# iOS 6 huge data usage...



## phphreak (Jul 7, 2008)

I have noticed that on my iPhone 4 using iOS6, I've used 2.3 gb in less than two weeks. I haven't used 2 gb in a month!

Apparently there is an known issue with some apps using data even when they're set to not use any data. Also, Safari bookmark syncing via iCloud is a known culprit. 

Can anyone check their usage and tell me if they are using much more data than usual, that can't be explained by faster LTE speeds?


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## Dr_AL (Apr 29, 2007)

I have never used more than 1 GB on normal use which includes the iOS 6 betas on my 4S. Only hit my 2GB max once cause I was away from home and had personal hotspot on when my iPad tried to back up to iCloud via the wifi from my iPhone. 

So with iOS 6 I have not noticed a significant higher use in data. 


Sent from my iPhone


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## cantwait (Jul 24, 2009)

phphreak said:


> Can anyone check their usage and tell me if they are using much more data than usual, that can't be explained by faster LTE speeds?


not sure if this is phrased right .. but LTE speed is only on iPhone 5 not on the 4/4S models.


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## Tech Elementz (Mar 15, 2011)

iPhone 5 & the new iPad are the only devices right now capable of LTE data speeds. The iPhone 4/4s and below are not capable of LTE speeds. 

As for the huge data usage, it could be possible for iCloud to be backing up data to the cloud. If you don't use iCloud, then it's possible that you have been loading way too many videos (YouTube for example), because there doesn't seem to be any logical way to hit that high without watching a lot of videos, and using data in general instead of WiFi.


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## gridtalker (Mar 23, 2006)

phphreak said:


> I have noticed that on my iPhone 4 using iOS6, I've used 2.3 gb in less than two weeks. I haven't used 2 gb in a month!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How do you check usage?


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## Tech Elementz (Mar 15, 2011)

gridtalker said:


> How do you check usage?


You can check via iOS or via an official app provided by the carrier. I know Rogers & Fido has their own app for checking & you can also use their respective website accounting management features to check your data usage. 

Although, it's worth noting that if you do not reset your data usage every month that is recorded via iOS, you will not know your true data usage for the month. This does not apply to carrier apps because they reset automatically.


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## phphreak (Jul 7, 2008)

gridtalker said:


> How do you check usage?


There used to be an app on the app store called Data Man Pro that monitored per app data use but they pulled the pro version.

Several threads exist on the net from people that have verified more data use in iOS 6 (spontaneous data use). It has been tracked down to Safari iCloud syncing, Podcasts app, and the Downcast app.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

I have not seen any increased usage of data on my iPhone 4 since installing iOS 6.

As for "bookmark syncing with iCloud being the culprit" --- lol, thanks for the good laugh! Yeah, a file that's measured in KB rather than MB is sucking up all my data. :lmao:


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

Yep, something is amiss. Though it was only amiss the first day. 

I checked and six times there was a data transfer of exactly 95.38mb all within 5-10mins of each other the first night I had the phone, around 9pm. No idea what it was, but it put me over my 1gb plan (STILL waiting for TELUS to switch me to my new plan).


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## lyonsnet (Feb 19, 2008)

My wife using her iPhone 3G averaged 100MB/month. With my 3GS, I averaged 250MB/month, but I use mine more on 3G as I am not always in the office using wifi. 

In June after we upgraded my wife's 3G to a 4S, her data usage jumped to an average of 400MB/month. She occasionally uses Siri, but my best guess for the increase is she also began to use iCloud for syncing and backups.

I upgraded my 3GS to the iPhone 5 on the 21st launch day, and have so far used 300MB of data (10 days). I was using iCloud on the 3GS, so my increase is harder to pinpoint, but my guess is the newer phones just use more data. 

Our previous plan included 1GB of shared data, and before I upgraded to iPhone5, we moved to 6GB of shared data (and somehow saved $26/month on our Bell plan). 

So as of today, I'm not worried about my data usage increase, unless somehow I hit the 6GB mark


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

I noticed a few things on my iPhone 5:

1) When I first got the phone, the cellular data usage was already at 500MB within a few hours. The Virgin Mobile usage page only has a record of ~100MB out of that chunk (which I did use to restore my iCloud data over LTE). I'm not sure if the other 400MB got transferred during activation, but they have no record of it, so it's fine by me.

2) There is a severe bug in iTunes Match that needs to be addresses by Apple ASAP. If you tell Match to not use cellular data, it will not allow you to initiate a download from iCloud without WiFi. However, if you start downloading a large playlist in Wifi and leave the WiFi coverage while it is downloading, the download keeps on going on 3G/LTE. I went through 1GB of LTE data in 20 minutes because of this. I now keep Match off on that phone and on the iPad.


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## DA187Suspect (Apr 15, 2010)

phphreak said:


> I have noticed that on my iPhone 4 using iOS6, I've used 2.3 gb in less than two weeks. I haven't used 2 gb in a month!
> 
> Apparently there is an known issue with some apps using data even when they're set to not use any data. Also, Safari bookmark syncing via iCloud is a known culprit.
> 
> Can anyone check their usage and tell me if they are using much more data than usual, that can't be explained by faster LTE speeds?



I never use more than 2gbs (I have a 6gb data plan with Rogers). 

I activated my iPhone 5 on launch date Sept 21st and have already received a text from Rogers stating I'm at 80% use of my data plan. 

I was over 4gb, not sure what's going on as I'm not doing anything that differernt. I've reset my stats today on my phone and am waiting to see what Oct brings me.


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## jhuynh (Mar 21, 2011)

Could it be the same bug that affected Verizon customers where the iPhone says it is using wifi but really using cellular data?


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## lyonsnet (Feb 19, 2008)

It'll be interesting to see if Canadian carriers are also affected:
iPhone 5 carrier data leak bug might not be Verizon only | 9to5Mac

It wouldn't surprise me to find out all iPhone5's have this issue.


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

iCloud won't be the cause, it's wifi only for sync and backups.


