does leaving the GPS on eat data? - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4

just wondering does leaving the GPS on for location services eat up my data? just wondering as i upgraded to the S4 and had to get the 2GB plan and now i have to start watching my data and use wifi since i lost my unlimited plan.
also does leaving it on eat a lot of battery life?

icebear8 said:
just wondering does leaving the GPS on for location services eat up my data? just wondering as i upgraded to the S4 and had to get the 2GB plan and now i have to start watching my data and use wifi since i lost my unlimited plan.
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Yes, GPS will use data unless connected to WiFi. Any widgets, weather apps, or location accessible apps will use their specified update interval to ping your location.
also does leaving it on eat a lot of battery life?
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Click to collapse
That's dependent on your device and its configuration. For example, if you have a weather app set to update the forecast and temp every 30 minutes, it'll wake your device to gather the necessary info every half hour. That means more awake time, less deep sleep. Conversely, if you set it to update every 2+ hours, it'll be waking your device less often which will allow longer periods of sleeping.

Do you know if its a lot of data? I only use one weather app and that is beautiful wigets then I use facebook but JUST to look at peoples post, I never post and I never like post where im at or use check in
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app

To be clear, GPS does not, in and of itself, use data and turning it off won't save data. Apps such as BW alternatively uses network location to approximate your location. The app uses your location to download information relevant to that locale. The same amount of cellular data is used in both scenarios. In either case, your best practice is to adjust the refresh rates for location aware apps accordingly.

Related

Phantom data usage (and lots of it)

Have any of you seen your usage spike pretty heavy using this atrix? I've been on wifi 95 percent of the time i've used this phone, and 90 percent of that was my home wifi. The other 5 was at an AT&T hotspot at the airport, but I was told that was separate from my 2gb datapro plan. At home on my wifi I use the pants off of it, because i'm not being billed by AT&T (youtube, market, TI backups, etc) and at the AT&T hotspot I only did very light web browsing for ~30 minutes. My usage for cell data is sitting right around 375mb since 2-24 (bill cycle date) and there is simply no way i've used that much cell data. A call to AT&T got me the response that "you've sent a LOT MMS messages", but i told the guy at a max of 300KB per message i'd had to have sent a TON, and my understanding was that all messaging data throughput came from the arm and leg i'm using to pay the messaging unlimited plan, NOT the Datapro side. I haven't tethered (although I have added the tetherhack APN settings) nor have gremlins invaded my bedroom in the middle of the night looking to pull down 242 megs..Looking online I see this:
03/01 02:31 AM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 242921KB.....
That's the bulk of it. There were some other transfers in the 10s of megs during the dead of night, but this was unattended cell usage again, and i'll reiterate i'm on wifi whenever i'm home.
How out of the ordinary is that compared to what you're seeing?
Full disclosure-I have probably used 20-40 megs with of cell data (texted based mobile web, email, small apps) and that usage pattern is corroborated by the remainder of my unbilled usage. This is primarily regarding the heavy overnight usage seen.
rx7freak said:
Have any of you seen your usage spike pretty heavy using this atrix? I've been on wifi 95 percent of the time i've used this phone, and 90 percent of that was my home wifi. The other 5 was at an AT&T hotspot at the airport, but I was told that was separate from my 2gb datapro plan. At home on my wifi I use the pants off of it, because i'm not being billed by AT&T (youtube, market, TI backups, etc) and at the AT&T hotspot I only did very light web browsing for ~30 minutes. My usage for cell data is sitting right around 375mb since 2-24 (bill cycle date) and there is simply no way i've used that much cell data. A call to AT&T got me the response that "you've sent a LOT MMS messages", but i told the guy at a max of 300KB per message i'd had to have sent a TON, and my understanding was that all messaging data throughput came from the arm and leg i'm using to pay the messaging unlimited plan, NOT the Datapro side. I haven't tethered (although I have added the tetherhack APN settings) nor have gremlins invaded my bedroom in the middle of the night looking to pull down 242 megs..Looking online I see this:
