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Hi,
When using WiFi, and having cellular data turned off, some apps don't seem to be able to use the internet connection.
For example, my 2 RSS readers I have installed don't work. Probably other apps too.
Is this intended, or a bug?
Also I noticed this: again having WiFi on, cellular data off, when my phone is 'off' (locked/screen off), I think WiFi also turns off? Because when unlocking, I notice it is not downloading mails or updating other things. When I unlock it then it does receive the data when next scheduled.
Again: is this intended, or a bug?
Both things are really too bad, and don't make sense to me. When I'm home, or abroad, I really don't want to have my cellular data turned on. When I'm home I don't see the need, and want to safe my data bundle; when abroad I don't have it turned on because of the insanse prices you pay for data usage.
=7
the first, i haven't really noticed. does it happen to all third party apps? well for starters use the facebook app (not really third party as it's made by MS, but still should be the same) and see if that works over wifi only. if so, try a 3rd party app like shazam. if that works as well, then it's probably an issue with those particular apps and maybe you could get in contact with the developers and inform them of the issue.
the second, if you're not connected your phone to power source (ie charging it), it automatically disables the wifi on standby so it doesn't completely flatten your battery within a couple of hours. hence why you would be seeing this issue.
to be honest though, having data connection on whilst phone is in standby uses very little data as only the live tiles and email checks are done. and they're all quite minimal. but if you've got a dodgy company like i do (yes you are vodafone), where they charge minimum 50KB per session (how do i measure a session? twits...), then yea it can still rack up quite a bit even though the phone uses minimal data bandwidth in polling for info.
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.
Few days ago I installed the new Kernel that fixes the network counters from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1468626 (thanks to ardatdat).
Immediately I noticed that the traffic is counting up way too quickly. I looked at my bills to see if this is new, and realized that since I got the phone, my monthly traffic was consistently at 200-400MB per month, even though I can explain maybe 30MB per month (I have access to wifi pretty much anywhere I go).
So, started digging. In the last 3 days there's been 25MB down and 50MB up. With all the testing I was doing, I can explain maybe 10 down and 5 up. So, using the TrafficCounter app, I found that a system app called "Task Manager" is responsible for the traffic (attached screencap displays traffic over 4 hours).
It doesn't slowly count up. Instead, it will stay at the same mark, then all of a sudden change by 2.2MB. Every time. So it looks like it packages something and sends it off. The most interesting thing? It only does it when on 3G. If I'm connected to WIFI, it's silent. Like it doesn't want me to see what it's doing.
So, installed Shark, and made a traffic capture. I was able to capture the outgoing SSL stream that was exactly 2.18MB. Destination IP 74.125.226.65 resolves to yyz06s07-in-f1.1e100.net. Browsing there gives google's front page......
Checked the TCP stream, right before the transfer, there's a DNS lookup for android.clients.google.com, which responds with that IP address.
Checking SSL Cert gives me *.google.com cert. Same one as for all of their sites
So it turns out every 3 or so hours there's a 2.2MB transfer from my phone to the google servers via encrypted channel.
Looking further, my wife's and my mother's androids are showing just as much data on their bills, they got Nexus S and Galaxy S. While I can see my wife using so much data, it's doubtful my mom has even figured out how to consume so much traffic.
Anyone else notice this?
What is the purpose of it? If it's legitimate, how can they justify using so much of my limited monthly bandwidth?
You've checked the "keep my phone backed up to my google account" button on setup. You can re-run the setup to uncheck that option, but until then it'll continue to send those big packages, and it prefers the 3G connection. I've taken to leaving my WIFI on and connected at all times. With a measly 200MB/month plan (AT&T can blow me for un-grandfathering my unlimited data), a 15MB backup nightly was killing me...
L4T
If it is the sync feature using all this data, you can disable the automatic sync from Settings > Accounts and Sync. It doesn't appear there's any way to tell it to only sync on Wifi, but I'm sure most of the data monitoring apps out there can stop apps from using mobile data. Onavo, for instance, claims to have this feature, but I haven't had cause to use it yet.
Lookin4Trouble said:
You've checked the "keep my phone backed up to my google account" button on setup. You can re-run the setup to uncheck that option, but until then it'll continue to send those big packages, and it prefers the 3G connection. I've taken to leaving my WIFI on and connected at all times. With a measly 200MB/month plan (AT&T can blow me for un-grandfathering my unlimited data), a 15MB backup nightly was killing me...
L4T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that was it! Didn't expect that setting there. It's upsetting that there's no way to configure that feature - such as how often to send data, to only send incrementals, or such an advanced setting as upload only when connected to WIFI.
Problem with leaving wifi on all the time is the fact that it eats battery a lot. If my wifi is on all the time, the battery life is about 40% shorter
kvantum said:
Thanks, that was it! Didn't expect that setting there. It's upsetting that there's no way to configure that feature - such as how often to send data, to only send incrementals, or such an advanced setting as upload only when connected to WIFI.
Problem with leaving wifi on all the time is the fact that it eats battery a lot. If my wifi is on all the time, the battery life is about 40% shorter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, could you append [SOLVED] to your original post?