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## phphreak (Jul 7, 2008)

DA187Suspect said:


> I never use more than 2gbs (I have a 6gb data plan with Rogers).
> 
> I activated my iPhone 5 on launch date Sept 21st and have already received a text from Rogers stating I'm at 80% use of my data plan.
> 
> I was over 4gb, not sure what's going on as I'm not doing anything that differernt. I've reset my stats today on my phone and am waiting to see what Oct brings me.


If you've already used 80%, there are likely many others in the same boat.

Do you use the podcasts app, or anything else like that?

Also, do you use iCloud safari syncing?


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##  Dumpling (May 28, 2010)

If anyone is using the Reading Lists feature in Safari, make sure you set the "Use cellular data" option to off in Settings>Safari. iOS6 caches articles for offline reading and this can cause spikes in data usage. Syncing Podcasts or having subscriptions turned on in the Podcast app's settings can also wreak havoc. There is an option to turn off cellular data for that as well. 3D maps in Satellite view will also use large amounts of data as a result of the high resolution imagery that is associated with it. Carrier updates may also bring relief if the Verizon bug is more widespread than thought.


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## DA187Suspect (Apr 15, 2010)

phphreak said:


> If you've already used 80%, there are likely many others in the same boat.
> 
> Do you use the podcasts app, or anything else like that?
> 
> Also, do you use iCloud safari syncing?


I do not use the podcasts app & I sync via iTunes. 

I just checked my data usage in my iPhone's settings and it says I've already used 696 MB - Which is NEVER the case for me for only one day.


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

I've been getting a different phenomenon: the usage on my iPhone5 is higher that what my carrier (Virgin) reports. The usage Virgin reports makes sense at this point (1.4GB), but my iPhone reports 2GB. And there hasn't been a billing period reset on my Virgin account, it's a new account I activated when I got the phone.

I guess it's better than haveing the phone under-reporting, but I'm not sure why the phone thinks I transferred 600MB more than I actually did.


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## DA187Suspect (Apr 15, 2010)

ldphoto said:


> I've been getting a different phenomenon: the usage on my iPhone5 is higher that what my carrier (Virgin) reports. The usage Virgin reports makes sense at this point (1.4GB), but my iPhone reports 2GB. And there hasn't been a billing period reset on my Virgin account, it's a new account I activated when I got the phone.
> 
> I guess it's better than haveing the phone under-reporting, but I'm not sure why the phone thinks I transferred 600MB more than I actually did.



Similiar to my situation. My phone tells me 696mb, but my "My Rogers" app is around 100mb lower than what my phone says. My app has a disclaimer stating that the info may not be accurate. I guess the app takes time before it relfects the correct info.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

Rogers, Bell and Telus Users Affected by Cellular Data Used Over Wi-Fi Bug in iOS 6 | iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

DA187Suspect said:


> Similiar to my situation. My phone tells me 696mb, but my "My Rogers" app is around 100mb lower than what my phone says. My app has a disclaimer stating that the info may not be accurate. I guess the app takes time before it relfects the correct info.


Virgin's web page says that the reported usage is valid for up to 4 hours ago. So to me it looks like it's pretty much what's there is what it is.


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## DA187Suspect (Apr 15, 2010)

Joker Eh said:


> Rogers, Bell and Telus Users Affected by Cellular Data Used Over Wi-Fi Bug in iOS 6 | iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource


Unbelivable!! Sick of this nonesense.


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

DA187Suspect said:


> Unbelivable!! Sick of this nonesense.


Every carrier will be affected. It's a bug in iOS6.


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## DA187Suspect (Apr 15, 2010)

ldphoto said:


> Every carrier will be affected. It's a bug in iOS6.


I just got off the phone with Rogers Technical Support. I complained, and they are giving me 2 free months of unlimited data use until this issue is reolved. Apple better release 6.0.1 asap or I'm switching to a new device. This is BS. 

I've been resetting my data usage every morning before I use my phone and take a screenshot at the end of the day as backup proof.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

DA187Suspect said:


> I just got off the phone with Rogers Technical Support. I complained, and they are giving me 2 free months of unlimited data use until this issue is reolved. Apple better release 6.0.1 asap or I'm switching to a new device. This is BS.
> 
> I've been resetting my data usage every morning before I use my phone and take a screenshot at the end of the day as backup proof.


Turn off iTunes match, thats all as thats where the bug seems to be.



> One main culprit appears to be iTunes Match, as it appears to use cellular data even when the setting is turned off.


And check your other settings always after an update. I do.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

*Update*



Joker Eh said:


> Rogers, Bell and Telus Users Affected by Cellular Data Used Over Wi-Fi Bug in iOS 6 | iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource


Update from Rogers.


> We have been able to confirm that the data bleed issues reported in the US do not apply to our OS version and customers should not be experiencing the same issues here. However, we do take these reports very seriously. Should anyone be experiencing this issue, we encourage them to reach out to us (by phone or via @RogersHelps on Twitter) so we can help troubleshoot.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I've had my iPhone 5 since a week ago Saturday. I used it to upload my entire website changes one day during that period. I am on Telus, have iTunes match and have zero issues. Seems to me to be much ado about nothing.


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

I too found a ridiculous amount of data usage on iPhone 5 and IOS6. I've used 2 gigs since September 21st and I have no idea why. That said, I also found last month I was using more data than usual and I honestly think the culprit isn't so much iPhone 5 and IOS6 but a bug in the official podcasts App. It's the only thing I can point to that has changed with my iPhone over the past few months and I feel as though it's causing me to use more data, even though I'm supposedly downloading podcasts via wifi.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

Joker Eh said:


> Turn off iTunes match, thats all as thats where the bug seems to be.
> 
> And check your other settings always after an update. I do.


I wish it was that easy. 

iTunes Match was off on my iPhone as was cell data for reading list. I've had a gig of downloaded data in the last 5 days! My plan is only 500 megs. Prior to getting the iPhone 5, my monthly data average was 183 mb. I'm 5 days in and just over a gig. There's dirty work afoot.

I've been on the phone with both Rogers and Apple all day. No one has answers.

