all consistent with my hd2 but it was using far less. I can't believe there isn't an app that can slice it by app.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

slokii said:
I would also be interested in such application. On my WinMo device I used SPB wireless monitor, which did the job very well.
I am using around 1MB of data per day (gmail-only emails-sync, weather sync 3 hours), but even if I disable everything, there are still some data transfers. This could be a problem when abroad...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By default, data when roaming is disabled so this should not be an issue unless you are like me where I am roaming from the second I walk out of the office door so need to have this enabled. I must remember to turn this off when I get on a plane

3G Watchdog

You all have no problems with this app?
For me it shows a lot less have been downloaded than it actually was.
Example:
app shows 400MB, but on my providers page it shows 600MB has been downloaded this month!
I need a nice widget that shows correct 3G download numbers!

A number of factors can effect the readings and monitoring of your device.
When did you install can effect the reading as you might have been downloading prior to installation.
Incorrect date setting with regards to when your monthly data download starts.
Not running. If you tend to kill applications you might have killed watchdog by accident so was not running at the time you were downloading.
I think some kill applications allow for you to add other applications to an exemption list, applications you don't want to kill. You might need to check these settings.
Hope this helps you solve your data miss match.

yani2000 said:
You all have no problems with this app?
For me it shows a lot less have been downloaded than it actually was.
Example:
app shows 400MB, but on my providers page it shows 600MB has been downloaded this month!
I need a nice widget that shows correct 3G download numbers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the "month" of your provider, is not usually the "month" that you have in mind.
they go by your billing cycle
so reset your data count to match the next billing cycle

I'm using Automatic Task Killer and I've also double checked that 3G Watchdog isn't starred.
The moment I installed 3G Watchdog I've also set "Last started on" to 1st July 2010.
Now, I have corrected my quota under: Menu->Set quota Counters... to reflect my providers data and will see how it will go through.
Thx for all your replies!

yani2000 said:
Now, I have corrected my quota under: Menu->Set quota Counters... to reflect my providers data and will see how it will go through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankyou for sharing this information. I didn't know that myself.

I'm back to inform you all that 3G Watchdog is still off target!
First it showed 20MB less now it shows 40MB less.
First I thought that it doesn't count 2G, but I double checked and saw that in fact it did took 2G data into account.
Now I'm leaning towards that my network provider is cheating or something.

Does your provider count your network traffic exactly like 3g watchdog or e.g. 100kb-parts...that would have an impact!

Does any one know how to find out if your provider counts the data in blocks?

Send them an e-mail and ask them.

Is there an alternative to 3g watchdog it is definitely not calculating my usage correctly and this could potantially be very costly for me, unfortunately an unlimited data plan in this recession hit country is like everything else way too expensive so i just pay 69 cents a day for 50MB and if i go over than (which i have done before) they charge you a fortune which is why i use 3g watchdog which incidentally used to run fine on my old HD2 but since ive got the GS2 it's been constanly wrong if i send a text to check my balance which ive just done i can see ive used 41.69MB so far today yet 3g watchdog tells me ive only used 20.69 that is over half so imagine i forgot to send a text to get my balance and just keep surfing the net,suddendly i discover all my credit is eaten up, Meteor don't care they aint in the business of warning people who go over their 50MB daily limit which is why it's imperative i have the correct usuage.
Sorry for the long post but you can see my prediament.

Try Dodol phone usage. In settings, make sure the refresh time is 1 minute (which should be the default value).

Hi!
Yes, I see 3G Watchdog had some problems:
Overview:
* KNOWN PROBLEMS:
- [June 2011] Inaccuracy reported on Samsung with Gingerbread 2.3.3. Might be solved in 3GW 0.28.2 with the new option to use the old counting interface.
What's new:
Fixed accuracy problems on some Samsung phones with Gingerbread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope the updated version helped!