03/01 02:31 AM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 242921KB.....
That's the bulk of it. There were some other transfers in the 10s of megs during the dead of night, but this was unattended cell usage again, and i'll reiterate i'm on wifi whenever i'm home.
How out of the ordinary is that compared to what you're seeing?
Full disclosure-I have probably used 20-40 megs with of cell data (texted based mobile web, email, small apps) and that usage pattern is corroborated by the remainder of my unbilled usage. This is primarily regarding the heavy overnight usage seen.
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Click to collapse
For them to claim it was from MMS is just obsurd... I dont see how thats possible... I text heavily - around 5k texts a month, but its covered by unlimited texting... I rarely go over 400mb of data - but i use it alot.... From what you described, something strange IS going on - id call AT&T back and demand a supervisor, and keep working up the chain until you figure it out or have broken your foot off in someone's @$$
Coming from an N1 with the unlimited plan I never watched/had to watch my usage before, but now that I have to I am like a hawk. Nobody at AT&T seems to know why; they've offered to get me with the handset repair folks, but when I tell them that these xmitted packets must come from somewhere and go somewhere (in or out) that it doesn't just "happen." It's not like I'm wasting a period of dialup. Unfortunately I woke up to a dead phone this morning so I couldn't see if something was pegged in the battery usage log.
Thanks for the reply, I'll keep at 'em.
Out of curiosity are you running:
Latitude
Facebook (how often does it refresh?)
Twitter (again, how often does it refresh? Syncing contacts?)
Social Messaging on MotoBlur
Google Reader
Google Books
Exchange Push Email
Google Voice
Any other MotoBlur accounts
Sync Contacts with Google
Android Market
Or any other app that syncs with the cloud
My point is, Android syncs WAY MORE data than any other OS. It is tied to cloud services at its very core. Everything we do with these phones use data. If you run one or more of any of these apps you will use a lot more data than the iPhone or other phones do.
Also, for those seeing late night data, all of these items check throughout the night. And if you have many of them running, you will have lots of data sycing through the night.
Try Settings/Data Manager/Data Delivery/Social Applications/Sync over Wifi Only
And see if you still have lots of data used at night
Also when the screen goes off so does wifi unless you set it to never disconnect. Meaning nightime data.
snlu178 said:
Out of curiosity are you running:
Latitude
Facebook (how often does it refresh?)
Twitter (again, how often does it refresh? Syncing contacts?)
Social Messaging on MotoBlur
Google Reader
Google Books
Exchange Push Email
Google Voice
Any other MotoBlur accounts
Sync Contacts with Google
Android Market
Or any other app that syncs with the cloud
My point is, Android syncs WAY MORE data than any other OS. It is tied to cloud services at its very core. Everything we do with these phones use data. If you run one or more of any of these apps you will use a lot more data than the iPhone or other phones do.
Also, for those seeing late night data, all of these items check throughout the night. And if you have many of them running, you will have lots of data sycing through the night.
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Click to collapse
I get your point about everything being tied to cloud services, but 242MB for anything OTA is a bunch, short of several firmware updates in a row (that line I posted from my online account manager is for one session only, I've continued to have a few others in the 10s of MBs that night and ongoing since my OP) is a bit excessive. I have around 40 contacts, about 8 have photos that sync from google, another 10 have facebook sync photos...there's no way my contact list or any other text only sync application would rack up that much usage. And these are times when I'm home, usually asleep, and have fallen asleep with wifi on.
I will change the sync settings to wifi only to see if there is any change, thank you for the suggestion Deminjeans.
I did not know I lost my wifi connection when the phone went into standby. I'll set it to stay connected. Thank you snlu178.
Josh