Thanks
L4T
I wanted to post a quick FYI for people that live or work in areas of weak signal, and therefore have crappy battery performance. I've been battling this for a long time and I finally nailed down some good, simple, reasonable solutions that will greatly extend your battery life.
The problem: A very weak signal means extremely slow data, if not a complete halt. We have all kinds of crap on our phones that utilize mobile data, even while the phone is lying on the desk doing nothing. You don't see it or know it. But it's doing it. Every time it tries to connect and do something, the phones in wakelock, not sleeping. With a strong signal, or wifi, these things happen very quickly and cause very little wakelock. However, with a crap signal, it basically becomes a never-ending task. Your phone can be in wakelock nearly 100% of the time while it stupidly tried to do something it will never be able to accomplish. Your google account alone has 19 different things it tries to sync. Then there is facebook. Exchange email. Dropbox, etc etc etc. Then there is NETWORK LOCATION! The phone tries to figure out it's location using the cell network. Since your signal sucks, it basically spends all day trying to do this. Even if you turn off sync, network location will still keep it awake trying in vein.
First I'll address network location since it is the easiest and shortest. This again is the phone using the cell network to triangulate a location rather than using GPS. The only way to resolve this is to turn it off and reboot the phone after doing so. In my experience, turning the checkbox off doesn't take effect until you reboot the phone. Settings > Location > Use Wireless Networks. Uncheck that. You can leave the GPS enabled. You can leave the Google Location enabled, unless you don't want google maps to work. This is not a setting that you can turn on and off with tasker. Sorry. And even if you could, it still requires a reboot to be reliable. So since network location is useless to me (duh, that's what the GPS is for), I elected to just turn it off and leave it off.
Now, how do we reduce or eliminate the phone trying to endlessly sync a billion different things that are impractical to sync with a weak signal? Three ways.
1. Just turn off sync. Pretty simple. Nothing will sync in the background anymore. If you open your email and manually refresh it, it will sync. But you will not get any push communication from any of those accounts configured to background sync. For some, this may be fine. I can't do that because I need to at least get my e-mail and calendar push notifications.
2. Use tasker to turn sync on and off. This is basically taking #1 and automating it. You can use any criteria you want to turn the sync on and off. Schedule it based on day/time for example. Or maybe tell it to only use sync while you're on wifi. Up to you.
3. This is what I did and I love it. Go to the play store and buy the "Synker". This is an app and tasker plugin. The tasker plugin will allow you to individually control every account's sync state. Where as #1 and #2 are global, all sync on/off. This allows you to pick and choose what you turn on and off. I configured mine to only enable sync on my gmail, calendar, keep, and tasks while I am not on a WiFi network. I need those things all day, every day. And the amount of data they sync is very very minimal. So I found it has very very little wakelock even with the weak signal. When I am connected to a WiFi network, I have it turn on most of the other account sync stats. Things like app data, contacts, photos, etc. You know, the other 15 things it does that are data hogs.
My results... Before, my phone would be dead after about 4-6 hours of sitting idle on my desk at work. After making these configuration changes, I still have 30% left after 10 hours. Success.
Using ifconfig Android to enable or disable a network device will effectively control it's powered state. I know this because I am an advanced Linux user. The basic function of ifconfig is the same between devices/architectures, and since all Android devices are based on Linux, i see no reason why this cannot be done.
Currently, when you shut off your wifi or mobile data, its never really off. To confirm this, I shut off my wifi, turned my phone to airplane mode to make sure I wasn't connected, but when I arrived home again later, I still received a couple of new messages from my yahoo mail and kik. My first though was "... The heck?" I knew I wasn't supposed to be able to receive anything. I even had autosync turned off also for good measure. I couldn't explain it at first... Upon checking the timestamp, it revealed to me that I received the notifications the exact moment I arrived home, but the original Sent time from the source is when I was not home. Remember, all data was turned off by me and I did not receive anything the entire time i was out. (airplane mode, and i have no active phone service)
I double-checked and surely enough, my settings were still all off according to what I could see and verify. That tells me it's not really off and it knew I was home and connected to wifi anyway briefly, even though I had it off. That tells me that even though I turned off the wifi and mobile data and set the advanced settings to never "always allow scanning even while turned off" for location services, its STILL on!! Unacceptable. Deceitful. Wrong. When I tell it to turn off I expect it to stay off, dang it...
Talk about unexpected battery drain. Imagine being comfortable in knowing you've shut off all these things, to then find out later that these settings are present just to trick you in to letting your guard down! The question is, why would Google put in place these settings if only to be overridden anyway? There is no reason except their own sneaky one.
My goal here is to recruit someone to build an app or widget for rooted users to physically disable the device via push-button widget or app, not just disassociate from any given wifi AP or mobile data service. (wifi_dassoc kernel command) Anyone with some spare time and knowledge of Android programming and use of ifconfig is welcome. I welcome more than one person also. A team even... Haha. You guys converse and figure it out. I'll be watching, and Thanks! Hope you find this to your liking and interest.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Free mobile app