[Q] Use data only when I ask for it, not behind my back

I have all sorts of auto-sync, auto-update etc. features switched OFF. My mail, contacts, and calendar only sync when I tap on sync, I've disabled auto-updating in every app on my phone, I've unchecked "auto system update", "background data" is switched off, etcetera. To cut a long story short: every available setting that disables automatic use of data has been applied.
But when I booted my Defy and left it sitting idle for a while it still downloaded almost a megabyte of data, even though I didn't touch my phone at all.
So I made a backup with Titanium and MyBackup Root, reset my phone to factory state, went into the settings again to disable all user-configurable ways of automatic data use, and rebooted.
And then my phone auto-downloaded 0.7 MB for reasons unknown.
I don't care about a bit of data when I'm in my home network where I have an unlimited data plan, but if I would have been roaming abroad this unsollicited data could have cost me 10 euros or more. International data roaming is horribly expensive.
I could use the sledgehammer approach and disable data completely to avoid unwanted data roaming charges, but this would also disable data traffic that I'm willing to pay for (like manually checking my mail). So I need something more sophisticated than a sledgehammer.
Tools available:
1) DroidWall
2) Titanium (with the "freeze" option)
3) AdFree
Question: which apps and services should I block/freeze to ensure that my phone only uses data when I tell it to, and to make sure that it never ever downloads a single byte of data behind my back?
If DroidWall, Titanium, and AdFree are not enough, which other apps give me full control over which apps and services can use data?

Give juicedefender a try
Sent from my MB611 using XDA Premium App

ApnDroid, but kills all data by rewriting APNs. I use it all the time. You can still use wifi, text and call and, if you choose, use MMS. Otherwise...?

I'm curious as to what is taking your data. When I disable the data connections, I don't use a single byte of data. Even with data enabled but background data disabled, I don't use any data.
I know you asked for an app to kill the data...but I think it's best if you can find the culprit...sounds like either your deactivation of the data isn't working, or you have some nasty app that could be overriding the setting and still downloading data (I'm thinking the first)...
For starters, which rom are you using?

Juice Defender and ApnDroid are both sledgehammers that switch data 100% on or 100% off.
I'm looking an app that let's me control data per individual app and service, so that when I fire up my email program it can download my mail without letting other apps/services hitch a ride on the open data connection.
@darule_2011:
I don't believe something nasty is eating up my data, because my phone is hungry for data even after a factory reset without any 3rd party apps installed.
I'm using firmware version 2.1-update1, which came with the phone straight out of the box. I doubt Motorola would have pre-installed malware, unless we count Motoblur as malware.
On my old Nokia, each and every app could only go online after asking me for permission first. No permission, then no data. Not even a single byte. And it was up to me to choose between "ask me once" or "ask me every time."
Is there an app that forces Android to do the same?

rogier666 said:
Juice Defender and ApnDroid are both sledgehammers that switch data 100% on or 100% off.
I'm looking an app that let's me control data per individual app and service, so that when I fire up my email program it can download my mail without letting other apps/services hitch a ride on the open data connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understood. Can't see how that can work. If your data is on, everything that wants it is going to jump on it.

darule_2011 said:
sounds like either your deactivation of the data isn't working, or you have some nasty app that could be overriding the setting and still downloading data (I'm thinking the first)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there an app that logs which app connects when and to what? The data meter in Android's built-in data manager is completely useless, and DroidStats counts the amount of data used but doesn't tell which app was using it.

Droidwall has a log function for blocked apps.
Sent from my MB525

I told DroidWall to block internet access for "MotoBlur Services" (I don't even have a MotoBlur account), and now the amount of unsollicited traffic is down to about 40 kb in the 30 minutes since rebooting my phone.
So it looks like I found the stowaway. Motorola tries to keep my phone hungry for data even though I never signed up for MotoBlur.
DroidWall's log told me it blocked some unsollicited packets from GO Launcher EX, so at least my firewall is doing its job. (Why would a launcher need to go online if you don't enable anything internet-related in its settings?)
Unfortunately DroidWall only logs what it blocks. It doesn't log traffic that it allows, so I can only guess about those 40 kb. Maybe even an unused data connection needs to talk a bit to stay alive?

You may also use AutoStarts to disable applications running automatically on background when specific events happen.

