need an app to tell me which apps use the most data

[Guest hp1]

I just got a text from O2 telling me to cut down on my data usage even though I thought I was on a decent unlimited package.

I've installed 3g watchdog and its informed me that I used almost 8mb overnight without even touching the phone.

This seems pretty high so I'm keen to get an idea of the breakdown of the usage across the apps and widgets. I've had a scan in the market but couldn't see anything that looked like it would do the job?

[Guest erugalatha]

I just got a text from O2 telling me to cut down on my data usage even though I thought I was on a decent unlimited package.

I've installed 3g watchdog and its informed me that I used almost 8mb overnight without even touching the phone.

This seems pretty high so I'm keen to get an idea of the breakdown of the usage across the apps and widgets. I've had a scan in the market but couldn't see anything that looked like it would do the job?

get APNDroid from the market. It allows you to turn on and off data (all it does is prefix your APN settings so they don't connect). I turn off data overnight.

There's a widget with APNDroid that allows you to control it from your home screen.

Other than 3g watchdog I do not know of something that gives stats on data usage for apps.

[Guest hp1]

Yeah, I looked into that but the way I see it apps that are updating overnight like facebook, NewsRoom etc will onlyupdate themselves in the morning when you switch the data back on and more than likely it will be the same data they would have downloaded overnight so I dont see how it will help me.

The numbers that O2 are qouting me are outrageous:

On 22 March I phoned them and they said I'd used 650MB (between 12th and 22nd March, yes 650MB in 10 days.)

Today (25th) I phoned them and it had gone up to 810MB!! So according to O2 I've used 160MB in 3 days, is that even possible? I mean I'd have to be streaming video for hours to rack up that kind of usage. Ok I do tether very occasionally but not enough to hit those kinds of figures.

I've since installed 3g watchdog and Netcounter to see if they match O2s figures for next month. I'm a bit dubious about the accuracy fo their figures.

[Guest Alsybub]

I do hate how low the "unlimited" packages are from providers.

I only have 500MB on Orange on their so called "unlimited" internet package. It's so easy to go over the limit and it's expensive if you do.

Fair usage my arse! I'm scared to do any kind of downloading over 3g and although tethering is great I'm simply afraid to use it. I spoke to a couple of Orange representatives about it and they said it's virtually impossible to go over the limit but my flat mate on the same tariff did in the first month.

I wouldn't be quite so angry about it if the remaining allowance was carried over to the next month or if I could exchange some of my minutes or texts for more internet usage.

My girlfriend lives in Denmark and her standard internet limit is set at 10GB per month!

[Guest erugalatha]

I do hate how low the "unlimited" packages are from providers.

I only have 500MB on Orange on their so called "unlimited" internet package. It's so easy to go over the limit and it's expensive if you do.

Fair usage my arse! I'm scared to do any kind of downloading over 3g and although tethering is great I'm simply afraid to use it. I spoke to a couple of Orange representatives about it and they said it's virtually impossible to go over the limit but my flat mate on the same tariff did in the first month.

I wouldn't be quite so angry about it if the remaining allowance was carried over to the next month or if I could exchange some of my minutes or texts for more internet usage.

My girlfriend lives in Denmark and her standard internet limit is set at 10GB per month!

I don't use my Hero as my main phone so I bought a separate USB dongle 3G thingy which costs 19.99 euros a month (on Vodafone in Ireland). I think the data limit was 5 GB but recently went up to 10 GB.

The Hero seems extemely 'chatty' when on the network so I don't think your reasoning that it will download the same amount when you turn it on in the morning is valid because during the night it will be constantly connecting and disconnecting which increases data usage.

Another option might be to turn off the "Enable always-on mobile" (this is in the 2.1 ROM's) under Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile Networks ->

And also set all your accounts to sync manually. Although when I did this I saw that it still connected even though it was set to not connect automatically. That's why I installed APNDroid.

Worth a try if you get a great big invoice from O2. :/

[Guest speedking34]

I recently experienced a similar story to yours.

Up untill a few days ago, I was a happy three customer. I was on their "unlimited internet" plan, and on average (according to my monthly bills) I would use about 250 to 500 MB of data a month.

My contract renewed every 17th of the month, so every thing would be reset to zero at that point (calls minutes, text, data). On the 21th, I got a message from Three telling me that I had gone over their fair usage policy of 1 Go of data.

