[Q] Android OS chewing through half of my data plan?

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mayank06199

Senior Member
Oct 6, 2013
189
58
Vadodara
OnePlus 11
So I have a Samsung Galaxy Young S6312, rooted and running on stock ROM(jellybean 4.1.2).
I don't have access to unlimited data plans, so I want to keep my data usage to a minimum. So I downloaded 3g watchdog and tracked what was using up my data. And I came to know that Android OS is using up about 50% of my data. In 2 days I used about 90 MB data, out of which 45 MB were chewed by Android OS. I also used Onavo Count, which showed me that on a day when I used 25 MB data, 18 MB was used by Android OS. Please suggest me a solution, this is driving me mad.

P.S : Auto-Sync is turned of my device. I have also turned off Backup of passwords, contacts etc. Also, I don't use Google+ or YouTube on my device. So I don't know what is causing this.
 

es0tericcha0s

Senior Member
May 6, 2010
4,417
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mobilemojo5280.com
There's a bunch of suggestions here:

http://androidandme.com/thread/android-os-crazy-data-usage/

Unfortunately, there is no ONE fix as different people have the issue for different reasons. Sometimes it's because they're on ICS and there seems to be a bug that affects some phones with it. Sometimes it was syncing, which I know you have off. Sometimes it's Google Play Services. Sometimes it's a 3rd party app or built in stock browser or launcher that reports as Android OS. So yea...seems like a PITA. Maybe running something like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shaddow.eventLogger combined with this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobidia.android.mdm might help shed some light?
 
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dxppxd

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2012
563
188
If you root, there's firewall apps such as droidwall and afwall which give you control to decide whicch apps should have access to 3g, wifi, including android os, kernel and any system app.
 

mayank06199

Senior Member
Oct 6, 2013
189
58
Vadodara
OnePlus 11
I forgot to mention, I already have a firewall(Android Firewall) enabled, and I use it in whitelist mode, and I have not ticked any app to have internet access other than which I use. I have also not ticked Android System. Yet somehow, inexplicably, Android Os is eating my data.
 

nadohage

Member
Apr 30, 2014
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0
I use Droidwall for this purpose, now no unwanted data consumption by apps. :)

Sent from my Q700S using xda premium
 

Planterz

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2014
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817
Tucson, AZ
Are you tethering your internet to a computer?

Back when I had Verizon, I hacked my Motorola Droid Razr Maxx (4.1.2) to have free mobile hotspot. I noticed the same thing: that Android OS was using a ton of data. However, the math didn't add up. I had 4gb of data, but when I'd get an overage warning, I'd look at all the numbers, and mobile hotspot and Android OS added up to way more than 4gb. I concluded it was just a glitch, since it was hacked, caused because the software just didn't know how to report it accurately.

For example, I'm currently using a 4.2.2 Samsung phone on T-Mobile (unlimited), and I've used a proverbial #@%$ ton of data doing USB tethering with PdaNet+, yet PdaNet+ doesn't show up as using data. My billing cycle resets on the 7th of each month, and loading up the T-Mobile app, it says I've used 262.66GB of data. On my phone however, it says that I've used 474GB. But Android OS only lists 68.65MB. With my Verizon phone, I used wi-fi tethering. On my T-Mobile phone I use USB tethering (and some Blu Tooth as well). So that could explain that discrepancy, or it could be the different Android versions.

Either way, OBVIOUSLY, something is wrong with the way Androids track data usage when it comes to tethering. If you tether, my advice to you would be to actually add up everything listed in the data usage, and then compare it to what your provider says you've used. I have no clue what it's like in India, but in the US, every major provider gives you an account app that, among other things like payments and plan changes, tracks your data/messaging/minutes usage. If tethering is the culprit, go by what your provider says, NOT by what your phone says.

If you don't tether, I don't know what the heck the problem could be.
 
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mayank06199

Senior Member
Oct 6, 2013
189
58
Vadodara
OnePlus 11
Well, that certainly explains a lot. I DO use tethering rather a lot, so I guess the amount of data I use on tethering shows up as Android OS. Thanks for explaining this out to me.
 

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    There's a bunch of suggestions here:

    http://androidandme.com/thread/android-os-crazy-data-usage/

    Unfortunately, there is no ONE fix as different people have the issue for different reasons. Sometimes it's because they're on ICS and there seems to be a bug that affects some phones with it. Sometimes it was syncing, which I know you have off. Sometimes it's Google Play Services. Sometimes it's a 3rd party app or built in stock browser or launcher that reports as Android OS. So yea...seems like a PITA. Maybe running something like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shaddow.eventLogger combined with this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobidia.android.mdm might help shed some light?
    1
    Are you tethering your internet to a computer?

    Back when I had Verizon, I hacked my Motorola Droid Razr Maxx (4.1.2) to have free mobile hotspot. I noticed the same thing: that Android OS was using a ton of data. However, the math didn't add up. I had 4gb of data, but when I'd get an overage warning, I'd look at all the numbers, and mobile hotspot and Android OS added up to way more than 4gb. I concluded it was just a glitch, since it was hacked, caused because the software just didn't know how to report it accurately.

    For example, I'm currently using a 4.2.2 Samsung phone on T-Mobile (unlimited), and I've used a proverbial #@%$ ton of data doing USB tethering with PdaNet+, yet PdaNet+ doesn't show up as using data. My billing cycle resets on the 7th of each month, and loading up the T-Mobile app, it says I've used 262.66GB of data. On my phone however, it says that I've used 474GB. But Android OS only lists 68.65MB. With my Verizon phone, I used wi-fi tethering. On my T-Mobile phone I use USB tethering (and some Blu Tooth as well). So that could explain that discrepancy, or it could be the different Android versions.

    Either way, OBVIOUSLY, something is wrong with the way Androids track data usage when it comes to tethering. If you tether, my advice to you would be to actually add up everything listed in the data usage, and then compare it to what your provider says you've used. I have no clue what it's like in India, but in the US, every major provider gives you an account app that, among other things like payments and plan changes, tracks your data/messaging/minutes usage. If tethering is the culprit, go by what your provider says, NOT by what your phone says.

    If you don't tether, I don't know what the heck the problem could be.