Samsung Galaxy S3 - lot of data usage. Why?

Nine_Lives

The wife has about 30 mb left of her 500mb monthly allowance which she says expires 1Dec.

The thing is, this is her first proper month with the Galaxy S3, after previously being an iPhone user.

With the iPhone, she never went near her 500mb allowance. With both phones when at home she uses WIFI connection. She's not used the Galaxy S3 too heavily really & certainly not as much as when we've been away - which is when she previously used the monthly allowance the most.

Just wondering if the Galaxy S3 manages downloads differently to the iPhone as something has caused a massive increase, despite no significant increase in usage.

Tony5101

Take a look under settings, then data usage. Make sure that the mobile data box is ticked, and it should then show you which apps have been using data and how much. Just set up the correct parameters for when the data allowances start each month etc, and it'll give you a running total. It's never going to match the network total 100%, but shouldn't be too far off.

globalds

make sure you set updates of apps to wifi only

This is done by clicking on settings when on the google play page.

updating a game or something like google maps will eat lots of data.

forgotmyname

Auto updates on? As above set to WIFI only or turn it off.

Get an app called 3G Watchdog, Richard Gruet.

That will let you monitor the daily usage etc. Not sure if there is an app that can check the data transfer by app?

My GS2 is still on GingerBread I didnt like some of the changes to ICS when i had a play with my daughters phone.

But i did notice a network log that appeared a whole lot better. But too many dislikes to may up for that one extra feature.

mobilewizard

What kind of iPhone did she have? Some of the older models were only 2G, in which case it would be nearly impossible to use 500MB in a month.

As mentioned in the above posts, Android updates most of your applications automatically, and updates are a lot more frequent than on iOS.

Has she thought of moving to a higher plan/buying a larger data bundle? 500MB is a tiny amount of data for a Galaxy S3

jen245

I have a gs3, and even using wifi where possible I still use on average about 700mb of data each month. I have a 1gb allowance so its not an issue, and i do tend to use mobile data quite a bit when im out, or at work.

jem16

K_P83 wrote: »

Just wondering if the Galaxy S3 manages downloads differently to the iPhone as something has caused a massive increase, despite no significant increase in usage.

I've switched over from the iPhone 4 to the S3. Data usage was 65mb last month, pretty similar to my iPhone usage. Most of the time I'm on WiFi too.

Apart from the inbuilt data usage as already mentioned, you can install Onavo Count which will show you exactly how the data is being used. Another useful app is My Data Manager which will let you see when data is being used and how.

One of the main things to check is how apps are being updated.

Guys_Dad

Very surprised that an Android is using more data than an Iphone which is notorious, particularly latest version of its operating system, for grabbing data if not set up to avoid it.

Lots of things can contribute - Gmail sync set on, Updates not restricted to WiFi only etc.

As recommended, get an app that shows how much data is being used split by wi-fi and mobile. Lots of them available, plus Samsung may have an app installed already for that.

Nine_Lives

Her SGS3 is running Jelly Bean if that makes a difference.

Her auto-updates are turned off. This is due to update experiences with the iPhone - sometimes updates make an app worse, so we both wait for reviews on an update these days before updating.

Her iPhone was a 3GS, so 3G enabled. She always had her 3G turned on on that (iPhone) phone.

She noticed that Facebook had push notifications set to check every hour, so not sure if this would be the cause of such an increase in data usage.

A larger plan isn't/shouldn't be necessary. 500mb was always MORE than enough on the iPhone.

I'll let her know what you guys have said. Thanks.

jem16

K_P83 wrote: »

Her SGS3 is running Jelly Bean if that makes a difference.

As is mine.

She noticed that Facebook had push notifications set to check every hour, so not sure if this would be the cause of such an increase in data usage.

Mine is set at 1 hour too.

A larger plan isn't/shouldn't be necessary. 500mb was always MORE than enough on the iPhone.

I'm still finding it more than enough.