All I know is something is gobbling data big time. I am using the iPhone 5 no differently than my iPhone 4S. Same apps. Same usage habits in the same locations. Nothing is different... Except I'm now using the iPhone 5. I am nearly always in wifi (at work, parents, friends) When I'm out of wifi, my phone is generally just in my pocket. I do not download videos or music. I do not back up to iCloud.

This makes no sense whatsoever.


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## MacUnited (Nov 1, 2009)

Yup , iPhone 4 here, no iTunes Match.. And my usuall monthly consumption is aroun 2-3 gigs.. Today as I'm reading this thread I get curious and check my usage, it's 2.5 gigs already. After 6 days of normal use..


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## Chimpur (May 1, 2009)

I've experienced the whole iTunes Match problem as well. My billing period resets on the 15th. My em is for 6gb of data. So far I'm at 8145gb of usage; that's nearly $100 of overages!! I've don't nothing different than in the past. 

The only things I can think of is first when I backed up my old iPhone 3GS, it may have been on my cell data and not my home wifi. Then when I restored my new iPhone 5 from the cloud.. I'm pretty sure that was over cellular. And finally there's the whole iTunes Match thing where I think it downloaded over wifi and cellular. I had quite a high usage on the home Internet last month as well... 

So I'm pretty sure that it did download the songs over wifi; but also how do I explain the cellular data usage? 

Anyone have any luck getting the charges reversed with Telus? Or at least softened?


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

SINC said:


> I've had my iPhone 5 since a week ago Saturday. I used it to upload my entire website changes one day during that period. I am on Telus, have iTunes match and have zero issues. Seems to me to be much ado about nothing.


Well, seeing as how several people are having issues, it's not much ado about nothing. Great to hear you're not having problems, but some people are.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

After talking with an Apple rep on Saturday, I backed up my Phone, then re-set it and went with Apple's stock Apps only, with one exception, I installed DataMan to monitor all traffic, both wifi and cellular. I monitored the phone for the day (nearly completely in wifi and didn't see anything unusual. I have since restored my phone from the back-up and am closely monitoring my usage and everything appears normal.

According to a Rogers rep, when my bill comes in we can check to see when the largest cellular data transfers happened. (if they really happened at all...I'm not convinced) This may shed some light on the situation. I am hoping that I can get them to wave any overages. The data usage is way over my normal use, so something screwy is going on. 

Same apps. Same usage habits. Same places. Nearly all on wifi and I do not do any data hungry tasks while on cellular... Just now using the iPhone 5.


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## blackbook (Jan 22, 2009)

On my 3GS, I used about 900mb in one month. 

On my 5, I've used about 1gb in 3 weeks MAX


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

Yup, the problem is widespread.

What?s Behind Mysterious Cellular Data Usage in iOS 6?

Video: The iPhone 5 iCloud Data Bug in Action — Josh Centers


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

I am reading many reports that the culprit is Apple's own Podcast App. I dumped it and am instead using Downcast (which I like better anyway).

Does Apple?s Podcasts App Suck Cellular Data?

It's too soon to tell if did the trick for me. I was a bit suspicious of the Podcast app, so I deleted it a few days ago. 

Food for thought.

B


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

And it continues...

Last night at 10:50pm and 11:14pm my phone transferred 95.36MB and 95.37MB of data respectively. I was asleep at that time. This is the exact amount of data that it has transferred in the past.

It is also transferring around 25MB at least once a day. 25.77MB, 25.03MB, etc. 8 of the past 15 days. 

I am on wifi at work and wifi at home, and all of these transfers are happening during those times. It's never the 1h a day I'm in the car. The vast majority of the usage is after 9pm - when I'm home, often in bed or getting ready, not using the phone at all, and SHOULD be on wifi.

Something is amiss and I'm not happy that it keeps happening!


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## FreddyMac (Jan 4, 2009)

gridtalker said:


> How do you check usage?


Bell has something called the Self Serve app which you can check for phone, data, text usage, at no charge on 3G.


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

FreddyMac said:


> Bell has something called the Self Serve app which you can check for phone, data, text usage, at no charge on 3G.


All three major carriers now have apps that allow you to check usage.

You can also login to their respective self-service sites (MyTelusMobility, etc.) and look there as well.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

okcomputer said:


> All three major carriers now have apps that allow you to check usage.
> 
> You can also login to their respective self-service sites (MyTelusMobility, etc.) and look there as well.


DataMan in the App Store is better than the Rogers app (for checking data usage only) because you don't need to switch out of wifi and on to cellular to check your data usage.

Evidently Apple pulled *DataMan Pro* from the App Store which gave you more info about your data usage, like when the transfers occurred and (I think) which app was responsible. I wish that the Pro version was still available because it would make troubleshooting this problem easier.

Perhaps DataMan Pro pointed to an Apple problem and they didn't like that.


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

Bilbo said:


> DataMan in the App Store is better than the Rogers app (for checking data usage only) because you don't need to switch out of wifi and on to cellular to check your data usage.
> 
> Evidently Apple pulled *DataMan Pro* from the App Store which gave you more info about your data usage, like when the transfers occurred and (I think) which app was responsible. I wish that the Pro version was still available because it would make troubleshooting this problem easier.
> 
> Perhaps DataMan Pro pointed to an Apple problem and they didn't like that.


Yep, DataMan is great. I was just pointing out the carrier options.

Since I am having the data issue, I went to reinstall DataMan Pro, which I had on my iPhone 4 but hadn't used much - only when I was having a similar data issue. But, alas, the app has been pulled as you said. Really sucks paying for an app and then having it removed!


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

I don't know why Apple pulled the app. That seems strange. I didn't know that Apple could confiscate an app that you had previously purchased. I'm guessing that it wasn't backed up locally then?


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

Bilbo said:


> I don't know why Apple pulled the app. That seems strange. I didn't know that Apple could confiscate an app that you had previously purchased. I'm guessing that it wasn't backed up locally then?


It might be on my iMac. Haven't checked. I was just trying to get it via my iPhone.


