Google+ .. What the ...?

[ControlD]

So my wife's phone (S3 / Verizon) got some updates yesterday. Afterwards, Google+ asks her "Would you like Google+ to backup your data to the cloud?". She answered yes, which as it turns out was a bad, bad idea.

Fast forward 24 hours and the phone uploaded 3.1GB of data and is still going strong. We have a 2GB data plan. I took the phone and changed the settings of Google+ to not backup ANY data at all. My wife goes to the store with her phone. When she gets back I take a look and guess what? The phone has now uploaded 4.5GB of data. All over mobile data. With ALL options to back up turned off.

Of course Verizon was a huge help when I took the phone in to be looked at. "We can upgrade you to a 8GB data plan so you can avoid any overrage costs". No kidding? Blow me.

I know Google sucks at writing apps but this seems beyond even what they are incapable of.

Moral of the story is to answer "no" to anything Google ever asks post update.

 

[MongGrel]

Just showed my wife this as she is the one that uses her phone more that way.

Just to inform her, she says it is set to max at 2 and doesn't use it online much but still....

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Yeah this is a very dangerous setting, and while some people might not take that many photos and it might be ok, the average consumer doesn't know how much extra data AND battery you could be draining by auto uploading everything. I set my auto upload to not only Wifi but also when charging. That way it doesn't just try to upload when I'm at work because work wifi likely blocks a lot of things to begin with.

But honestly iCloud backup is kinda setup the same dumb way. I ran out of space within a few months and had to learn to turn off my photo backup.

 

[WelshBloke]

Is this just the videos and pictures option?
Because I'd quite like Google+ to backup my entire device (sans SDcard 'natch).

 

[ControlD]

Is this just the videos and pictures option?
Because I'd quite like Google+ to backup my entire device (sans SDcard 'natch).

In this case just the pictures, video, and wallpapers were selected for backup.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I don't like how google + backs up and loads browser history even when you delete on your device.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I don't know how Google+ requires syncing and creates long wakelocks even when not uploading photos.

 

[It's Not Lupus]

Had this happen to me with a different app. The phone was on Wi-Fi at home, but got disconnected and used the mobile data. Luckily, I set the mobile data limit with some room.

 

[Bman123]

That's why I don't use Google+ I've seen this happen to someone else before and they luckily had unlimited data but it uploaded over 12gb of mobile data

 

[02ranger]

I just flashed a new ROM on my Nexus 4 the other day and set G+ to backup only on WiFi, but I didn't realize it backed up videos too. I had some new videos I'd just taken it backed up and I didn't want them online so I went into G+ and deleted them, through the G+ interface, and the damn thing deleted them from my phone too! I was pissed, to say the least. Luckily they went into a trash bin of sorts, so I could recover them.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I just flashed a new ROM on my Nexus 4 the other day and set G+ to backup only on WiFi, but I didn't realize it backed up videos too. I had some new videos I'd just taken it backed up and I didn't want them online so I went into G+ and deleted them, through the G+ interface, and the damn thing deleted them from my phone too! I was pissed, to say the least. Luckily they went into a trash bin of sorts, so I could recover them.

This is where they supposedly make phones/apps smarter than human beings, but it ends up backfiring and screwing things up. To me it should be a 1 way sync, not 2 way. There should be a separate way to manage stuff on a phone like Airdroid.

 

[02ranger]

This is where they supposedly make phones/apps smarter than human beings, but it ends up backfiring and screwing things up. To me it should be a 1 way sync, not 2 way. There should be a separate way to manage stuff on a phone like Airdroid.

I agree, I love the idea of it syncing to the cloud, but it should be one way. I also wish it didn't sync every folder on the phone, but just specific folders. These videos were in a separate folder from everything else, and yet it still synced them. There may be a way to control which folders sync, I'm not sure, but regardless I agree it should be a sync from phone to cloud only, not both ways.

 

[ControlD]

What I don't understand is why G+ used mobile data in the first place. I just opened the app on my Note 2 (running Android 4.3) and it looks like the default option is to only backup data over wifi. My wife never opened the app at all, just answered the question when prompted to use the backup feature.

I would also like to know why an extra 1.5 gigs of data was synced after backup was turned off.

 

[02ranger]

What I don't understand is why G+ used mobile data in the first place. I just opened the app on my Note 2 (running Android 4.3) and it looks like the default option is to only backup data over wifi. My wife never opened the app at all, just answered the question when prompted to use the backup feature.

I would also like to know why an extra 1.5 gigs of data was synced after backup was turned off.

That is strange. Were there any extremely large files it backed up? Maybe it started backing something up before you told it to stop and it had to finish that one item? But even if that's the case, it wouldn't explain why it used mobile data in the first place. Was it possibly on WiFi when it started and lost that signal, but continued the backup over mobile?

 

[ControlD]

That is strange. Were there any extremely large files it backed up? Maybe it started backing something up before you told it to stop and it had to finish that one item? But even if that's the case, it wouldn't explain why it used mobile data in the first place. Was it possibly on WiFi when it started and lost that signal, but continued the backup over mobile?

