Background usage killing my data plan

Oct 9, 1999
19,632
38
91
Galaxy Nexus
AT&T.

JBsourcery rom(been running since may) 4.2

I have 3GB data plan. I've never really had times where I exceed my data limit(except when tethering several months ago when my DSL was out). The last few days I've had emails saying I've used my data for this month's cycle(it just started last week).

Email from ATT on 8/5 saying I've used 2031mb
Email from ATT on 8/6 saying I've used 2786mb
Email from ATT on 8/8 saying I've used 3111mb

da fuq?

I looked at my data usage on my phone and it shows google services sucking it dry, in the background.


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I dabble on FB from time to time, sync is on and off for my emails but I've never used that much data in less than a week. I thought it might be viewing my live feed via dropcam but it's definitely not that(8mb)
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
Does it not prompt you when it wants to update? In the back of my mind I am afraid something like this will happen to me, but most of the time my phone is on wifi so that is a bit comforting.
 

gmaster456

Golden Member
Sep 7, 2011
1,877
0
71
Set app updates to wifi only. See if that's it. I have apps set to update automatically but only on wifi.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
ive never see it do that, and even if you updated all your google aps im not sure how you sould get to 3 gigs in 3 days
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
I had the same issue when i got my SGS4. it was downloading 3-4 gigs in the background.

You can turn off background downloads.
 

ibex333

Diamond Member
Mar 26, 2005
4,094
123
106
there is an option "restrict background data" which you can see when you press the menu button in the "data usage" screen. Works beautifully for me. I can still use internet and whatnot, but there is very little downloading of any data happening unless I'm on home wi-fi. Oddly enough, email still sometimes gets updated, even though it shouldn't. I'd be using even less data if not for this.

Oh, and yes, you also need to enable "download updates only through wi-fi".


Anyway, these two options are a real life saver. I am not filthy rich like some people, and cant afford anything above 200mb data plan. ; )
 

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
26
101
That's pretty crazy!

Maybe it's Google Play Music misbehaving and downloading all your music?
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,312
687
126
Yah it's hard to imagine what the heck it can be other than music or video download. Perhaps some sort of syncing with cloud storage? Or malware?
 
Oct 9, 1999
19,632
38
91
I don't have auto-update on, have had it off for a long time now. i have 18 apps waiting to be updated. if it was my music being downloaded wouldn't it show the usage under one of the programs in the "data usage" screen?

so i guess there's nothing i can do as far as calling AT&T and telling them i didn't use that large amount of data in the last few days...? not sure what to do. i've never had this problem.
 
Oct 9, 1999
19,632
38
91
You could factory reset and see if that helps.

i have a custom rom and my backups from when i first installed aren't working, they are throwing some error in the recovery.

going to see if it keeps going up this week and if so, new rom.
 

Brian Stirling

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2010
3,964
2
0
Hell just disable app updates all together. Let it be manual.


I've never let it automatically update -- I check just about every day and I'd guess I average at least one app update per day. I have a total of 113 apps including the dozen or so ATT spams me with when I got my HTC One.

My typical month is about 650MB and I have a 5GB plan so I sometimes tether and that can really up the data usage, but there should be a separate entry for tethering.

There's got to be someway to drill down a little deeper to see what's eating your data but for the time being turn it off or set to wifi.


Brian
 

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
15,007
795
126
i have a custom rom and my backups from when i first installed aren't working, they are throwing some error in the recovery.

going to see if it keeps going up this week and if so, new rom.
I'm running Fitnugly's JellyBro :) you should try it out.

You should do a clean reset in your recovery then reflash your rom (or whatever you decide to use)
 

dennilfloss

Past Lifer 1957-2014 In Memoriam
Oct 21, 1999
30,509
12
0
dennilfloss.blogspot.com
I disabled all sources for Blinkfeed on my HTC One because that was eating like 1MB per minute as long as I wasn't on Airplane Mode. The first couple of days before I did this truly shocked me (coming from a Palm Pre).
 

Xellos2099

Platinum Member
Mar 8, 2005
2,277
13
81
ok so what is the best rom for the galaxy 4.3 atm so we can stop the damn constant ota
 
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
81
I didn't realize you had a custom ROM. That must be the culprit.

why would a custom rom be the culprit? i mean unless people are creating ROMs where there's some background application designed to gulp data or something... but I'd be willing to bet 99.9999% of ROMs are not created like that
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
why would a custom rom be the culprit? i mean unless people are creating ROMs where there's some background application designed to gulp data or something... but I'd be willing to bet 99.9999% of ROMs are not created like that

I haven't seen this reported from any stock running phones. What's different in OP's case? He's running a custom ROM. Just like overclocking, when it comes to custom ROM'ing YMMV.