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## Seagull21 (Sep 23, 2008)

According to the My Rogers app, for October, I've used 1.5gb.
According to my iPhone (as of Oct.1), I've used 2.5gb.

Seems as though whatever iOS 6 is recording, perhaps in error, Rogers isn't.


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## moonsocket (Apr 1, 2002)

My partner just got an iPhone 4S. She has koodo with 250mb data and in less than a week she was almost at her limit. We cant figure out where its coming from.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

You could manually disable data. Also, make sure location services is off, syncing with iCloud is off, etc.

I'm with Bell...


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## phphreak (Jul 7, 2008)

moonsocket said:


> My partner just got an iPhone 4S. She has koodo with 250mb data and in less than a week she was almost at her limit. We cant figure out where its coming from.


Your partner? What business are you two in together?


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## moonsocket (Apr 1, 2002)

phphreak said:


> Your partner? What business are you two in together?


The business of love.


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## milhaus (Jun 1, 2004)

Went through my entire 10Gb plan already, including 3GB in one day. Yeah, it's a software issue. Talking with Rogers now, and it's a known issue. They don't want it to go public though.


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

milhaus said:


> Went through my entire 10Gb plan already, including 3GB in one day. Yeah, it's a software issue. Talking with Rogers now, and it's a known issue. They don't want it to go public though.


They have 10 gig plans? The biggest I have ever seen is 6 gig plans, which I switched back to now. Had to go through 3 reps at Rogers in order to change my plan. Was paying more for 500mb of data a month with the rest of my plan then I am not with a 6 gig plan.


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## bouche (Jan 9, 2006)

At the end of the last billing cycle I was above 80% data usage out of 6GB. This was only after having iPhone 5 for 2 weeks! Ever since I've had an iPhone since 2008, I haven't used over 2 GB, and that was also due to heavy usage of the camera on trips, etc. I have an iPad 2 paired with it at work for data, and been using it there for the last 12 months. I still never cracked 2 GB, until after i picked up iPhone 5. I'm already at my 80% threshold today with 12 days left to go in this cycle. Definitely, something is out of wack here.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

I busted my 6G last month in 2 weeks - I was shocked but knew my usage was up so I figured I'd wait until this month to investiage fully (I had maxed my cap the month before by relying on netflix for travel, but just at the end of the month). 

Since my billing cycle started yesterday I reset my counter on the phone and also the Dataman app and found that while streaming one podcast, which apple's app lists at 75Mb, the actual data usage was over 400Mb - during this time the only other thing I did was check facebook a couple times (which I later tested to only be using a couple Mbs at most). All other apps were closed in the 'task tray' so I'm reasonably sure that the podcast app is my problem. This also follows the behaviour from last month after I upgraded to iso6 with the new podcast app, because I got hit with a couple days where I used over a Gb, which I thought was borderline impossible, but I had been streaming 2-3 podcasts on those days, expecting it to be less than 300Mb, however now the math makes sense at 400Mb per episode.

Right now I have my data turned off completely since I have a lot of pocasts downloaded that I still want to listen to today at work and I also don't trust that the app isn't using data in other ways...but when I get home i will be looking for a better solution (synching through itunes and staying offline isn't a great option for my habits). Hoping that this is the only issue.


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## chimo (Jun 9, 2008)

I have a Rogers 6GB plan and seem to be tracking roughly the same usage-wise with my iPhone 5 as I did for my iPhone 4S.


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## bouche (Jan 9, 2006)

losergeek said:


> found that while streaming one podcast, which apple's app lists at 75Mb, the actual data usage was over 400Mb


Well that IS interesting. I listen to podcasts daily. I always sync my phone, but I've found that sometimes the podcasts have the little download icon beside them...even though I had done a sync. I may have listened to a few without realizing...and if they are that big...holy hell! They are 'listed' at 50-70 megs...adam carolla podcast...but if they streamed 4 times that size or more, that is a little unfair.

The other thing I've wondered is if the podcast app just streamed instead of playing the local file, without even showing it.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

bouche said:


> Well that IS interesting. I listen to podcasts daily. I always sync my phone, but I've found that sometimes the podcasts have the little download icon beside them...even though I had done a sync. I may have listened to a few without realizing...and if they are that big...holy hell! They are 'listed' at 50-70 megs...adam carolla podcast...but if they streamed 4 times that size or more, that is a little unfair.
> 
> The other thing I've wondered is if the podcast app just streamed instead of playing the local file, without even showing it.


Back on post 37 of this thread, I posted that I was suspicious that the Apple's Podcast App was the culprit. Since dumping that app, and instead using the paid app Downcast, my data usage went back to normal. 

I had no actual numbers, so this is very interesting to me.

Perhaps Apple should have spent more time on the functionality of the Podcast app than they did on that ****ty skeuomorphic reel to reel tape interface (from the original Podcast app). The update helped the usability of the app, but was simply candy coating on top of a severely flawed application. 

I'm pretty sure the Podcast app was one of Scott Forstall's babies. Hopefully Jony Ive will get things cleaned up on iOS. There's work that needs to be done. 

If it's not ready, don't ship it. I'm glad that they're sitting on iTunes 11 a bit longer. I was just saying a couple weeks ago, that I 'd be afraid to install it based on the buggy stuff that came with iOS6. In short, I have been losing confidence in Apple's ability of execute as of late. Hopefully they get back on track.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

bouche said:


> Well that IS interesting. I listen to podcasts daily. I always sync my phone, but I've found that sometimes the podcasts have the little download icon beside them...even though I had done a sync. I may have listened to a few without realizing...and if they are that big...holy hell! They are 'listed' at 50-70 megs...adam carolla podcast...but if they streamed 4 times that size or more, that is a little unfair.
> 
> The other thing I've wondered is if the podcast app just streamed instead of playing the local file, without even showing it.