Considering I normally only use a maximum of 500MB of data over a full month, there was no way I had used 1Go in three small days, so I rang them up. The guy then told me that I had used up 700MB on the 18th, and 350MB on the 19th.

Moreover, they were expecting me to pay for the 50MB that I supposedly used over my allowance. After 30 minutes of wasted time talking to someone not competent enough to understand my problem, "we" reached some kind of compromise, in which they would not charge me for the 50MB and cut my internet usage for the month.

I said enough is enough, and I asked the person to cancel my contract with three (My 18 months contract had ended in january) and took my business to vodafone, whom I am subscibed to now.

I can't really help you with your problem, but I just wanted to share my story with you, if only to show that all mobile network are the same lying, money suckers everywhere.

[Guest hp1]

Speeking, thanks for sharing. I did have another chat with an O2 rep who did some digging and informed me that they have no record of me using data in February so what I think has happened is they are quoting me figures for almost two months usage which would make a lot more sense.

I'm going to cut down on Tethering and switch the mobile internet switch off at night and see how much of a difference it makes. It annoys me though becuase the reason I went for an 'unlimited' data plan was so I could enjoy my phone without having to worry about it.

I'm on a rolling monthly sim only deal so I can cancel my contract whenever I want if I need to.

[Guest Arkymedes]

There is an excellent app in the market called "NetCounter"

Tracks usage per day, week and month of your 3G and WiFi connections :)

But unfortunately no track by app usage ;)

[Guest hp1]

yeah been using that as well as 3g watchdog, its pretty good but it would be really nice if I could get an idea of which apps and widgets use what data. Maybe some clever dev will come up with one soon.

[Guest paaland]

yeah been using that as well as 3g watchdog, its pretty good but it would be really nice if I could get an idea of which apps and widgets use what data. Maybe some clever dev will come up with one soon.

Using "Spare Parts" from Market you can get a visual and detailed breakdown of not only battery usage, but also netowork usage. The menu choice is somewhat misleading called "Battery history", but will allow you to select network usage in a dropdown.

Edited March 28, 2010 by paaland

[Guest zorm]

Using "Spare Parts" from Market you can get a visual and detailed breakdown of not only battery usage, but also netowork usage. The menu choice is somewhat misleading called "Battery history", but will allow you to select network usage in a dropdown.

I'm running MCR 3.2 & use Spare Parts. It works great in all respects bar one. GPS usage & Network usage always show 'no data available'. I understand this for GPS as I don't use it, but Network usage? Anyone any ideas why it might not be working for me?

[Guest oscheng]

I'm running MCR 3.2 & use Spare Parts. It works great in all respects bar one. GPS usage & Network usage always show 'no data available'. I understand this for GPS as I don't use it, but Network usage? Anyone any ideas why it might not be working for me?

I appear to be getting the same issue on 3.2b5

[Guest JadeMonkee]

I'm running MCR 3.2 & use Spare Parts. It works great in all respects bar one. GPS usage & Network usage always show 'no data available'. I understand this for GPS as I don't use it, but Network usage? Anyone any ideas why it might not be working for me?

I also have this problem...

[Guest paaland]

Maybe Paul has disabled or removed a service or something like that in his roms that is required for Android to log these things. Or perhaps it's missing from Teknologists kernels. I'm running a 2.1 ROM and as you can se from the attachments above it's working fine there.

Edited March 29, 2010 by paaland

[Guest hp1]

Running MCR 3.0, not data showing, shame.

[Guest zorm]

So the obvious question is, does anyone have useful output from Spare Parts Network usage who is running MCR? If not, looks like paaland is right & it might be worth asking Paul if he's familiar with this issue.

[Guest milko9000]

same problem on MCR3.1, just to add to the set. It was a custom bake version from the kitchen.

It actually still says 'no battery usage data available' despite being set to network usage. Odd.

[Guest stevenz]

Maybe try the "Wipe battery history" option in the recovery menu? Maybe the info is corrupted? Certainly mine doesn't work on 3.2, about to try Villain 5.0 (Sprint Hero 2.1 port) - will see how that goes.

Instead of installing APNDroid to turn the mobile data off, why not just press the power button and turn it off from there? Pretty sure you can use Locale to schedule it to turn everything off at night as well.