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roztaylor
join:2000-10-21
Madison, AL

roztaylor

Member

[iPhone] 3G data downloads at 2359 local time even in Airplane Mode


I have an iPhone4 with iOS 7.1.1. My carrier is ATT. Because my phone does not get a signal when it is in my purse, I turn on airplane mode before putting it into my purse (mostly to save the battery).

I don't usually take the phone out of my purse when I work late. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that at 2359 local time, nearly every night, my download logging app shows both 3G and Wi-Fi downloads. According to the download logs, at least 6 nights out of 7 show a download occurring at 2359. Some times as little as 0.5MB some times more than 5MB occurs then.

This happened once before, maybe 1-1.5 years ago after an iOS update. I don't use much 3G data on my iPhone unless I'm traveling. I mostly use Wi-Fi.

Ideas?

I just noticed this today. I will do some "formal" testing...make sure I do have the phone in airplane mode, log times and data usage. But, my download monitoring app indicates this behavior has been going on since December 2013 (I didn't check the logs prior to then). And, there are times when I'm at home that I have the phone out and not in airplane mode because we have Wi-Fi at home.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

Any chance the app is buggy?
Daemon
Premium Member
join:2003-06-29
Washington, DC

Daemon to roztaylor

Premium Member

to roztaylor
Your AT&T bill should also show a log of data transfers. Does it reconcile with the app?

roztaylor
join:2000-10-21
Madison, AL

roztaylor to HiVolt

Member

to HiVolt
I suppose it could be...it was bought several years ago (when I first got the iPhone) and there have been several iOS updates since then (and app updates). I will try to remember and check on that tonight. The one time this happened before, over 250MB downloaded one night with the 2359 time-stamp in airplane mode. I called ATT and complained, they credited me for the excess charges, and I forget what else. That made me think at the time that it was a known bug associated with the recent iOS upgrade/update.
roztaylor

roztaylor to Daemon

Member

to Daemon
I didn't realize that the ATT bill would show the log of data transfers. That must be online, because it is not in my paper bill. (Yes, I'm a ludite that way...I like paper bills.) I'll see if I can find it after I log in at home.

GuruGuy
Premium Member
join:2002-12-16
Atlanta, GA

GuruGuy

Premium Member

said by roztaylor:

I didn't realize that the ATT bill would show the log of data transfers. That must be online, because it is not in my paper bill. (Yes, I'm a ludite that way...I like paper bills.) I'll see if I can find it after I log in at home.

It doesn't. Only the total amount of data used.

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

Thinkdiff to roztaylor

MVM,

to roztaylor
Check the Background App Refresh setting in Settings > General > Background App Refresh.

You can also see the data usage per app by going into Settings > Cellular. There's a button to reset the statistics at the bottom. Try resetting it one day and then check back the next morning to see which apps used data overnight.

Also, you can completely disable cellular data (while keeping the phone and WiFi on) in that menu.

I wouldn't trust third-party apps to accurately report data usage, especially when it's built into iOS 7. A lot of them rely on redirecting all your traffic to their servers so they can keep tabs on the total data usage.

roztaylor
join:2000-10-21
Madison, AL

roztaylor

Member

@Thinkdiff
I'll try checking that out...I've not had much time to investigate tech stuff over the last year. Supposedly this app pulls the data from the phone and does not go external ("to the phone") to get the statistics. (i.e. it doesn't use my data allotment to tell me how much data I have used)
Daemon
Premium Member
join:2003-06-29
Washington, DC

Daemon to GuruGuy

Premium Member

to GuruGuy
said by GuruGuy:

said by roztaylor:

I didn't realize that the ATT bill would show the log of data transfers. That must be online, because it is not in my paper bill. (Yes, I'm a ludite that way...I like paper bills.) I'll see if I can find it after I log in at home.

It doesn't. Only the total amount of data used.

The paper bill (or online PDF) was the only source of per-session data transfers for me. I had a 16-20 page bill each month. I think you have to request 'detailed bills' perhaps to see the information.

haroldo
join:2004-01-16
USA

haroldo to Thinkdiff

Member

to Thinkdiff
said by Thinkdiff:

...
You can also see the data usage per app by going into Settings > Cellular. There's a button to reset the statistics at the bottom. Try resetting it one day and then check back the next morning to see which apps used data overnight....

Good idea, I tried this on wife's iPhone.
Facebook (7MB), Mail (7MB) and App Store (28MB) used the most cellular data overnight.
As automatic downloads and use cellular data are turned off, I wonder why App Store is 'phoning home'. Should it?

Nezmo
The name's Bond. James Bond.
MVM
join:2004-11-10
Coppell, TX

1 edit

Nezmo

MVM

said by haroldo:

said by Thinkdiff:

...
You can also see the data usage per app by going into Settings > Cellular. There's a button to reset the statistics at the bottom. Try resetting it one day and then check back the next morning to see which apps used data overnight....

... I wonder why App Store is 'phoning home'. Should it?

To check for app updates? Or is that a push from Apple? I suspect the phone polls because often times I don't see updates are available unless I launch the app store app (even with auto updates on).