I had issues where synching with itunes was deleting files that I had downloaded manually over wifi so it's possible that if there was a download button next to your tracks then the same thing happened. Also, it's a bit of semanctics, but I don't suspect that the app is labelling the size of the podcasts wrong, I suspect it's just downloading them multiple times when streaming (instead of cacheing one copy). Anytime I download the files from other sources the file size seems accurate.

I just noticed that the update to Downcast has the option to limit streaming to wifi so that also solves that problem.


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## _wb_ (Oct 5, 2007)

Maybe the new iOS 6.0.1 released today will fix this.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

_wb_ said:


> Maybe the new iOS 6.0.1 released today will fix this.


I was curious about this too however, either way, I'm not going back to the apple podcast app now that I've paid for a superior alternative. There has been some speculation that there's also data seep happening when switching from wifi to 3g so hopefully that will be addressed.


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## bouche (Jan 9, 2006)

With all this Downcast talk I've been hearing about, seems worth $1.99 to me. I'll give it a try


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

Not that it's a huge thing for me, but now I'm testing 3g streaming with Downcast too, and I'm also finding some pretty serious data seep - a 57Mb podcast used over 160Mb of data.....this is about the same as the 3x usage I found with the apple app. I'm not sure if anyone has any explanation for this, but I guess for the time being I'm just going to stop trying to stream podcasts.

EDIT. Just checked my numbers and I guess with the apple podcast the data seep was worse than 4x so technically Downcast seems better, but it's still a little worrying.


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## dmbfan (Mar 23, 2005)

I can confirm this was also my experience - $50 in overages in Sept/Oct, and I think it was due to Apple's Podcast app. I too switched to Downcast. I like it far better, except that it can't download new podcasts in the background unless the app is running. I have to remember to refresh/download new podcasts before leaving home/work if I want them in the car. 




Bilbo said:


> Back on post 37 of this thread, I posted that I was suspicious that the Apple's Podcast App was the culprit. Since dumping that app, and instead using the paid app Downcast, my data usage went back to normal.
> 
> I had no actual numbers, so this is very interesting to me.
> 
> ...


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## chimo (Jun 9, 2008)

Now that I am decently into a partial billing cycle data usage appears to be elevated a bit. 

I was out of town last week, so I was tethering a fair bit and using facetime - I'm at about 2.8GB of my 6GB monthly allotment. That seems a bit high from my past memory of similar usage. I suppose the higher camera resolution could increase bandwidth a bit but I mostly facetime through tethering on my MBP.

Granted, the extra speed of LTE will burn through the other data faster as well.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

My bill from Rogers just arrived. They are dinging me for the overage charges even though the rep that I spoke with on October the 6th, indicated that this was a known issue and he did not expect that I would be charged additional fees.

My billing cycle starts on the 3rd of the month and by October 6th Rogers wants me to believe that I used 1 gig of data. While my plan is only 500mb of cell data per month, I've never come close to going over as I'm nearly always in wifi. In fact, from January to September, my average monthly cellular data use is 184 mb. 

This makes no sense. As soon as I found out that I nearly doubled my allotted cell data usage in the first three days of my billing cycle, I installed the DataMan app so I could closely monitor the situation. For the remaining 28 days of my billing cycle, I consumed only 118 mb of cellular data...That's over 28 days! Yet Rogers expects me to believe that I used 1 gig over 3 days, when I am nearly always in wifi!

I am still suspicious that Apple's Podcast App was to blame. Either it was downloading stuff over cellular when it shouldn't have been or possibly some other issue with the iPhone 4 and Rogers.

All of my updating and transferring of my data was done with my Phone plugged directly into my computer. I do not back-up via iCloud.

The Rogers customer service rep claims that this is not a known issue and that I did in fact use the data and the charges stand. They were were happy to increase my plan for an extra fee however. That makes sense when I don't use the data that I'm paying for now.

I'm not happy about it, but I'll pay overage fee. If in fact the problem was Apple's Podcast App, then it's not Rogers fault. If it's some other iPhone technical issue, it's not Rogers fault. What I do know, is I was nearly always in wifi during that time and I do no over-the-air updating or iCloud back-ups.

I know that I am probably in the minority here, but Rogers have typically treated me very well, so whatever, I'll pay it. They have earned that much good will from me. I cannot prove that it's their fault anyway and to be totally honest, more than likely it's not.


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## rpalace (Sep 17, 2007)

My wife just spent an hour on the phone about this. Since iOS 6 we've seen huge data spikes coming *only* from my iPhone. We're on a shared 1GB/month plan - we've never gone over. Now we've got $100 in overage data charges. We both have an iPhone 4. Not sure if it is the Podcast App issue but I've got it installed and she doesn't.

She was told that there has been an issue since iOS 6 was released but that the latest update should have fixed it. They also said that it's likely that our overage charges would be removed.

But....

This morning I wake up to find out that we've nearly reached our 120GB internet cap which also has never happened. According to the Rogers rep we've been uploading an average of 2GB a day which he admitted is very high for us. His solution is to do a norton anti-virus scan on my iMac... but I'm starting to get a feeling that it might be the five iOS 6 devices we have around the house doing some auto-uploading.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

That seems to support the Podcast app as potentially being the culprit (or at least part of the problem) wouldn't you say?

I agree 100 percent that these issues seem to be tied to iOS 6 more so than only the iPhone 5. i have read where some iPhone 4s running iOS 6 have had issues as well.

In any case, I am monitoring my usage like a hawk, but since I dumped the podcast app and reset my phone all has been good.


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## IllusionX (Mar 10, 2009)

i don't see especially high usage on my iphone 4s, and no i don't think ios6 is making any large amount of uploads. I uploaded 103mb on 3G and 607mb on wifi since Oct 18. Download is 579mb on 3G and 3.9gb on wifi. This is pretty much the avg i do every month..