Data saver issues

Any one else notice data saver does not work like its supposed to? I tried d/l a podcast over wifi and it would not start until i turned off data saver.
Sent from my PHOTON using XDA App
Question is why do you even need data saver on when there is unlimited data on Sprint?
ericdabbs said:
Question is why do you even need data saver on when there is unlimited data on Sprint?
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Click to collapse
Battery drain. For example, when I commute and my train transitions underground in the city for an extended period of time... or while you're sleeping and could care less about your e-mail constantly polling every X minutes.
Give THIS a try...
Data Toggle
Much easier, and more efficient!

How to track app data usage?

Hey,
How to track app data usage?
Like to see which apps are using my data, as I am getting data charges without even using phone, so want to know whats causing it in background.
Please let me know,
Thanks.
I use 'My data manager'. It works fine.
Even without it you can just turn data connection off, and you wont connect to anything. I mean in the menu which appears when you hold power button. You will also save considerate amount of battery like this.
I use Traffic Monitor. You can find it in the Android Market. It's free and offers all details divided among apps, wifi usage and mobile data usage. It also lets you set a limit for data. Additionally, it offers a speed test too.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
onavo is also an excellent option for tracking data and has some useful graphs

Extreme Data Usage on JB Rom

Since I've been using the leaked 4.1 builds I have been burning through Data at an incredible rate, the first month I hit my 2GB monthly allowance after about 3 weeks, which at the time I thought it was just me using it a lot because it was new.
Today however I have been told by my network provider that my 2GB limit for this month was used up in about 4 days!!! After spending most of the day arguing with them they confirmed my phone was connecting every 30-60 seconds & using 200-400mb every time?
After the first month I set all sync options to manual & I don't use Facebook etc. but with Samsung swapping all the settings menu around it seems there are some extra sync options I missed, Maps & latitude, search, location & google all have additional sync settings, so it seems my phone is constantly connecting & logging my location. God knows what else is connecting..
Didn't have this problem with ICS & I don't have a lot of apps installed, probably less than I did then
Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue? if so it's a dream come true for network providers, but they're going to have a lot of pissed off customers!
Did you check your dropbox auto-sync feature? or any cloud storage that MIGHT be uploading your pics? I did notice the data pull but it was while on Wi-Fi, my data counter shows a lot of activity on wifi but not so much for 3G and that is on IDLE.
jusumgeezer said:
Since I've been using the leaked 4.1 builds I have been burning through Data at an incredible rate, the first month I hit my 2GB monthly allowance after about 3 weeks, which at the time I thought it was just me using it a lot because it was new.
Today however I have been told by my network provider that my 2GB limit for this month was used up in about 4 days!!! After spending most of the day arguing with them they confirmed my phone was connecting every 30-60 seconds & using 200-400mb every time?
After the first month I set all sync options to manual & I don't use Facebook etc. but with Samsung swapping all the settings menu around it seems there are some extra sync options I missed, Maps & latitude, search, location & google all have additional sync settings, so it seems my phone is constantly connecting & logging my location. God knows what else is connecting..
Didn't have this problem with ICS & I don't have a lot of apps installed, probably less than I did then
Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue? if so it's a dream come true for network providers, but they're going to have a lot of pissed off customers!
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Click to collapse
if your phone was using that much data you would notice the battery on your phone going down pretty fast as well.
Check if you are syncing Google photos. That was at least our problem.
It could be some Apps or something that is constantly downloading or uploading files. Dropbox auto-sync? Or Google plus instant upload?

[Q] DATA usage almost double with WP8

I average about 70-80 MB per month when i was on android. This month im at 160 MB and i started 10 days into the month.
I suspect that I am using LTE/4G even when there is wifi and it is not switching over. I am able to tell with android because i have the 3G watchdog app. and it alarms me if i get close to my 200MB limit.
Question
1. is it possible to check which data its using wi-fi or LTE when both is available ?
2. Is it possible to limit the LTE/4G to only emails that are less than XX Kb so that it not downloading when im travelling to and from destinatoin
3. is it possible to control which apps can utilize the LTE/4G
FYI, Android can be configured to keep wi-fi on while phone is in sleep (default) but WP7/8 can't. Windows Phone will always turn off wifi whenever your phone screen is off unless you keep it plugged into the charger. There is a rumor that this behavior will be changed to inline with Android in next update. But for now, you just need keep that in mind. If you are at home of anywhere connected with wifi, keep it plugged in is the only way to force the phone use wifi.
There is also an app on the market that can create a fake background transfer job to force the phone keep wifi on. Not sure if it is compatible with WP8 and I forgot the name of the app.
foxbat121 said:
FYI, Android can be configured to keep wi-fi on while phone is in sleep (default) but WP7/8 can't. Windows Phone will always turn off wifi whenever your phone screen is off unless you keep it plugged into the charger. There is a rumor that this behavior will be changed to inline with Android in next update. But for now, you just need keep that in mind. If you are at home of anywhere connected with wifi, keep it plugged in is the only way to force the phone use wifi.
There is also an app on the market that can create a fake background transfer job to force the phone keep wifi on. Not sure if it is compatible with WP8 and I forgot the name of the app.
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Click to collapse
This got me looking at my phone, I had a big jump in data usage the last 24 hours. I had backup set to auto and I think it backed up when I was out and had no access to wifi. I shut off auto backup until I can check into it more.
Hey Guys, is there a decent app which can track data usage, possibly showing what apps use the data?
goixiz said:
I average about 70-80 MB per month when i was on android. This month im at 160 MB and i started 10 days into the month.
I suspect that I am using LTE/4G even when there is wifi and it is not switching over. I am able to tell with android because i have the 3G watchdog app. and it alarms me if i get close to my 200MB limit.
Question
1. is it possible to check which data its using wi-fi or LTE when both is available ?
2. Is it possible to limit the LTE/4G to only emails that are less than XX Kb so that it not downloading when im travelling to and from destinatoin
3. is it possible to control which apps can utilize the LTE/4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel for ya, but an always connected smartphone on 200mb is tough, don't ya think?

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