iPhone suddenly using massive amounts of data

[Le Big Mac]

My mom's iPhone has suddenly started using massive amounts of data. She's on the 200MB plan, and generally has used less than half of that each month. In the last day, she has used over 1GB of data, with overage alerts coming frequently.

I asked what she was doing-video, audio, anything else, and she said no. She said she'd taken a few pictures recently, but that shouldn't have done it, even if photostream is on (which it shouldn't be).

AT&T didn't have any ideas, but quickly issued a credit for the overages.

Any ideas what could be going on? Of course, she's in another state so I can't look at the phone myself.

[emjaycee18]

Photostream wouldn't do it, since its only supposed to work over wifi. Does she use PassBook at all? Depending on app settings her phone could be pulling GPS info all day long.

I live next door to a Wallgreens, and I had to change the notification settings because of Location Services constantly trying to pull info.

[Le Big Mac]

Pretty sure she doesn't use passbook.

How much data does location services pull? She was getting hourly bills of ~100MB in the middle of the night. She lives in a suburban, residential area not near much of any business.

[madsci954]

Maybe a rogue app running in the background.

[Le Big Mac]

Originally Posted by madsci954

Maybe a rogue app running in the background.

That's what I'm figuring it must be, but it's very odd. I told my mom to poewrcycle the phone in case something is going a bit haywire.

[barkomatic]

Originally Posted by Le Big Mac

That's what I'm figuring it must be, but it's very odd. I told my mom to poewrcycle the phone in case something is going a bit haywire.

If the excessive data usage doesn't stop, then I'd restore the iPhone and set it up as new. As you re-install any apps she may have purchased, so "no" to any that ask to use location services (except maps--kinda required to make that useful)

I was "leaking" excessive data myself until I discovered that two apps I was trying out to monitor my data usage(ironically enough) were actually utilizing my GPS 24 hours a day. I have unlimited data so no biggie here -- but I don't want to be throttled either. I deleted them and that seems to have stopped the bleeding for now.

[JediMeister]

You may want to also go to Settings->iTunes & App Stores and see if under the Automatic Downloads option, whether Use Cellular Data is enabled. If she purchased music or apps on another iOS device/computer with the same AppleID, it could have started downloading it when she wasn't connected over Wi-Fi.

[King Luis]

just a thought, try turning off LTE. i believe this uses higher quality (less compression) when surfing the web, watching videos, etc.
my data has close to tripled from when i used my iphone 4.

[macingman]

Originally Posted by Le Big Mac

My mom's iPhone has suddenly started using massive amounts of data. She's on the 200MB plan, and generally has used less than half of that each month. In the last day, she has used over 1GB of data, with overage alerts coming frequently.

I asked what she was doing-video, audio, anything else, and she said no. She said she'd taken a few pictures recently, but that shouldn't have done it, even if photostream is on (which it shouldn't be).

AT&T didn't have any ideas, but quickly issued a credit for the overages.

Any ideas what could be going on? Of course, she's in another state so I can't look at the phone myself.

Did she do anything new with the device? Change any settings? Download any new apps? Maybe try turning to phone of for an hour or two to see if the phone still pulls data when turned off to rule out it being some sort of issue on the carriers side.

[rhett7660]

My father in law had the same issue but it was on Verizon. We took it in several times. The last time we took it in, we shut all the apps down and opened up the settings. We checked the data usage and then about two minutes later checked it again and the Verizon rep said I have seen enough and issued us a brand new phone. We have not had the problem since.

No apps open, nothing going on in the background and it was still collecting data.

They have never gone over there limit which is on the lowest one and all of sudden their bill was huge. Verizon was nice enough to issue a refund on the bill and get us a new iPhone.

[Le Big Mac]

Originally Posted by macingman

Did she do anything new with the device? Change any settings? Download any new apps? Maybe try turning to phone of for an hour or two to see if the phone still pulls data when turned off to rule out it being some sort of issue on the carriers side.

Not that I'm aware of. Phone seems not to be pulling data with it off, though.

I've told her to take it into Apple store to see if they can figure it out--she's not technically adept and I can't walk her through stuff over the phone without pulling out all my hair, my eyeballs, my legs, and then finally my arms.

[erpetao]

Happened to my wife in December too. I looked online and in forums for answers, and the solution was to disable everything in icloud, actually even deleting the icloud account.

It's still switched off until they fix the bug.

Delete the icloud account.

[Appl3FTW]

it's the LTE

[Le Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Appl3FTW

it's the LTE

It's a 4S.

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by barkomatic

If the excessive data usage doesn't stop, then I'd restore the iPhone and set it up as new. As you re-install any apps she may have purchased, so "no" to any that ask to use location services (except maps--kinda required to make that useful)

I was "leaking" excessive data myself until I discovered that two apps I was trying out to monitor my data usage(ironically enough) were actually utilizing my GPS 24 hours a day. I have unlimited data so no biggie here -- but I don't want to be throttled either. I deleted them and that seems to have stopped the bleeding for now.