You should download the app "DataMan" to monitor your usage. I think someone suggested this before already?

edit: i do have podcast installed, but i don't use it.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

When a rep says your charges will "likely" be removed, ask them to confirm that they will be, and that they provide you with an Interaction Number for your records.




rpalace said:


> My wife just spent an hour on the phone about this. Since iOS 6 we've seen huge data spikes coming *only* from my iPhone. We're on a shared 1GB/month plan - we've never gone over. Now we've got $100 in overage data charges. We both have an iPhone 4. Not sure if it is the Podcast App issue but I've got it installed and she doesn't.
> 
> She was told that there has been an issue since iOS 6 was released but that the latest update should have fixed it. They also said that it's likely that our overage charges would be removed.
> 
> ...


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

IllusionX said:


> i don't see especially high usage on my iphone 4s, and no i don't think ios6 is making any large amount of uploads. I uploaded 103mb on 3G and 607mb on wifi since Oct 18. Download is 579mb on 3G and 3.9gb on wifi. This is pretty much the avg i do every month..
> 
> You should download the app "DataMan" to monitor your usage. I think someone suggested this before already?
> 
> edit: i do have podcast installed, but i don't use it.


I know that some people are in fact seeing these issues with the iPhone 4S and iOS6 (my son for one) while others are not. (Google it and you'll see) Are you using Apple's Podcast App? Not just installed, but actually using it by subscribing to podcasts. 

Another possible culprit is backing up to iCloud. On my device for example, that feature was off on my iPhone 4 and when I migrated to the iPhone 5, it was switched on by default. In this case the settings from my old phone didn't stick. I caught it right away and turned it off as I find simply plugging it in and backing up via iTunes works fine for me.

Other people have pointed the finger at iTunes match as possibly causing this.

In any case, I do believe that this is an iPhone 5 and/or iOS 6 issue and not a Rogers issue. 

PS: I've been using DataMan for a while now, and it was me that suggested people use it to monitor their data use.


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## WCraig (Jul 28, 2004)

The best concise summary of the cellular data issue that I've seen is from TidBits:

TidBITS: Mysterious iOS 6 Cellular Data Usage: A Deeper Look



> Conclusions -- Although not every iOS 6 user is seeing a problem, there’s no doubt in my mind that a problem exists, and that the fix must come from Apple, possibly in conjunction with the phone providers. (Apple even implicitly acknowledged this with a carrier settings update for Verizon Wireless users that prevents the iPhone 5 from using cellular data while on a Wi-Fi network.) iOS 6 does use more cellular data than previous systems did, and it appears to use it in circumstances where previous systems did not.


There is some update in the following article:

TidBITS: iOS 6.0.1 Fixes Bugs, but Does It Prevent Excessive Data Usage?

Craig


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## rpalace (Sep 17, 2007)

This might be unrelated but since when did Apple remove Podcasts from the Apps Made By Apple section of the App Store? It doesn't seem to be in that section of the Canadian store.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

rpalace said:


> This might be unrelated but since when did Apple remove Podcasts from the Apps Made By Apple section of the App Store? It doesn't seem to be in that section of the Canadian store.


That's odd. If you do a search for "Podcast" in the iOS app store, Apple's Podcasts app is the first app that comes up. However, you are correct it is missing in action of the Apps Made by Apple section of the iOS app store.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

DataMan Pro is back in the App Store for $4.99. 

It's similar to the free version, but it can track how much data is used on an app by app basis which is invaluable when trying to determine what app or service is gobbling your cell data.

You can track your data usage right down to the time of day, see what app was requesting or sending data. If that wasn't enough, you can also view a map that shows where you were when the data transfers occurred.

You can even look at your history over time to see how your data use has changed.

Update: Bug in iOS 6 Causes Multiple Downloads of Podcasts, Is Fixed in 6.0.1 - Mac Rumors


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## milhaus (Jun 1, 2004)

Why are you letting Rogers off the hook for something they told you? I had exactly the same issue. Was told to call back after bill had been processed and they would reverse the charges, that it was a known bug. Called back, and they said, "Nope, legitimate usage." Argument ensues in which Rogers rep basically calls me a liar, and then I ask him to read me the account notes, which says it's a "known bug." They reverse the charges, and I contact the Office of the President to complain further. Don't let Rogers walk over you.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

milhaus said:


> Why are you letting Rogers off the hook for something they told you? I had exactly the same issue. Was told to call back after bill had been processed and they would reverse the charges, that it was a known bug. Called back, and they said, "Nope, legitimate usage." Argument ensues in which Rogers rep basically calls me a liar, and then I ask him to read me the account notes, which says it's a "known bug." They reverse the charges, and I contact the Office of the President to complain further. Don't let Rogers walk over you.


First off, there was quite a few notes in my file. What wasn't there was Rogers admitting that it's a known bug that was their fault. The tech rep that I spoke to told me that it was a known issue, but the cause was still under investigation. He went on to say that I "may not" be dinged for overage charges, but he could not guarantee it. 

Secondly, even if Rogers admit that it's a known issue, that doesn't mean that it's THEIR issue. The reality is it looks like the problem is not a Rogers problem at all, but rather an Apple problem. Was the data used? Yes. Was it Rogers fault? No. How can I expect Rogers to eat the charges? I was hoping that they might, but evidently not.

It should be Apple stepping up and reimbursing people for the overage charges and maybe they will – it would be the right thing to do. If they don't, this smells like it could be a class-action lawsuit. For me the overages only amount to $30, not enough to lose my sh*t over. For other people it's considerably more. I don't think that we've heard the last of this.

Lastly, as I previously stated, while I may be in the minority, Rogers have always treated me well. I'm not going to get pissy with them about an issue that evidently wasn't their fault to begin with. If I felt the need to get pissy, I'd direct it at Apple. As far as I'm concerned it's not the end of the world, I have more important things going on in my life than getting upset over $30. 

That said, if Apple steps up and make this right, I'll gladly accept reimbursement.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

Since I'm coming up on the end of my billing cycle, I figured I'd check back in. After dumping the apple podcast app and also reducing my use of youtube probably by about 50% I'm on track to use about 1.5GB this period. This compares to busting my 6GB in less than three weeks last month and getting charged an extra 35$. 