There were no 1GB+ files on the phone. It seems like G+ wanted to finish the full sync. However, I did just look at her settings, and the backup options were to use WiFi or mobile data. That explains the mobile data usage. It seems like the default would always be WiFi only unless changed by the user. Live and learn I guess.

 

[02ranger]

There were no 1GB+ files on the phone. It seems like G+ wanted to finish the full sync. However, I did just look at her settings, and the backup options were to use WiFi or mobile data. That explains the mobile data usage. It seems like the default would always be WiFi only unless changed by the user. Live and learn I guess.

I think it does actually default to use either mobile data or WiFi. I can't remember for sure, but I just changed ROMs the other day and I think it defaulted to that option. I know I ALWAYS have to change it to WiFi only. It still should have stopped when you stopped it though, that's kinda screwy. Something's gonna have to change with carriers wanting to give people less data and manufacturers wanting to use more data. Somebody has to give in sometime, but they're gonna make using the full features of your device harder and harder until then......

 

[Zaap]

Pretty terrible. But then, I'm convinced Google designs so much these days with a total detachment from the reality of most users. Since everyone scoots around a Googleplex on a Segway wrapped in a cocoon of always-on data, then why not apps that constantly cloud-upload at will?

I don't want Google + having anything to do with my files and data or cloud services.

To be fair, I think Dropbox will do the same thing if you aren't careful what you click and just let it. I remember once discovering that my old SGS3 had been uploading gigs of video data I'd taken after I'd installed Dropbox and didn't pay attention to the settings.

 

[Red Storm]

There's a reason why Google introduced the data usage panel in settings. Anyone who has a limited data plan, the first thing you should do is go set the mobile data warning and/or limit to match your plan.

Sure Google should have made it more clear what using mobile data for uploads does, but there are many, many apps that can eat up all your data in no time. The data usage panel takes care of all apps in one place, use it.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

The other problem I have is that settings like this will KILL your battery life if you're in an area with bad reception. I took a few photos skiing a month ago and because reception isn't that great and data isn't as fast out there, it kept trying to upload via Verizon 1x/3G, and drained 70% of my battery after I charged in our cabin just through dinner.

The good thing I guess is that it's pretty easy to figure out what's the big drainer, but sometimes it's already too late. Even with the Data Usage tab, what are you going to do? By the time you've already drained 1.5GB out of 2GB to hit my warning, I have to limp along for the remainder of the month. Essentially this only works if you only use a small portion of your data alotment.

 

[ControlD]

There's a reason why Google introduced the data usage panel in settings. Anyone who has a limited data plan, the first thing you should do is go set the mobile data warning and/or limit to match your plan.

Sure Google should have made it more clear what using mobile data for uploads does, but there are many, many apps that can eat up all your data in no time. The data usage panel takes care of all apps in one place, use it.

Yeah, we both have a warning set now. I never knew that panel existed until today. I guess we never had a reason to need it before as the two of us combined have never even used 1GB of data in a month's time.

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah, we both have a warning set now. I never knew that panel existed until today. I guess we never had a reason to need it before as the two of us combined have never even used 1GB of data in a month's time.

I wish iOS devices had such a built in feature. It's annoying not knowing where the data is going on my wife's iPhone. On Android I could easily show her what app is using how much, and set proper limits.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Some of the decisions Google is jaw dropping baffling. Kitkat broke apps writing into SDcards but they are still allowed to write anywhere they want in internal memory, which is an arguably more critical location because of "security reasons"...Riiiiiiiiiiight.

 

[makken]

Don't mean to be harsh, but Google really gives you great control over data usage in Android--much moreso than any other mobile OS out there, I'll say.

From the settings menu, you can set a universal warning threshold for mobile data usage, as well as a hard cap that automatically disables mobile data after a certain point. In addition, data usage for every app is tracked so you can easily troubleshoot data hogs, and even restrict background data usage on an app by app basis at the OS level.

Could Google have done a better job to make you aware of the data settings on your device and apps? From the sound of it, definitely, but I don't think they deserve the blame given the amount of tools they've made available for you to manage data usage.

 

[ControlD]

Don't mean to be harsh, but Google really gives you great control over data usage in Android--much moreso than any other mobile OS out there, I'll say.

From the settings menu, you can set a universal warning threshold for mobile data usage, as well as a hard cap that automatically disables mobile data after a certain point. In addition, data usage for every app is tracked so you can easily troubleshoot data hogs, and even restrict background data usage on an app by app basis at the OS level.

Could Google have done a better job to make you aware of the data settings on your device and apps? From the sound of it, definitely, but I don't think they deserve the blame given the amount of tools they've made available for you to manage data usage.

Sure, Google has provided some tools to help with data management. For a user that thinks they should be worried about that it's a great thing. Looking back, I guess my wife should have (a) realized those tools were added at some point and (b) set some limits. I guess it took Google+ to make us aware that these tools exist and need to be used.

At the same time, I don't think it is OK that google+ uploaded an addition 2 GB of data after the app was disabled. I'll take the initial blame for not realizing a hard cap setting existed but I think I can blame Google for that additional 2GB of data.

 

[Insomniator]

I wish they would just give up with this cloud crap. Or should I just say KILL GOOGLE+. Seriously, nobody uses it.