Originally Posted by emjaycee18

Photostream wouldn't do it, since its only supposed to work over wifi. Does she use PassBook at all? Depending on app settings her phone could be pulling GPS info all day long.

I live next door to a Wallgreens, and I had to change the notification settings because of Location Services constantly trying to pull info.

Are you guys really serious???!

GPS informations DOES NOT require Internet or any type of data inquiry. Any location based service doesn't require data to connect to the GPS satellite.

On the other hand, Loading maps and the information they contain does. If a data connection is available, the only difference it ill make is lock onto your position quicker, but it is not required to use the GPS satellite.

Learn the difference.

[Le Big Mac]

Location services also uses cell tower locations to determine location, not just GPS satellites. But I have a hard time believing it pulls a lot of data. It certainly drains the battery though.

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by Le Big Mac

Location services also uses cell tower locations to determine location, not just GPS satellites. But I have a hard time believing it pulls a lot of data. It certainly drains the battery though.

It does use cellular, but only if available and as an aid, not to determine where you are. (Assuming you have a GPS signal). Else, your location is based on Wi-Fi and cell tower triangulation.

GPS satellite signal is solely responsible for your location, not your data in the data plan.

[got2go]

My wife's 4s is doing the same thing. Last month she used her entire 300mb plan in 5 days when she typically only uses <200mb a month. This month she used 75mb in one night while being at home on wifi the entire time, putting her over the limit. Something is screwed up on AT&T's side or and app is leaking data.

[Hosei]

Not sure why they replaced your phone... It seems like this can only be a software problem on AT&T's end or your end.

[LapsangSouchong]

Originally Posted by got2go

My wife's 4s is doing the same thing. Last month she used her entire 300mb plan in 5 days when she typically only uses <200mb a month. This month she used 75mb in one night while being at home on wifi the entire time, putting her over the limit. Something is screwed up on AT&T's side or and app is leaking data.

Mine did this Friday. I run first thing in the morning, with GPS. I typically see a few hundred Kbs during my run.
Friday, while I was on my run, my phone apparently used 30+MB of data. My data alert went off saying I'd just used my 30MB daily allotment in 30 minutes (while not really using the phone). I'd been on wifi since midnight, til my run.
Checked using *3282# and sure enough, I'd gone up 35MB since the night before (when I'd checked to tell hubby how the month was going).

[Le Big Mac]

Circling back . . . . never figured out what was going on.

Mom went into Genius Bar and according to her they "replaced the insides". I strongly doubt that's what actually happened, and I had the opportunity to play with the phone this weekend. Showed all signs of a full restore (had to reenter passwords and account information).

This seems to have solved the problem. Not absolutely certain, but the data hasn't been going nuts since she went in.

[jsf721]

I have the same issue o my Wife's 4S with Verizon. I am on the unlimiited plan but it is anoying. Will try getting a new phone.

[punchdrunk55]

Has anyone got any resolution to this issue? 2 weeks back my phone used 700 MB's (yes over half a gig) at 4 A.M. while I was sleeping and on Wifi, and then later the next day 500 MB's, also on wifi. When I go to bed I have only my basic apps running (mail, safari and messages) and there was no reason it should have done wnything like that.

I went straight to verizon and then their only response was to say they would monitor but two weeks later all they said was try and not use so much data.

[Mlrollin91]

Originally Posted by punchdrunk55

Has anyone got any resolution to this issue? 2 weeks back my phone used 700 MB's (yes over half a gig) at 4 A.M. while I was sleeping and on Wifi, and then later the next day 500 MB's, also on wifi. When I go to bed I have only my basic apps running (mail, safari and messages) and there was no reason it should have done wnything like that.

I went straight to verizon and then their only response was to say they would monitor but two weeks later all they said was try and not use so much data.

Thats merely just the time Verizon's server updates. Doesn't mean the data is being used at that specific time. Could be usage from up to the previous 48 hours all bundled up into one time spot.

If you are using an iPhone 5 and have LTE enabled, it sucks data like no other. Just running a speed tests eats up 40+MB in a matter of seconds. Any videos played on the phone will also use more data over LTE because the bandwidth supports higher quality playback. I've used 1GB within an hour of running speed tests and watching a couple videos.

[punchdrunk55]

Originally Posted by Mlrollin91

Thats merely just the time Verizon's server updates. Doesn't mean the data is being used at that specific time. Could be usage from up to the previous 48 hours all bundled up into one time spot.

If you are using an iPhone 5 and have LTE enabled, it sucks data like no other. Just running a speed tests eats up 40+MB in a matter of seconds. Any videos played on the phone will also use more data over LTE because the bandwidth supports higher quality playback. I've used 1GB within an hour of running speed tests and watching a couple videos.

I understand that. When you view the data on the website it specifically says when the data was burned, there are a dozen pages with a few kb's to 5 MB's and then the two anomolys. 430 AM and 230 Pm ish the next day with massive amounts used. I typically use about 800 mb's to 1.2 gb's a month and 6 days into the billing cycle I had already used 1.3 gb's. This was something either with the phone continuously updating or error in reporting. I can go back to when I got my 4s and the data usage is fairly consistent.