To comment on the article above that this was supposedly fixed in os 6.0.1 - I really thought that I did my testing on the apple podcast app after having updated to 6.0.1 but I can't say for 100% sure. I'm not willing at this point though to assume that it has been fixed and I've basically stopped streaming podcasts completely.


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## bouche (Jan 9, 2006)

I ditched using the podcast app and went with the recommended Downcast just before this billing cycle started 12 days ago. Sure enough, almost half-way through, I've only used 554 MB. At this point last month, I was at almost 4 GB. That's an incredible difference. I'd love to see Apple confirm this publicly. But they won't.


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## rpalace (Sep 17, 2007)

So Rogers agreed to drop our out-of-the-ordinary overage charges. We saved about $100 there. I've ditched the Podcast app and I'm a little hesitant to go back even though it's apparently been fixed.

My latest data transfer issue is a huge increase in uploading over wifi on our home internet. After never coming close to reaching our 120GB cap, now a ton of our usage, close to 2GB a day, is going to uploads. That just recently started as well.

Anyone know what could be causing that? We've got 3 iPhones, 2 iPads and an iMac running but the increase just came out of nowhere. I'm not backing up over iCloud.

Feeling frustrated having to worry about this stuff since it's never been an issue.


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## Atroz (Aug 7, 2005)

rpalace said:


> My latest data transfer issue is a huge increase in uploading over wifi on our home internet. After never coming close to reaching our 120GB cap, now a ton of our usage, close to 2GB a day, is going to uploads. That just recently started as well.
> 
> Anyone know what could be causing that? We've got 3 iPhones, 2 iPads and an iMac running but the increase just came out of nowhere. I'm not backing up over iCloud.
> 
> Feeling frustrated having to worry about this stuff since it's never been an issue.


2 GB of uploads, but what is your downloads? Are you streaming something out such as a photo stream? Anybody running something on the iMac such as a remote access tool or a file sharing tool? 

Little Snitch 3 is a good app for monitoring what your iMac is doing (by application) but it is hard to monitor the iDevices that way. You can look at data transferred. You could use a program like "Data usage" that will tell you what each device is using each day for Wifi and Cell. 

Since you have 3 iPhones, you could turn WiFi off on those and that helps you narrow down if it is the iPhones or the other devices using the WIFI data if you don't want to go the app monitoring route.


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## rpalace (Sep 17, 2007)

Atroz said:


> 2 GB of uploads, but what is your downloads? Are you streaming something out such as a photo stream? Anybody running something on the iMac such as a remote access tool or a file sharing tool?
> 
> Little Snitch 3 is a good app for monitoring what your iMac is doing (by application) but it is hard to monitor the iDevices that way. You can look at data transferred. You could use a program like "Data usage" that will tell you what each device is using each day for Wifi and Cell.
> 
> Since you have 3 iPhones, you could turn WiFi off on those and that helps you narrow down if it is the iPhones or the other devices using the WIFI data if you don't want to go the app monitoring route.


My downloads are pretty much matching uploads but I can't imagine how we're uploading that much data. We download movies and tv shows. Not doing any file-sharing and I rarely take photos on my devices for it to be a photo stream issue.

I'm looking at yesterday's usage and it was up over 5 GB (2.5 down/2.5 up). After work I watched a tv show on Netflix, downloaded a movie and did some browsing.

Thanks for the idea of turning off WiFi on one of the phones. I think I'll start there.

Another strange thing I'm noticing is that activity drops big time on the weekends. That's when we're around the most. Also, our uploading binge seems to have begun on October 14th. Our daily uploading has gone from 500MB to about 2 GB (except for weekends).


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## Atroz (Aug 7, 2005)

rpalace said:


> My downloads are pretty much matching uploads but I can't imagine how we're uploading that much data. We download movies and tv shows. Not doing any file-sharing and I rarely take photos on my devices for it to be a photo stream issue.
> 
> I'm looking at yesterday's usage and it was up over 5 GB (2.5 down/2.5 up). After work I watched a tv show on Netflix, downloaded a movie and did some browsing.
> 
> ...


This really is odd. I wouldn't expect you to be less than a 10:1 (down:up) ratio, even 50:1 not 1:1. Any kids that may be doing something when the parents are away? Or any neighbours that may be stealing your wifi? Perhaps it is time to change your password. 

When I suggested turning off Wifi on the phones, I meant all the phones. This way you eliminate 1/2 the devices and narrow down your search by 1/2. If you still have a problem you know it is not the phones.


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## rpalace (Sep 17, 2007)

Atroz said:


> This really is odd. I wouldn't expect you to be less than a 10:1 (down:up) ratio, even 50:1 not 1:1. Any kids that may be doing something when the parents are away? Or any neighbours that may be stealing your wifi? Perhaps it is time to change your password.
> 
> When I suggested turning off Wifi on the phones, I meant all the phones. This way you eliminate 1/2 the devices and narrow down your search by 1/2. If you still have a problem you know it is not the phones.


No kids, just me and my wife. I've changed the password on my router. Tomorrow I'll start the day by turning off WiFi on my phones and check usage on Monday.

Thanks for the suggestions!


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

So another wrinkle in my data usage - I just happened to check my data usage on a whim and it's showing that today I've used over 1 Gb on wifi and 146 Mb on 3G despite not doing anything other than quickly checking facebook and twitter when I woke up. Also my battery is down to 64% whereas usually at this point it's around 95% (since I keep it docked at night). This is definitely a sign that something serious was running in the background and I'm glad I caught it when I did - who knows how much data would have been used up since I had only been away from my home wifi for less than an hour. 

I forced closed all the apps that were running in the tray and did a hard reboot and now it seems to have stopped but in retrospect I wish I did a little more experimenting by closing apps one at a time and checking the data to see which was the culprit. At the time though I was just shocked and wanted it to stop. 

