Why is my smartphone (Android) burning through my dataplan?
September 25, 2013 1:41 PM   Subscribe

I have a Samsung Galaxy for TMobile, with a fixed dataplan. Two months ago, my phone began burning through data. Can you help me figure out why?

When this started, I called TMobile but they were not able to pinpoint the spike in usage.

Since my plan is fixed, I keep a pretty close eye on my usage. I rarely use data outside the house, only if I need driving directions or absolutely need to check email, etc.

I know that apps and email will automatically download, and so data will get used passively. I'm clear on that concept. My settings indicate that any updates to apps should only be done on wifi, so that shouldn't be the culprit.

Otherwise, my data usage patterns have not changed at all. Actually, since this started, I have become even more conservative with my data usage when I am outside the house.

At home I make use of the wifi. I work from home 75% of the time, so I and my phone are not away from the wifi all that often.

I tried deleting all (8-10) of the apps that I'd downloaded on the phone, and reinstalled the 4 that I use most often.

I have unsubscribed to every junk email that I get, so I currently receive maybe 20% of the email that I was receiving before this started.

Currently I am less than 10 days into my billing cycle, and my usage is again at nearly 60% of my total available data. Prior to a couple of months ago, it was rare for me to use 25% of my given total data allotment per week of the billing cycle, often resulting in my not using more than 60-70% of my allotment over the course of the entire billing cycle.

Is it my phone? I'm willing to consider an upgrade if that's the issue, but I am having a hard time believing that it is.

Or is this a conspiracy? This started a month before my contract ended. Is TMobile doing something sneaky with my data in order to convice me to sign up for a new contract with unlimited data (at a more expensive rate)?
posted by vignettist to Technology (16 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Have you tried an app that tracks the data usage by program? Here's a list.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 1:45 PM on September 25, 2013 [3 favorites]


What's your quota?
posted by Oktober at 1:49 PM on September 25, 2013


Is your phone trying to update itself? My friend was having a similar problem where it was using a lot of her data trying to update to the newest version of Android (but she didn't want to update it).
posted by QueenHawkeye at 1:51 PM on September 25, 2013


My Android phone is set only to update over WiFi, and to only auto-upload photos over WiFi. I keep the 4G data receiver off most of the time.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:52 PM on September 25, 2013


Did your WiFi connection go down for any length of time without your noticing it? I had that problem once. I didn't realize that my phone was defaulting to cellular data since the WiFi was out and I really plowed through some data.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:00 PM on September 25, 2013


Android phones with version 4.0 and newer can track what apps are using data (it's under Settings - Usage). You can also set a data limit, and when you do that you can limit the data usage of apps and (more importantly) end "Background Data" usage.

IME the Facebook App is the worst offender for background usage. I am talking dozens of megabytes a month.

If your phone doesn't have this usage tracker pre-installed, I would get one.
posted by muddgirl at 2:05 PM on September 25, 2013 [2 favorites]


This ia a known problem with the Galaxy, you can google it and find tons of people with the same issue. Mine often says its on wifi but downloads everything over data.. Ive tracked data usage using Onovo and a couple other apps but they dont track it very well. Mostly the usage is the ambigiously named "google services" and sometimes "streaming media", which is distinct from apps like youtube or pandora and no one knows what it means.. Lots of people online with the same issue, the Galaxy 3 does this too.

The Android updates have consistently downloaded to my phone using my data plan despite it being set to wifi only and being connected to a wifi network. My carrier has, replaced the handset twice in the past 6 months which they claim is the only fix. So im averaging about 3 months before the phone starts using half a gig of data every 24 hours, even when on wifi. Awesome..
posted by fshgrl at 2:20 PM on September 25, 2013


If you can't track it down, you might try going into airplane mode and then turning wifi on to force wifi-only data usage when you are home.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:24 PM on September 25, 2013 [1 favorite]


Btw, if you're on TMobile disable the Caller ID App in the Application Manager. That app will definitely cause data usage while you're on wifi.
posted by fshgrl at 2:31 PM on September 25, 2013


Any chance you're subscribed to a video podcast or something? My podcasts sometimes update automatically.
posted by amtho at 2:48 PM on September 25, 2013


I noticed my data rate went up when I frequented blogs where users put up a lot of animated GIFs, and it took me a while to make that connection. I'd either turn off images for those sites, or save them for home. It may not be the biggest or most likely culprit here, but it may apply to others who are in a similar situation.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:53 PM on September 25, 2013


Images, video, flash games -- these can really eat up some serious data. Are you getting more of that type thing somehow, maybe without realizing it?
posted by Michele in California at 3:10 PM on September 25, 2013


End the internet connection when not in use by holding down that button on the lower center of the phone face. When pressed and held, you have the opportunity to close anything you don't want to run. I too was burning thru allowed data time until a friend shared her knowledge in response to my wailing. You can also go to Task Manager (same location) and close any running apps as you choose.
posted by Lornalulu at 4:15 PM on September 25, 2013 [1 favorite]


You can use an app like Tasker (three bucks at Google Play) to manage your radios-- if you're in your home or work Wifi range, it can turn off your 4G radio, for example. There's also IFTTT, "If This, Then That," which is what it sounds like-- it can flip settings on your Galaxy once conditions are met.

You could also use your WiFi router, depending on featureset, or another machine on your home network to sniff the traffic of your phone. You can see what it's connecting to, and what connects to it, and maybe the throughput being sent either way.

Are you a podcast listener? Make sure it's not downloading, expiring, and re-downloading shows. Ditto other streaming apps and anything that syncs music and video over the air.
posted by Sunburnt at 5:27 PM on September 25, 2013


Google Play stayed running all the time for me a couple of months ago after an update, so check with the task manager to see if it's running all the time.
posted by markblasco at 7:47 PM on September 25, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks everyone. Lots of good suggestions here that I'll be trying over the next couple of days. I did download Data Usage Defender today, so waiting to see what that comes back with. Will update if I find anything definitive.
posted by vignettist at 4:22 PM on September 26, 2013


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