DroidStats has the possibility to watch for which app consumes data. Not only total amount. It is integrated in the donation-addon

There's an app to tell which programs and services been using data and how much, and it's on your phone already. It's way more informative than the disfunctional data meter in the data manager menu.
Dial *#*#4636#*#* (the 4636 part spells "info" on the dialpad) to launch an app called "Testing." Then hit "battery history->network usage->total since boot." It doesn't count the bytes of data that are pingponged back and forth to keep an idle connection alive, but it monitors everything else.
You can make a shortcut to "Testing" with Any Cut.
First offender: MotoBlur. Even without a MotoBlur account and every possible autosync option disabled the MotoBlur Service eats data. I blocked it with DroidWall so now it doesn't phone home anymore.
Second offender: GO Launcher EX. I also blocked it with DroidWall, because a launcher doesn't have to talk to the world outside my phone.
Third offender: An all-in-one package that's shared by GMail Storage, Google Apps, Google Search, Google Settings Provider, Google Talk Service, Google Talk Storage, and com.google.android.syncadapters.contacts. Doesn't matter if you tell your settings menus not to call Google behind your back, 'cos Big Brother doesn't listen unless you ram the message home.
Fourth offender: WinAmp. Play an mp3 from your local SD card and WinAmp still tries to go online to do things, even with scrobbling etc disabled. It probably sends out usage statistics without asking for permission first.
Fifth offender: NQmobile Anti-virus. Even if you disable all automatic connections in the settings the program phones home anyway. Most of the traffic is outgoing, so apparently it's collecting hundreds of kilobytes worth of usage statistics, even if you're not installing new apps or doing manual scans. A day of launching offline apps can easily make NQ burn a full megabyte of data where it shouldn't have been using any.
Sixth, seventh, etc. offenders: apps that go online for the sole purpose of downloading ads. All DroidWalled, of course. I'm not gonna pay international data charges to see the junk from AdMob.
I've firewalled MotoBlur, GO Launcher EX and the Google package away from the web and everything on my phone still works. Even Google Search can live without the all-in-one service, because it sends the search queries to the web browser. I guess it only needs to go online for web suggestions, which I don't use anyway. The Google Talk app is dead, but I never use it because fring and Nimbuzz are much better and they only go online after I tell them to do so. But just leave it to Google to make GoogleTalk dependent on a piece of code that phones home even when you're not using GoogleTalk.
But DroidWall is not a convenient way to tame NQmobile (NetQin), because then I'd have to manually unblock it everytime I want to update the virus database. Is there another antivirus app that only goes online when I tell it to instead of calling home on its own?

ABC_Universal said:
You may also use AutoStarts to disable applications running automatically on background when specific events happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They'll probably just restart and in the end you will slow down your phone and drain your battery as you go through the kill-restart cycle.

scrannel said:
They'll probably just restart and in the end you will slow down your phone and drain your battery as you go through the kill-restart cycle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Freezing 'em with Titanium makes more sense.
But those are all workarounds, not solutions. As Android matures we should get an option to control the data behaviour of each and every app in full detail. If other operating systems can do it, why shouldn't Android be able to do the same?
If you think about it, it's totally ridiculous that you need to root your phone and jump through hoops to make sure that your phone bill doesn't explode when you set foot across the border. Didn't the inventors of Android ever hear of international data roaming rates?

Thanks for the useful info. I use Go Launcher too. I wondered how they moneterised their apps - probably collecting/selling usage stats.
Is roaming data being used even without the option checked?

When the G1 came out those of us who travel soon found out that certain apps would over-ride the option to prevent data roaming, thus programs like apndroid.

rogier666 said:
If other operating systems can do it, why shouldn't Android be able to do the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because that's not how it's designed to operate.
Pu simply, you've picked the wrong OS for your needs.
That's hardly Google's fault.

rogier666 said:
Is there another antivirus app that only goes online when I tell it to instead of calling home on its own?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Lookout - that's what I use and it only updates when you allow it too (at least mine does).
What do you think about flashing a blurless rom? There is a barebones rom in the dev section (haven't tried that one yet), this will allow you to add back in apps that only you want...this might do the trick. I'm using Pays rom and loving it.

Thanx darule_. Lookout indeed doesn't phone home behind my back, even with automatic scanning enabled and a couple of new apps scanned.
Over two hours since last boot and not a single app has squeezed a byte through my open data connection without my permission. Looks like I've got Android tamed and fit to travel.

All I can say is, all the contemporary smartphone OS use background data stupendously.
Shut down data roaming if you don't want a hefty bill.

Holy Crap (data usage)!