Either way there is definitely still issues with ios6 that I never ever came close to having with 5.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

duplicate.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

One more question - does anyone know of an iphone app right now that tracks data usage by app? "My Data Manager" used to offer this breakdown but not since the upgrade to ios 6. Specifically I'd need an app that will do this on an iphone 4 running ios 6


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

losergeek said:


> One more question - does anyone know of an iphone app right now that tracks data usage by app? "My Data Manager" used to offer this breakdown but not since the upgrade to ios 6. Specifically I'd need an app that will do this on an iphone 4 running ios 6


DataMan Pro in the iOS AppStore should do what you want. If I recall correctly, it costs $4.99. You will need to turn on "Precise Tracking" in DataMan Pro's preferences.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

I'm not sure anyone else is still having issues, but there's still something weird going on with my phone. Several times in the last couple weeks I've woken up to find that my phone has used 20-40MB while I was asleep and it was supposedly on wifi the whole time (not to mention idle) - this isn't a big deal for me with my 6GB plan but if this happened every couple days on my wife's 500MB plan it would bust her cap. Incidentally, she is still on ios5 and doesn't seem to have any data issues whatsoever.

On another weird note, I noticed today that I've used 500MB on wifi despite only having downloaded 1 45MB podcast and doing some light browsing. Usually I don't pay attention to the wifi data because I have unlimited bandwidth at home, but again, if someone had a data cap on their home internet this would be a major concern. I'm really not sure what Apple is doing with this version but something is definitely screwy. 

None of this has been a major concern since it hasn't costed me any money for a couple months, but it's starting to make me really nervous so I'm probably going to have to dole out the 10$ for Dataman Pro just to see what's going on.


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## polywog (Aug 9, 2007)

losergeek said:


> On another weird note, I noticed today that I've used 500MB on wifi despite only having downloaded 1 45MB podcast and doing some light browsing. Usually I don't pay attention to the wifi data because I have unlimited bandwidth at home, but again, if someone had a data cap on their home internet this would be a major concern. I'm really not sure what Apple is doing with this version but something is definitely screwy.


If you're backing up your phone to the Cloud, rather than locally to iTunes, that could explain the data usage.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

polywog said:


> If you're backing up your phone to the Cloud, rather than locally to iTunes, that could explain the data usage.


Icloud is turned off. There's no way around this - I've spent over 2 months on these issues and although I've got my data use under the critical limits, there's still something seriously wrong with ios6. My contract is up in 6 months and although I had planned on sticking with another iphone, if apple doesn't address this or at least admit it's a problem then I'll be jumping ship.


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## cit1 (Dec 6, 2012)

My iOS 6 data leak mysteriously fixed itself, after tweaking with the settings a lot, and constantly monitoring the usage


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

cit1 said:


> My iOS 6 data leak mysteriously fixed itself, after tweaking with the settings a lot, and constantly monitoring the usage


I think my last ditch effort is going to be restoring my phone and only reinstalling the apps that I'm currently using and see if that makes a difference. I'm not willing to invest much more time in this since I've learned how to live with it (basically, stopped streaming everything) but it still bothers me that I'm paying for 6Gb and not getting what I'm paying for.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

For me Apple's Podcast app was the problem. As soon as I ditched it, my cell data usage immediately went back to normal. There are better alternatives to Apple's podcast app anyway. I wouldn't think that you should need to turn off tons of services and cripple your phone.


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## skippythebushkangaroo (Nov 28, 2012)

I have experienced normal use with my iPhone 5 until Monday, the first day of my new billing cycle. Rogers changed my billing to match the aggressive FIDO voice/txt unlimited plan @ $56 per month with 2GB data. 

So I checked my billing and usage on Monday evening to find that my phone had consumed 3.3GB of data! Most of my day had been spent on wifi too.

Phoned Rogers technical who created an incident report. They acknowledged it was not my fault and told me to call billing in the morning. They also mentioned this is a known issue with Apple devices regardless of carrier and that Apple was working on a fix. Tuesday morning I called billing who adjusted my account to give me unlimited LTE data into March.

So the good thing is I have a truly unlimited plan for 3 months!


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## MacUnited (Nov 1, 2009)

I'm starting to notice that a very high percentage of folks with the usage issues are either with Rogers or Fido.. I haven't had any issues with bell although I'm not a typical user since I don't use the "cloud" that much..
maybe it's something provider specific? an issue with Rogers? or is there anybody with Bell or Telus that is having trouble as well?


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## skippythebushkangaroo (Nov 28, 2012)

MacUnited said:


> I'm starting to notice that a very high percentage of folks with the usage issues are either with Rogers or Fido.. I haven't had any issues with bell although I'm not a typical user since I don't use the "cloud" that much..
> maybe it's something provider specific? an issue with Rogers? or is there anybody with Bell or Telus that is having trouble as well?


If you take a look at Apples support thread on this topic you will see that all carriers that support Apple are experiencing the problem. Rogers has more Apple clientele than Bell and Telus for historical reasons. They had iPhone exclusivity for years.


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## losergeek (Oct 30, 2012)

I did a full restore on my iPhone over the weekend hoping that it would resolve the issue and then today while on my wifi I was reinstalling a couple apps and got dinged for 84mb of data despite my wifi being up the whole time (I was watching Netflix on my tv so I can be sure that there was no issue with the wifi). I don't have the podcast app, icloud or anything else that could be using data covertly (and again i was on wifi so it shouldn't matter). This one bug has turned me from a huge iPhone backer to someone that will be jumping ship next contract if apple doesn't acknowledge and fix the issue. 

For the record - I'm on bell, but that doesn't matter when you're seeing data seep on the phone side.


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## Atroz (Aug 7, 2005)

MacUnited said:


> I'm starting to notice that a very high percentage of folks with the usage issues are either with Rogers or Fido.. I haven't had any issues with bell although I'm not a typical user since I don't use the "cloud" that much..
> maybe it's something provider specific? an issue with Rogers? or is there anybody with Bell or Telus that is having trouble as well?


I am a Rogers user and have an iPhone 5 with Wifi access at home and part of the work day. At work I have a Rogers hotspot and it's showing almost no use so when the iPhone is on Wifi it's also not using much data. I do use iCloud, I've got a couple email accounts, etc. I just checked and I'm only showing 90 Megs used on my rogers account for the month (12 days I think).


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