Re: Mobile data on

Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

Ed Cryer <ed@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
 

Something is switching on mobile data. I thought it was me for a
while; maybe a stray finger or thumb over the drop-down settings. But
it still happens occasionally, even though I've been very careful.
How can I find the app that's doing it?

 
What options are available likely depends on brand of phone, and maybe
even the model within a brand.  For example, with Samsung (maybe not all
of them), go to Settings -> Connections -> Data Usage, and use the menu
button. Select "Restrict Background" from the menu which stops automatic
enable of data.  Some phones reenable data when resuming out of sleep
mode.
 
Some folks say to disable automatic update of date and time: settings ->
Date & Time, toggle "set automatically".  Yet I thought cell phones got
their time sync from cell towers which get their time sync from GPS
satellites, not by the phone using data for an Internet connection to
some NTP server.
 
On my phone, under settings -> Network -> Wifi, menu, Advanced, there is
a "Switch fo mobile data" option which I have enabled.  When I leave
home to lose the wifi connect to my cable modem, I still want my apps to
connect online, like to Google Maps.
 
There are malicious apps that will reenable data, like a viral VPN app
that wants to connect to your phone from outside.  Because apps often
want data for Internet connections, and they can reenable data when
they're active, you might want to go to Data Saver settings to see if
Data Saver is enabled, and, if so, which, if any, apps are excluded.

 
Hello, man.
 
I've looked through all my apps, viewing Permisions for each one.
The likeliest suspect is an app that surveys our local bus Network. It
has one permission; Location.
That seems very likely. Interpreted through the eyes of a predator, it
could read as "switch on GPS when wifi is disabled".
But I can't catch it in flagrante delicto. In fact, quite the opposite.
I switch off wifi, load the app, and it just sits there blinking at me;
while mobile data stays off.
 
I hope you're well.
 
Ed

Another place to look is in settings -> Data Manager, and select Mobile
to look at usage.  For me, under there are a list of apps that want data
access.  I know there is one app that I set it to "restricted": it only
gets wifi access, not data.  It is a security web cam app that can
generate tons of network traffic.  When I had a limited data quota, that
app sucked it all up in a short time.  Videos consume a lot of quota.
So, I configured that app to only allow it wifi access. 

I used to have the HERE WeGo app for maps which could download a LOT of
map data.  Although I only had it download offline maps for areas where
I live, and where I may travel, those offline maps still consumed
something like 20 GB (configured to store on the SD card).  The
downloads took a long time.  I didn't want to consume data updating the
offline maps.  However, for that app, it had its own setting to restrict
map downloads to wifi (not use data).  I didn't have to go into Android
settings to restrict the app to only wifi access which would not only
apply to offline map updates, but using the map app while moving since
wifi hotspot are limited in range, and there is no reconnect when
leaving one wifi hotspot to moving into range of another wifi hotspot as
there is with switching connections when travelling between cell tower. 

When going to those Data Manager mobile settings on apps, you can
disable background data usage to restrict an app to only give it wifi
access.  Navigation to the similar function on whatever phone you have
may differ from mine.