Before i bought my Omnia, i knew i'll have to switch my subscription model, but i did not know data usage would be this extreme..
problem is, i can't connect to my home wifi until i buy another router (i can't set up pppoe on my current one).
i downloaded some applications, checked out maps and stuff, nothing to special. it generated 10euros on top of my monthly subscription in one day.
Will 500mb data be enough if i manage to fix this home wifi issue, if i download apps exclusively on laptop and refrain from using maps?

I have a 1GB plan and WiFi at home and all around the office, and even so I use about 600MB of data out of my plan.

You didn't mention which apps you downloaded, but some of them are very large (over 10 MB). If you install apps on your phone, you can see the approximate size at the bottom of the description page.
Ironically, if you try to install an app that is over about 20 MB on your phone, it will pause the download until you connect to a WiFi or USB/Zune network connection.

I typically use about 2 gbs a month on my phone, however I think most of that comes from YouTube videos and audio streaming. (Last.FM and Zune Pass)

Quick pro tip; when you download applications + updates, connect your phone to your computer using the USB. (thats if you have a valid internet connection)
As for your PPPOE issue, if you wish, I may be able to help over teamviewer, I am a qualified network specialist with a network+ certification.
But anyway, second month I had my HD7, I didn't use wi-fi for a whole month and only used 427MB.

is there any way to calculate data usage on a WP7 without relying on the network?

I haven't seen anything, at least nothing that is available for all phones. I know that at least some carriers offer apps that allow you to see your current data usage for the month, but that is about it.

Data usage is high on WP7 because of cloud syncing i think.. everytime we take a pic, it auto updtes online, same for vedios(?) and contacts.. i love it..

Purple11 said:
Data usage is high on WP7 because of cloud syncing i think.. everytime we take a pic, it auto updtes online, same for vedios(?) and contacts.. i love it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No video upload until Mango. The picture upload to Skydrive can be turned off in camera settings.
Most of my data usage outside my home is for things like emails,twitter, foursquare, google reader so that's not a lot of data usage. I always wait until I'm back home to download an app (best done on PC and I'm back home everyday afterall) and I usually check YouTube on a PC unless it's for a quick search. Think carefully about what you should do over wifi and what is alright for 3G and you shouldn't have too many issues.

Same data plan, same cost but different os = ripoff from carriers
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Peew971 said:
No video upload until Mango. The picture upload to Skydrive can be turned off in camera settings.
Most of my data usage outside my home is for things like emails,twitter, foursquare, google reader so that's not a lot of data usage. I always wait until I'm back home to download an app (best done on PC and I'm back home everyday afterall) and I usually check YouTube on a PC unless it's for a quick search. Think carefully about what you should do over wifi and what is alright for 3G and you shouldn't have too many issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post how can we turn Skydrive off from camera setting?

Purple11 said:
Can you post how can we turn Skydrive off from camera setting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Settings>swipe right to applications>pictures + camera>"Auto upload to SkyDrive"

Erm i'm with 02 and I can go to wap.02.co.uk to see my data usage, maybe your network operator has a similar page.

[Q] Data Uage meter inconsistencies

I've got a fairly limited data plan, so I try to keep an eye on data usage.
The built-in 'Data Usage' meter is very useful, but it also show some inconsistencies. For example (see the attached image) yesterday it claimed that I used about 10Mb of data, but also no apps used data during this period.
The total data appears roughly consistent with what my operator says (Sunrise, Switzerland), but I'd like to know what application was responsible, so that I could disable it.
I'd love to run Wireshark, or something similar to see what's going on here, but I guess that's impossible on a non-rooted device.
Is this a known problem? Is there anything I can do to limit this behaviour?
Device details: Stock Galaxy Nexus, running 4.0.1.

I tried switching 'Mobile Data' off altogether, and that appears to stop the data flow.
As soon as I turn it back on, however, I'm up to about 1Mb/hour 'background' seepage, that doesn't show up as any specific app.
What is the normal background data rate for things like Google services?
I tried to 'reverse tether' the device so that I'd be able to sniff the data coming through my Linux computer, but apparently the device needs to be rooted for that to work. (Something to play with over the weekend...)

Bump
Does anyone have any ideas?

Try Network Counter from mapeapps in the Market. It provides a per app breakdown...

danger-rat said:
Try Network Counter from mapeapps in the Market. It provides a per app breakdown...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll try that!

i have a 500mb data plan and last month the network said i hit the limit whilst the phone said I'd only used 430mb. using 3g warchdog to monitor this month......